Team

Chair of Advisory Council

Baroness Ashton previously served as the Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

President

Jack R. Williams is an Adjunct Professor and Consultant for UNITAR.

Board Member

Francis Cheneval is the Chair of Political Philosophy at the University of Zurich.

Head of Strategic Partnerships

Patrick is an Independent Consultant working on a wide range of global affairs and international law. He is currently based in Florence, Italy.

Project Fellow

Erika is a Mediation Coach at the University of Ferrara and has previously studied Law in Italy, Malta and Austria.

Membership Officer

Ruxandra works in public administration in Brussels and holds a MSc in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Amsterdam.

Project Fellow

Karoline holds a Master‘s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Philipps-University Marburg. She is Project Coordinator for the IGN e-Conference 2025.

Project Fellow

Asier Hernandez works as the legal manager of All Iron Real Estate (one of the leading Spanish REITs). Asier holds a degree in Translation and Interpreting and is a Law Graduate from the University of the Basque Country (UPV).

Project Fellow

Baniz Wasman is an international relations graduate currently pursuing her MA in International Affairs Policy & Analysis at American University, with a strong passion for humanitarian work.

Senior Fellow

Felix Addor serves as the Deputy Director General of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Swiss Ministry of Justice).

Advisory Council

Michael Ambühl is former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and Professor Emeritus at ETH Zurich.

Secretary

Maxime Schoch is a Consultant and works on large transformation projects with the financial industry.

Board Member

Stefanie Walter is Full Professor for International Relations and Political Economy at the Department of Political Science at the University of Zurich.

Head of Communications

Vera is a graduate student in International Affairs and Governance at the University of St.Gallen, where she works as a Junior Researcher.

Project Fellow

Alexandra studies Creative Technology at the University of Twente, Netherlands.

Finance Officer

Magdalena Brugger acts as the Institute’s Finance Officer and holds a law degree (Magistra) from the University of Graz.

Project Fellow

Lucas Steinbach is a PhD scholar and researcher at the UC Louvain, specializing in peacekeeping and the use of force implementation in the DR Congo. For the IGN, he coordinates the IGN’s Global Negotiation Conference in 2025.

Project Fellow

Maximiliano R. Schilling holds a Master’s in International Affairs and Diplomacy from UOC-UNITAR and a Political Science degree from the University of Buenos Aires.

Research Fellow

Mina is a PhD candidate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge, focusing on modern Japan.

Senior Fellow

Honorary Associate Professor in Negotiation at Aarhus University | Business and Social Sciences, Denmark and owner of the specialized negotiation, mediation and management company GUDSØE ApS

Advisory Council

Mazlan Othman is the former Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

Treasurer

Jonathan Lamprecht serves as Treasurer for the IGN and works as a Product Manager for a Swiss scale-up company.

Head of Operations

Christian studied Philosophy, Theology and Political Studies in Germany and the UK and currently works at the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Welfare and Compliance Officer

Maria Gioia is a Senior Counsel specialized in transactions in the chemical and tech industry

Strategy Fellow

Ramona is an experienced technology expert and advisor with a proven track record of launching state-of-the-art initiatives, and of successfully enabling organizations globally to become better at doing business.

Project Fellow

Johanna holds a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the Philipps-University Marburg. She is the Institute’s Social Media Officer.

Project Fellow

Sarah is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs & Diplomacy at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Project Fellow

Vinicius is a Civil Engineer graduated from University of Twente, Negotiation Teacher at NPT (Negotiation project Twente) and passionate for human-centric approach on engineering.

Senior Teaching Fellow

Norbert is an experienced teacher of cross-cultural skills at the University of Graz.

Senior Fellow

Highly experienced diplomat and negotiator, Jérôme Bellion-Jourdan has notably led complex multilateral negotiations on behalf of the European Union in the United Nations, and engaged in several multistakeholder initiatives.