Luk Bouckaert
Catholic University of Leuven
Luk Bouckaert is emeritus professor of ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He is a philosopher and an economist by training. His research and publications fall within the fields of economic and business ethics and spirituality. In 1987 he founded with some colleagues the interdisciplinary Centre for Economics and Ethics at the University of Leuven. In 1999-2000 he started SPES as a studygroup for Spirituality in Economics and Society and in 2004 together with Laszlo Zsolnai the European SPES Forum which he chaired as president until 2014. He wrote several books in Dutch. Recent publications in English include: Spirituality as a public good (co-edited with L. Zsolnai, 2007), Frugality (co-edited with H.Opdebeeck and L. Zsolnai, 2008), Imagine Europe (co-edited with J.Eynikel, 2009), Respect and Economic Democracy (co-edited with Pasquale Arena, 2010) and The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business (co-edited with L. Zsolnai, 2011).
Sabine Denis
SPES Forum Belgium
After her law studies at the Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix and the KULeuven, Sabine Denis was research and teaching assistant at the University of Namur and legal counsel at SWIFT. In 2000 she started her journey as ambassador for sustainable development, first at the King Baudouin Foundation and then as director of the largest Corporate Social Responsibility network in Belgium, Business and Society and The Shift. In 2014 Sabine published the book “Value²: business for society, profit for sustainable prosperity” on the evolution of the role of business in society and the shared Value theory of Michael Porter. She teaches Corporate Social Responsibility at Louvain School of Management of the UCLouvain. In 2017-18 she followed a MA in Ecology and Spirituality at the Schumacher College in Devon, England.
Josep M. Lozano
ESADE Business School Barcelona
Josep M. Lozano was awarded a PhD in Philosophy by the University of Barcelona and a degree in Theology by the Theology Faculty of Catalonia. He also holds a degree in Executive Management from ESADE Business School, Barcelona. He is currently Full Professor at the Department of Social Sciences at ESADE and Senior Researcher in CSR at the Institute for Social Innovation. His academic and professional activity focuses on the fields of CSR, ethics, leadership, values and spirituality. Josep Lozano has published many articles on these issues and he is a frequent newspaper contributor.
Sharda Nandram
Nyenrode Business University and Vrije University of Amsterdam
Dr. Sharda S. Nandram, born in Suriname, Person of Indian Origin from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India and resident of the Netherlands as of 1985. Sharda is Professor at Nyenrode Business University and founder of Praan Solutions for alternative economic practices. Sharda is also full professor Hindu Spirituality and Society at the Faculty of Religion and Theology of the Vrije University of Amsterdam. She has earned two bachelors and two masters (one in Psychology and the other in Economics (both at the University of Amsterdam). She has also earned her PhD in Social Sciences at the Vrije University at Amsterdam. Her topics of interests are: entrepreneurship, organizational innovation, spirituality in management and Indian leadership
Hendrik Opdebeeck
University of Antwerp
Hendrik Opdebeeck is professor emeritus of the University of Antwerp where he is affiliated to the Centre of Ethics. He studied philosophy and economics at the universities of Leuven and Gent where he obtained a PhD with a dissertation on E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977) and the polyparadigmatic discourse in economics. His research interest is em special attention to the role of spirituality and technology. As one of the co-founders of SPES, in 2004-2020 he served as chairman of the SPES Forum vzw.
Mike Thompson
Anthesis, London
Mike Thompson is Director of Wise Governance for the global sustainability consultancy, Anthesis in London. He served as Adjunct Professor at the Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria and was formerly Professor of Management Practice at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. His teaching and research focus is on sustainability innovation, entrepreneurship, wise leadership, and corporate governance. Since 2004, he has been on the steering committee of the European SPES Forum. Dr Thompson’s work has focused on spirituality and management: His books include Leadership, Spirituality and the Common Good (2009, Garant), Leading with Wisdom (2011, Garant), Business, Spirituality and the Common Good (2011, Russell Media), Wise Management in Organisational Complexity (2013, Palgrave Macmillan), and Suited Monk Leadership: Leading with Wisdom and Purpose in a Complex and Uncertain World (2014, WOW Books)
Laszlo Zsolnai
Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University of Budapest
Laszlo Zsolnai is professor and director of the Business Ethics Center at the Corvinus University of Budapest. He is Associate Member of the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. He serves as editor of the “Frontier of Business Ethics” book series at Peter Lang Publishers in Oxford. He is co-editor of the Studies in TransAtlanic Business Ethics book series at Edward Elgar, the Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business book series at Palgrave-Macmillan, Virtues and Economics book series at Springer, and the Studies in Buddhist Economics, Management, and Policy book series at Palgrave-Macmillan. With Luk Bouckaert he founded the European SPES Forum in Leuven, Belgium.