Prof. Dr.  Vanessa Boanada Fuchs Managing Director Av. Paulista 1754 office 153 01310-920  São Paulo e: vanessa.boanada@unisg.ch

Vanessa has studied Law and International Relations (PUC-Rio) and obtained her Ph.D. in International Development Studies at the Graduate Institute in Geneva (IHEID). As a researcher, Vanessa held a postdoc and visiting position respectively at the University of Campinas, Michigan State University, and Freie Universität Berlin. Before her appointment as GIMLA's director, she contributed to the creation and coordination of the Swiss School of Latin American Studies (SSLAS) and acted as a project leader at the Leading House for the Latin American Region. Vanessa's research and teaching interests relate to the socio-environmental dimensions of infrastructure projects, including stakeholder engagement. She also focuses on decolonial approaches and the social control of on the ground practices of rights and policies. In her time, Vanessa enjoys doing fieldwork in the Amazon and spending time with her family trekking, watching movies, dancing, and reading.

Dr.  Anthony Boanada-Fuchs Acquisition and Project Management Av. Paulista 1754 office 153 01310-920  São Paulo e: anthony.boanada-fuchs@unisg.ch

Anthony is a trained architect and urban planner with a Ph.D. in International Development Studies (IHEID). After post-doc and visiting positions at the University of São Paulo (USP-CEM), University of Lausanne (UNIL-IDG), University of Basel (Europainstitute), and the ETH Zurich (CASE) he started teaching at the University of St.Gallen in 2017. His research and teaching efforts focus on affordable housing, real estate developers, urban policy, and informality. Besides work, Anthony enjoys being a father, doing winter sports and nature-related activities, diving, as well as just staying home with a good series or movie.

Igor Mariano Office Manager Av. Paulista 1754 office 153 01310-920  São Paulo e: igor.mariano@unisg.ch

Igor has studied Tourism and Hospitality at the Universidade Paulista in São Paulo, currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing, Creativity and Innovation. He has 10 years’ experience working with people & office management, business strategies, events and customer solutions. Igor has worked in great international companies and brands on different positions such as executive concierge, operations and sales manager and front office supervisor onboard cruise ships in the USA, Bahamas and Dominican Republic. Igor is also certified in conflict and crisis management, diversity and inclusiveness management. Besides work, Igor loves to travel and discover new experiences around his country and abroad, but he also enjoys staying home with his family, watching movies, listening to music and having some friends over.

Valentina Velásquez Research Assistant Av. Paulista 1754 office 153 01.310-920 Sao Paulo

Valentina Velásquez was born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, she is currently studying political science at EAFIT University. She has spent one year in England in 2018 working as a volunteer for social purposes, this year she spent the first semester living in São Paulo (Brazil) for an exchange semester at the São Paulo University (USP), now she acts as a research assistant for the St. Gallen Institute of Management in Latin America (GIMLA). Valentina enjoys studying and working for peace, she keeps researching about this topic throughout her career and she has worked as a volunteer for two years in an international NGO called CISV that is responsible for building global friendship amongst youth. Besides work, Valentina is also a Yoga teacher and appreciates alternatives methods (like yoga or dance) as tools for peace building.

Maria Isabel Muñoz Research Assistant Medellin-based

Maria Isabel is from Colombia, she studies Political Science with an emphasis on peacebuilding at EAFIT at the University in Medellin (Colombia). She has a background focused on research projects related to armed conflict, social urbanism, gender studies and political philosophy. Currently, she works for St.Gallen Institute of Management in Latin America - GIMLA as a research assistant intern studying and researching about many relevant topics such as sustainability, migration and social development. Besides work, Maria Isabel enjoys some hiking, listening to music, reading and she is always interested about learning new cultures.

Leandro Neff Research Assistant Bogota-based e: leandro.neff@student.unisg.ch

Leandro completed his bachelor and master studies in International Affairs & Governance at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). Furthermore, he holds a master’s degree in political science from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá (Colombia) specializing in Colombian politics. During his bachelor degree he spent one semester at the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru. His research so far focused mainly on market entry strategies for Swiss companies and the combination of organizational learning and sustainable urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since Leandro is from Appenzell in Switzerland, his hobbies are hiking, skiing, and touring around with his motorcycle.

Affiliated Researchers

Lukas Jähn Affiliated Independent Researcher Lukas research interests focus on conceptual and policy aspects regarding the informal economy and on understanding how to link informality with sustainable development and particularly climate.

Lukas holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University (USA). In addition, he received a B.Sc. in International Business from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Germany) and studied in Viña del Mar (Chile) and Victoria (Canada). He is currently working as a Consultant for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), focusing on climate finance in emerging markets and has previous experience in strategy consulting and international banking.

GIMLA is regularly supported by research assistants (RA). Interested potential candidates, please check our current offers.

Collaborating Professors and Researchers

Prof.Dr. Martin Eppler, Marketing

Prof.Dr. Simon Evenett, International Trade and Economic Development

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Grichnik, Entrepreneurship

Dr. Christian Opitz, Energy

Prof.Dr. Thomas Rudolph, Retail Management 

Prof. Dr. Yvette Sánchez, Centro Latino Americano-Suizo

Dr. Ivo Schillig, Cooperatives

Prof. Dr. Harald Tuckermann, Pluralistic Organizations and Health

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Utz, Finance

Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger, Family Business