Meet Our Faculty
Meet our international teaching & consulting team
Sonja Rauschütz
MPA (Harvard University)
Negotiation consultant and facilitator working with clients in the US, Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe and the Middle East; Management trainer, executive coach and international mediator. As a cross-border commuter, Sonja focuses on the agility of negotiators in difficult negotiations and long-lasting conflicts.
1999-2002 Faculty of Harvard at Law School Program on Negotiation; In 2000 she initiated the Israeli Palestinian Negotiating Partners (IPNP) program, the Balkan Negotiation Partners program in 2004 and the Young Negotiator Initiative in 2015; studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and holds a Master of Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA. Certified PCM® trainer, LOD ™ provider and consultant for system configurations; Tri-Energetic Counselor; Lecturer at renowned universities; Keynote speaker.
Dr. Harald Klien
Vienna University of Business
Administration and Economics
M&A expert, 20 years in mergers & acquisitions and investment consulting, has negotiated over 400 international transactions in various industries (e.g. construction, real estate, transport, steel, mechanical engineering, telecommunications, IT, automotive industry, tourism); CEO and founder of CD Invest Consult GmbH / global M&A Austria; Founder and President of ACG Austria, an NGO for economic and organizational growth; Co-founder of the Vienna School of Negotiation, international lecturer; Keynote speaker.
Moty Cristal
MPA (Harvard University)
Strategic consultant and trainer for intercultural political and business negotiations with a specialization in crisis negotiations; Lieutenant Colonel (R.) with extensive operational experience; 1994-2001 member of the Israeli negotiating team, partly as deputy chief negotiator of the negotiating team of the Israeli Prime Minister; Lecturer at the Department of Diplomatic Studies at Tel Aviv University, International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Herzelia and the University of Singapore; Co-founder of the Israeli Palestinian Negotiating Partners (IPNP); Keynote speaker.
Beatrix Schmelzle-Austin
MPA (Harvard University)
Negotiation skills trainer, cross-cultural facilitator, involved in international conflict management initiatives, worked for Search for Common Ground and International Alert with a special focus on Southeastern Europe; since 1999 lecturer, initially at Harvard Kennedy School; is currently doing her doctorate on peacebuilding and victimization in post-war regions with a focus on linking theory and practice; Co-editor and coordinator of the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, Berghof Research Center, Berlin.
Anthony Wanis-St John
Ph.D. (Tufts University)
Negotiation advisor and management trainer; moderates strategic alliances in multinational companies as well as World Bank projects in Latin America; advises negotiators in the Middle East peace process; Mediator with a Palestinian-Lebanese background, numerous publications (e.g. "Back Channels: Two Edged Sword of Peacemaking", "Cultural Pathways in Conflict Resolution", "Expanding the Pie"; lecturer at Tufts University, Harvard Law School, Bordeaux Ecole de Management, Notre Dame University in Beirut; keynote speaker.
Keith Fitzgerald
MPA (Harvard University)
Consultant for crisis management and crisis negotiations; Experienced management trainer for multinational companies and conflict advisors in international conflict initiatives with broad geographic expertise from Northern Ireland, India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka, East Timor, the Philippines, Sudan, South Africa; Advisor on hostage negotiations in Latin America, the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia; Teaching positions, e.g. Harvard Law School, National University of Singapore, Tufts University; Keynote speaker.
Christine Krimmel
MSc (University of Vienna)
Executive coach, certified negotiation moderator and esteemed senior trainer, who essentially describes herself as a practitioner. Founder and managing partner of the CX Agency, an organization dedicated to the success of its clients. As an experienced negotiation and marketing expert, Christine Krimmel has been supporting her clients in strategic change management for 30 years. She is a specialist in design thinking and organizational development. Process communication Model Trainer & Coach.
Julia Krenmayr
MSc (University of Applied Sciences, FHV Vorarlberg)
Negotiation Facilitator, Management Trainer, Organizational Development Consultant; Certified and Licensed Trainer for “Leading Out of Drama with Compassionate Accountability”; Graduated Art and Gestalt Therapist with a focus on both creative-artistic and systemic aspects. Co-founder & commercial managing director of Generationencafes Vollpension Wien. She manages the social enterprise from an economic, culinary, and social perspective. She is recognized as an expert in leading her cross-generational team to success in projects large and small, in a structured and objective manner while allowing space for emotions.