Foundation & Association

The team of the European Forum Alpbach is located in Vienna and manages the overall organisation of the main conference and the further events during the year. It ensures that all events are adequately financed and coordinated professionally, and that the events are covered appropriately in the media. In addition, the team is in charge of coordinating the annual scholarship programme.

The boards of the European Forum Alpbach Association and the European Forum Alpbach Foundation consist of seventeen dedicated people with one goal: To positively contribute to the future of Europe. The Foundation and Association are chaired by Othmar Karas who is elected president since 2024. Together with a team of international experts, he is responsible for the orientation and strategy of the European Forum Alpbach.

The Strategic Advisory Council advises and supports the organisation in all its activities. Its members ensure that the continuity in the connection to the historical roots and values of the European Forum Alpbach as well as the pluralistic anchoring in democratic society is preserved or strived for. The Council consists of up to 40 members as well as the members of the Executive Board, the Chairpersons of the Board of Trustees and the International Advisory Board, three representatives of the FAN, the Honorary Presidents and the auditors.

Armin Laschet, Co-Chair | Former Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia

N. N., Co-Chair (to be announced soon)

Markus Bischofer | Mayor of Alpbach (co-opted)

Brigitte Brenner | Ambassador, Permanent Observer of the IPU to the United Nations and international organizations in Vienna

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook | Senior Advisor, Bertelsmann Foundation

Verena Ehold | Head of the Federal Environment Agency

Lisa-Marie Fassl | Founder, Venture Capital Fonds

Irene Giner-Reichl | Retired Ambassador

Wolfgang Habermayer | Founder and CEO, Merito Financial Solutions

Valerie Hengl | Co-founder of Purecy

Michael Hirschbrich | CEO Apollo.AI

Bruno Hofbauer | Major General, Austrian Federal Army

Herwig Hösele | Secretary-General, Future Fund of the Republic of Austria

Michael Ikrath | Former Member of the National Council Austria

Thomas Kahn | Managing Director, Congress Centrum Alpbach (co-opted)

Georg Kopetz | Co-founder and Board Member of TTTech Computertechnik AG

Larissa Krainer | Philosopher and communication scientist, University of Klagenfurt

Elisabeth Krainer-Senger-Weiss | Attorney Krainer-Senger-Weiss Rechtsanwalts GmbH

Kathryn List | CEO and Co-Founder, AVL Foundation

Hans Mahr | Media consultant, journalist

Bernhard Marckhgott | Head of Corporate Communications, Raiffeisenlandesbank Upper Austria

Josef Margreiter | CEO, Lebensraum Tirol Holding GmbH

Sophie Martinetz | Director, WU Legal Tech Center and Managing Partner Future-Law

Clemens Mayr-Harting | Head of Cabinet of the Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution

Beate Meinl-Reisinger | Party Leader of NEOS and Group Leader in the National Council

Dieter Natlacen | Attorney, Kanzlei TaylorWessing

Bernhard Niesner | Founder, Busuu

Leonard Novy | Co-Director of the Institute for Media and Communication Policy (IfM) in Cologne

Wolfgang Petritsch | Retired Ambassador, President of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation

Klaus Poier | Political Scientist and Constitutional Lawyer, University Professor

Sophie Pornschlegel | Director of Studies at Europe Jacques Delors, Policy Fellow of the Progressive Centre

Filip Radunović | Team Leader, GIZ (Belgrade)

Andrä Rupprechter | Director, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

Rupert Sausgruber | Rector of the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Martin Schulz | Former President of the European Parliament

Agnes Streissler-Führer | Deputy Federal Managing Director of the GPA trade union, Chairwoman of the GPA Private Foundation

Matthias Strolz | Founder of NEOS - The New Austria, Author

Stefan Wallner | Managing Director, Alliance for Nonprofit Organizations

Martin Weiss | CEO Salzburg Global Seminar

Christoph Wenna | Founder & Managing Partner, Wenna Consult GmbH

Werner Wutscher | Founder of New Venture Scouting

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Board members of the EFA-Association

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Florian Boschek

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Andreas Maierhofer

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Jenni Zeller

Honorary President of the EFA: Franz Fischler

Honorary President of the EFA: Andreas Treichl

Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board: Michaela Fritz

Co-Chair of the International Advisory Board: Thomas Mayr-Harting

Auditor: Günther Schrems

Auditor: Karl Sevelda

The Scientific Advisory Board provides academic advice to the Executive Board and the other bodies of the association. In particular, it makes suggestions for the programme design, the selection of speakers, moderators, seminar leaders and the formats of the association's events. The Scientific Advisory Board consists of up to 40 recognised academics and people from public and cultural life as well as the Chairperson of the IAB and three representatives of the FAN.

Michaela Fritz, Co-Chair | Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, MedUni Vienna

Gabriel Felbermayr, Co-Chair | Direktor, WIFO

Nadia Al-Bagdadi | Professor, Department of Historical Studies and Center for Religious Studies, Central European University, Vienna

Andreas Altmann | Rector, MCI

Brigitte Bach | Managing Director, Austrian Institute of Technology 

Christoph Badelt I President of the Fiscal Council

Felix Creutzig | Groupleader Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and  Climate Change  

Maria Demertzis | Senior Fellow at Bruegel & Professor of Economic Policy at STG, European University Institute 

Anna Durnova | Professor of Political Sociology University of Vienna & Senior Fellow Institute for Advanced Studies  

Tamara Ehs | Political Scientist & Democracy Consultant, Ehs & Fils Democracy Consulting

Heinz Fassmann | President, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Franz-Stefan Gady | Consulting Senior Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies

Katharina Gassner | Senior Economist for Infrastructure at World Bank 

Philipp Gerbert | General Managing Director TUM Venture Labs 

Misha Glenny | Rector at the Institute for Human Sciences  

Ian Goldin | Professor of Globalization and Development Oxford University & Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School 

Bernhard Haslhofer | Group Leader Cryptofinance at Complexity Science Hub & Co-Founder Iknaio Cryptoasset Analytics 

Markus Hengstschläger | Head of the Center for Pathobiochemistry and Genetics, Medical University Vienna 

Sabine Junginger | Full Professor in Communication Design at Northumbria University, School of Design

Monika Köppl-Turyna | Director, ECO Austria

Mark Leonard | Executive Director, European Council on Foreign Relations

Dominik Markl | Professor of Biblical Studies and Historical Theology, University of Innsbruck 

Katja Mayer | Research Associate (Postdoc), Institute for Science and Technology Studies, University of Vienna

Josef Mitterer | Former Professor at the Department of Philosophy at University of Klagenfurt  

Manfred Nowak | Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights 

Barbara Prainsack | Professor for Comparative Policy Analysis at the University of Vienna 

Michael Reiterer | Professor, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Brussels School of Governance & Ambassador of the European Union ret.

Keywan Riahi | Program Director at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis  

Diemut Schilling | Professor of Drawing and Printmaking at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences  

Veronika Sexl | Rector, University of Innsbruck

Nona Shepphard | Associate Director and Chair of Audition Panel at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 

Leena Srivastava | Advisory Council at New Age Makers Institute of Technology NAMTECH 

Georg Steinhauser | Professor of Applied Radiochemistry at Technical University of Vienna 

Katrin Suder | Senior Advisor and Board Member & former State Secretary at German Ministry of Defence 

Kavita Surana | Professor of Data Ecosystems and Environmental Accountability at the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, Vienna University of Economics and Business 

Ulrike Tanzer | Head of the Brenner Archive Research Institute, University of Innsbruck

Velina Tchakarova | Founder, FACE For A Conscious Experience

Nathalie Tocci | Director at Istituto Affari Internazionali 

Renata Uitz | Co-Director Democracy Institute at Central European University

Howard Williamson | Professor of European Youth Policy, Faculty of Business and Creative Industries at University of South Wales

Chairman of the International Advisory Board: Thomas Mayr-Harting

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Jenni Zeller  

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Florian Boschek

Representing the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN): Dorotea Neuberg  

The International Advisory Board consists of up to 40 internationally recognised personalities from politics, business, science and society. The International Advisory Board advises the Executive Board on programme development and the selection of speakers and supports the association in its networking activities.

Thomas Mayr-Harting, Co-Chair | Special Representative for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, OSCE

Arancha González Laya, Co-Chair | Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po/former Foreign Minister of Spain

Catherine Ashton | Former High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice-President of the European Commission, European Union

Carl Bildt | Co-Chair, European Council on Foreign Relations/former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt | Former Member of the European Parliament

Katja Gentinetta | Philosopher, Author, TV moderator

Eamon Gilmore | Former EU Special Representative for Human Rights, European Union/former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland

Hermann Hauser | Co-Founder and Venture Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners

Jean-Claude Hollerich | Cardinal, Archbishop of Luxembourg

Wolfgang Ischinger | President, Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation

Ivan Krastev | Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies/Permanent Fellow, IWM

Miroslav Lajcák | Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, European Union/former Foreign Minister of Slovakia

Pascal Lamy | Vice-President, Paris Peace Forum/former Director-General, World Trade Organisation

Philippe Narval | Secretary General, Lebenshilfe Österreich

Kasia Pisarska | Founder and Chair, Warsaw Security Forum, Co-Founder and Chair, European Academy of Diplomacy and Casimir Pulaski Foundation

Geneviève Pons | Director General and Vice President, Europe Jacques Delors

Daniel Sachs | Founder and CEO, P Capital Partners/Founder and Chair Daniel Sachs Foundation

Anya Schiffrin | Director of Technology, Media, and Communications, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs

Professor Dr. Martin Selmayr | Ambassador of the European Union to the Holy See, the Sovereign Order of Malta, the UN Organisations in Rome (FAO, WFP, IFAD) and the Republic of San Marino

Bruno Stagno-Ugarte | Chief Advocacy Officer, Human Rights Watch/former Foreign Minister of Costa Rica

Joseph Stiglitz | Economist and Professor, Columbia University/Recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Cédric Villani | Mathematician/Recipient of the Fields Medal/former French Member of Parliament

Alois von und zu Liechtenstein | Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein

Thomas Wieser | Former President of the Eurogroup Working Group and the European Financial Committee, European Union

Honorary President of the EFA: Franz Fischler

Honorary President of the EFA: Andreas Treichl