Joris Van Gool (HBS 2013, Belgium)

Joris holds a summa cum laude Master’s degree in Business Engineering from the University of Leuven, and spent part of his studies at ESSEC in Paris and the City University of Hong Kong. He worked at HgCapital in London as a private equity growth investor. Before, he worked at McKinsey on corporate strategy, revenue growth and restructuring topics. He also interned with social entrepreneurship organization Ashoka in Mexico City and FSVC in New York. Joris is President of the Harvard-MIT Belgian Club in Boston.

E-mail: joris@europeanconference.org

Alvaro Sendagorta (HBS 2013, Spain)

Alvaro studied a M.Sc. in Aeronautical and Space engineering in the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Before coming to Harvard, he worked at Credit Suisse structuring equity derivatives in London and then joined McKinsey and Company’s Madrid Office. At McKinsey, Alvaro worked extensively with financial institutions, mainly in Risk management engagements.

E-mail: alvaro@europeanconference.org

Gunnar Ullrich (HBS 2013, Germany)

Gunnar studied Finance at the University of Mannheim and ESSEC Business School Paris. Before coming to Harvard, he worked several years as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Germany, mostly focusing on M&A/corporate finance projects.

E-mail: gunnar@europeanconference.org

Tom Reithinger (HBS 2013, Germany)

Tom studied Engineering and Business at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US. He then worked at a small hedge fund in New York working on economic models and expanding their products to Europe. Recently, he worked as an analyst at Capital International in Los Angeles focusing on Spanish sovereign debt and the European debt crisis.

E-mail: tom@europeanconference.org

Thomas Dermine (HKS 2013, Belgium)

Thomas has an academic background in Political Sciences and in Management Sciences from University of Brussels and McGill University. Prior to Harvard, Thomas worked as a consultant for McKinsey in Europe serving mainly institutional clients and governments on financial and regulatory issues. He also interned in the cabinet of the Federal Minister of Belgium for Climate and Energy. Thomas is President of the European Club at Harvard Kennedy School.

E-mail: thomas@europeanconference.org

Cassandre Pignon (HKS 2013, France)

Cassandre graduated in Engineering from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. At Harvard, she focuses on Economic Policy and International Relations. Prior to coming to HKS, Cassandre spent 4 years working for McKinsey focusing on Public Sector reforms in North and West Africa, and 3 years setting-up and managing PPP. When she is not at studying, you can find her on a sailing boat or traveling in lesser known parts of the planet.

E-mail: cassandre@europeanconference.org

Amelie de Montchalin (HKS 2014, France)

Amélie studied Business and Economics at HEC and Dauphine University, as well as History at Sorbonne University. Before coming to Harvard, she worked several years as an economist at Exane BNP Paribas focusing intensively on public finances, the Eurozone crisis and economic public policies. She also interned at the European Commission at the time of the Lisbon Treaty signature, and at the French Ministry for Higher Education.

E-mail: amelie@europeanconference.org

Gatien Bon (HKS 2014, France)

Gatien Bon is an MPP2014 candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School after an engineering degree in France and a masters in Economics and Public policy at Polytechnique and Sciences Po. He was CEO of Youth Diplomacy from 2011 to 2012 and worked for the iFRAP Foundation. Former junior consultant for Deloitte on Public Policy issues and regularly contributes to the youth online magazine MindThis. Former member of his university’s debating team, he got the chance to work for the French Minister of Higher Education.

Renée Haferkamp

Renée Haferkamp is a graduate from Brussels and Geneva University (Philosophie et Lettres). She is a former director general of the European Commission, and has participated in all the important milestones of the EU, from the period of Paul-Henri Spaak and Jean Monnet to Jacques Delors and Jose-Emmanuel Barroso. As an advisor to the European Commisison, she is organizing panel discussions with professors and students on the developments of the European Union at Harvard, NYU, BU, Tufts, and Webster. Several important figures have been among the speakers, including Bill Clinton, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Jose-Manuel Barroso, Pascal Lamy, Mario Monti, Javier Solana, Jean-Claude Trichet, Catherine Ashton, Herman Van Rompuy, Pierre Vimont, Olli Rehn and Peter Sutherland.

David Blazquez (Fletcher 2014, Spain)

David Blazquez graduated from the Complutense University in Madrid with a BA and an M.Phil. in Contemporary Philosophy. He also holds a MA/M.Phil. in Political Science from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Prior to Fletcher, where he currently studies a Master in International Law and Diplomacy, David has been Visiting Fellow in the Department of Government at Harvard University (2011-2012). David is co-editor-in-chief of the newborn Harvard European Policy Review at the Kennedy School of Government and Contributing Editor of The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. At Fletcher, he concentrates in Public International Law and Diplomacy, with a special focus on European foreign policy.

Stefania Boroli (HBS 2013, Italy)

Stefania holds a summa cum laude degree in Business Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Before Harvard Business School, she worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company in Italy, focusing first on the Oil & Gas and later on the Fashion & Luxury industries. She interned at Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division and Zodiak Media Group in London. Stefania organized the Italian Conference at Harvard and MIT in November 2012.

Nathalie Bruls (HBS 2013, Belgium)

Nathalie holds a B.Sc. cum laude in International Business from Maastricht University and earned a place on the Dean’s Honour Roll at NYU Stern School of Business. Before coming to Harvard, she worked as Associate at JPMorgan Investment Banking in London focusing on the Telco, Media and Technology sectors. Interested in investments and innovation, Nathalie interned at global growth investor General Atlantic in London over the summer.

Stelios Elia (HBS 2013, Greece)

Stelios holds Engineering degrees from Cambridge University, where he graduated first in his class. Prior to Harvard Business School he was a member of the investment team at BC Partners, a leading European Private Equity firm, for three years. He has also held roles at McKinsey & Co. and QVT in London. He is an avid basketball fan, but his passion for the sport does not make up for his court skills.

Bastienne Foeller (HBS 2013, Germany)

Bastienne is a second year MBA student at Harvard Business School. Prior to Harvard, she worked as an Associate at the private equity firm Carlyle in Europe focusing on investments in consumer industries, retail/e-commerce and healthcare. Bastienne is passionate about entrepreneurship and fast-growing companies in food, consumer and luxury products. She earned her undergraduate degree in business & economics at WHU – Otto-Beisheim School of Management in Germany.

Michael Henning (Fletcher 2014, Germany)

Michael holds a M.A HSG from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland, and spent part of his studies at the University Catolica de Argentina (UCA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina and University des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Before joining the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy to pursue a Master in International Business combined with studies in International Affairs and Development, Michael worked as a Management Consultant with Accenture in Zurich, Switzerland, focusing on Strategy projects in the Life Sciences Industry.

Auriane Lamine (HLS 2013, Belgium)

Auriane is a PhD candidate and a teaching assistant in labour law at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Her thesis focuses on new transnational forms of norm-making, particularly forms of transnational “collective bargaining” in multinational corporations. Her other main areas of interest are legal theory and political philosophy. She has also been involved in Belgian local politics since 2006. This year, she is pursuing an LLM degree at Harvard Law School.

Joana Libano Monteiro (HBS 2013, Portugal)

Joana studied Business Administration in Lisbon, Portugal. Before coming to Harvard, she worked at JPMorgan M&A Group in London and then joined The Boston Consulting Group’s Lisbon office. At BCG, Joana worked mainly with financial institutions and had projects in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Thomas Lueke (HBS 2013, Germany)

Thomas studied International Management in Essen, Germany, at London School of Economics and at University of California Berkeley. Before Harvard, Thomas spent several years at Bertelsmann at various portfolio companies, most recently in Corporate Development, M&A and as Assistant to the CEO of Random House in New York. He gained additional experience at McKinsey, supported multiple start-ups and is currently working on a project for Khosla Ventures.

Delphine O (HKS, France)

Delphine O is a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of government, with an interest in conflict resolution, peace-keeping operations and state-building in weak states. Prior to coming to Harvard, she spent two years as a political advisor to the Consul General and Deputy Director of the Press and Politics Office at the French Consulate in New York. She is a graduate from the Ecole Normale Superieure and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, as well as the Free University in Berlin, Germany.

Alessa Popovic (Fletcher 2014, Germany)

Alessa is a graduate student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, with particular interest in the interdependencies of international political affairs and the business sector. Prior to coming to Fletcher, she worked as a consultant with Ernst & Young, Germany, where she focused on compliance, internal controls and risk management. She holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, Germany, and spent part of her studies at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea.

Barbara Rauber (HBS 2014, Switzerland)

Barbara holds a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, where she majored in Chemistry with minors in Finance and Engineering Biology. She subsequently worked for three years at Moore Capital Management, a hedge fund in New York, where she conducted macroeconomic research on the European debt crisis and invested in European equities. While at Princeton, she also spent a summer working for Boston Consulting Group in Zurich.

Beatriz Roa Tejero (HBS 2013, Spain)

Beatriz studied a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Before joining Harvard Business School, she worked in the Credit Risk Management and Advisory department at Goldman Sachs in London. While at HBS, she interned at Pacific Investment Management Company in London working as an account manager.

Andreas Schaab (AB 2015, Germany)

Andreas is studying economics and history at Harvard College. He pursued research on optimal fiscal and monetary policy over the business cycle as an intern at the German Central Bank. Andreas is vice captain of the Harvard Fed Challenge Team, and academic chair of the Harvard College European Society.

Carl Schinasi (HBS 2013, Switzerland)

Carl Schinasi is a second year student in the MBA program of Harvard Business School. His main areas of interest are entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises and early-stage companies. Prior to HBS, he worked several years in Geneva as an attorney (first in criminal defense, then in commercial and corporate law / commercial arbitration) and spent one and a half year as regional manager of a multinational packaging company. During the summer, he interned at a new start-up incubator in San Francisco. Carl Schinasi holds a JD with highest honors from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and spent part of his undergraduate studies at the University of Salamanca (Spain).

Panagiotis Vlachos (HKS 2013, Greece)

Panagiotis is a lawyer, political consultant and former Spokesman of the Greek Ministries of Homeland Security and Development (2009-2011). Among others he has studied Law in Athens University and holds a MSc in European Governance from the London School of Economics. He is a founder and leading member of the progressive political movement “Forward Greece” and a VP for European Affairs at the HKS European Club.

James Walsh (HKS 2013, Ireland)

James Walsh holds a first class honours degree in economics and political science from Trinity College Dublin, where he served as General Manager of the Student Economic Review and Auditor of the College Historical Society, the oldest student society in the world. A recent graduate, he spent the last couple of summers working on economic issues at the Irish Parliament and the Royal Government of Bhutan. He is a research member of the Saguaro Seminar Research Team, led by the political Scientist Robert D. Putnam and a co-editor of the Harvard European Policy Journal. He is currently in the second year of the Master in Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government.