Gilbert Lenssen, President

In the academic spectrum Professor Lenssen has formerly taught Business Environment at 'The College of Europe' in Bruges, and Warsaw, and is currently a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Leiden University. As President of EABIS, Professor Lenssen directs the overall orientation and research content of the organization. His research and teaching areas include subjects in corporate social responsibility; the implications of globalisation for business, government and society; intercultural management, and organisational transformation.

Professor Lenssen has worked as a business executive with British Petroleum (BP) across different disciplines in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Spain as well as other global roles. He graduated in political sciences and philosophy and holds an MBA from Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH, and a PhD in social sciences from the Universities of Hamburg/Antwerp. He has written books and articles on management theory, management cultures, corporate responsibility and contemporary epistemology.

On behalf of EABIS, Gilbert is a member of the Editorial Board of the Corporate Governance Journal as well as a member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Board. In addition to sitting on their Board, Professor Lenssen is also an EQUIS reviewer for EFMD.

As Director General, Simon Pickard is responsible for implementing of EABIS' overall knowledge development and learning strategy for 2008-2010. This incorporates direct oversight of EABIS' current multi-million Euro programmes on research, education and training, and by extension the building of EABIS' strategic international partnerships. He also leads the Coordination Office head quartered in Brussels, with team members in Vienna and London, and oversees EABIS' growing network of 80 institutions and 3500+ affiliates spread across 20 countries and 5 continents.

Simon joined EABIS in March 2006, following the completion of his MBA at HEC School of Management in Paris. His first position was that of Deputy Director, leading on internal governance, membership and all Brussels-based operations. Prior to attending business school in France, his professional background was in the international education sector. For almost eight years he worked for Oxbridge Academic Programs, a not-for-profit organization based in New York, USA, in management then an executive capacity. Under its auspices, he was responsible for the creation and implementation of various intensive summer schools and professional development seminars, all based at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge or in Paris.

In recent months, Simon has contributed articles to various specialist media publications on the changing role of business in society and the implications for management practice and development. Bilingual in French and English, and with original degrees in Modern Languages from Oxford University, he is a frequent speaker and moderator at international corporate responsibility conferences.

Liz Edwards, Director of Corporate Programmes

Liz Edwards joined the European Academy for Business in Society (EABIS) in January 2008 to become the first official Director of Corporate Programmes. In this role she assumes responsibility for relationships with EABIS’ corporate network, acting as a bridge between EABIS’ corporate and academic members, and for growing the membership base. As part of membership services Liz is also responsible for EABIS’ communications with their members as well as the external world.

Prior to joining, Liz worked as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers Sustainability & Climate Change consultancy team in the London office for seven years. During her period at PricewaterhouseCoopers Liz helped a wide diverse range of multinational organisations identify, manage and communicate their social, ethical and environmental risks and opportunities. As well as working with companies on an individual basis, Liz has significant experience in working with multidisciplinary and industry-specific collaborative groups on improving their social, ethical and environmental performance.

Prior to working specifically in the sustainability unit, Liz qualified as a chartered accountant and worked with many blue chip organisations as an auditor of their statutory financial accounts. Liz obtained her Bachelors Degree in Environmental Science from the University College Galway with distinction and continued her interest in environmental science and sustainability issues by completing a Masters Degree in Environmental Impact Auditing and Assessment at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK.

Having joined EABIS in February 2007, Pablo currently holds the position of Director of Academic Affairs, after a career in consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers and in investment banking with Merrill Lynch. His academic background is in the field of management and economics, holding an MBA from Boston University and a PhD from ESADE Business School.

Pablo remains active in academia, teaching corporate governance and strategy at Nyenrode, ESADE and the Vienna University of Economics. His research interests are in corporate governance and socially responsible investing. Of Italian nationality, Pablo also speaks Spanish, English, French and German.

Peter Lacy served as EABIS’ first Executive Director, leading with Prof. Lenssen on designing and building the network’s foundations, developing resources, and planning organizational strategy. He was the driving force behind the creation of the EABIS Corporate Founding Partner Research Programme (2005-2007), and was a Project Director in the European Union's 6th Research Framework Programme - leading EABIS' 750k Euro CSR Platform initiative. In January 2008, Peter joined Accenture in London to take up a new role as Head of Sustainability Practice for the Europe, Africa and Latin America regions (EALA).

He continues to play a valuable and integral role in EABIS, both as a Strategic Advisor to the senior management team, and as a non-executive Director. Peter has also worked with various governments and political parties on corporate responsibility. In 2003 he was appointed by UK Labour Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms and Clive Mather, then Chair of Shell UK, to the Government Steering Group on the establishment of a CSR Academy. He is also currently working as part of an advisory group for David Cameron and the Conservative Party on their policy in this area.

He is a non-executive director or member of a number of boards, steering councils and advisory groups for the EU Commission, AccountAbility, INSEAD “Response”, Corporate Governance Journal, Tomorrow's Company and AIESEC.

Bart manages the Research, Education and Training activity pillars of EABIS. In this capacity he coordinates the EABIS Corporate Funded Programme on Corporate Responsibility and its network of project teams in 10 countries across Europe. Furthermore, he is manager of the “CSR Platform Project” and the "Business Case for Diversity Project", both supported by the European Commission. He is involved in the development of the European Union 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) EABIS' strategy and in EU affairs and relations more generally.

Prior to joining EABIS, Bart has worked as a policy researcher in the field of regulatory quality and entrepreneurship and also worked for several years as a public affairs consultant in Brussels. Being of Dutch nationality, his working languages are Dutch, English and French. He holds a Masters of Science degree in Economics and European Integration from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam.

Claudia joined EABIS in February 2008, working as Communications Coordinator taking the lead of EABIS’ communication initiatives. Of German nationality, she has studied in France and her working languages include English, French and Dutch. She holds a degree in Political Sciences from the Institute of Political Sciences of Grenoble.

Her professional background includes diverse international experiences such as an internship at the Directorate for Social Science and Humanities at DG Research, European Commission, voluntary work in a social centre in Cape Town, South Africa and other work assignments in non-governmental organisations and private enterprises in Germany, France and Belgium.

Claudia’s main interest in business in society is linked to the persuasion that the artificial barrier between business and society needs to be removed. Business is an inseparable part of society and often a catalyst in societal change while society is unthinkable without the value created by entrepreneurial activities. Thus, business and society have to be thought as a mutual dependable and taught within the wider frame of citizenship, globalization and international development.

Sara joined the EABIS in February 2008 taking the position of Executive Coordinator. Her academic background focused on International Relations and Diplomacy, holding a BA and a Master of Arts with Distinction from the University of Bologna, Forli campus. Her experiences abroad include a year as affiliate student at the MA in Politics, Security and Integration the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies of the University College London (UCL).

She moved to Brussels to work with the Transatlantic Center of the German Marshall Fund of the Unites States for the organization of the Brussels Forum 2007. After that experience, she successfully completed a three-month internship at the Italian Permanent Representation to the European Union, where she worked with the counsellor in charge of European Security and Defense Policy and EU-Africa relations at the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council of the European Union.

Sara is interested in analysing the way in which EABIS plays its role as bridge between corporate members and the academic community working on EU Commission funded projects. Her approach to the issue of business in society is essentially ethical, as she believes that large multinational corporations should play a role in the development of local communities. Her main interest is therefore the link between CSR, human rights and development, with a geographical focus that look mainly, but not exclusively, at Africa.