Incremental Excellence Award

Dr. Katharine Wirsching is an Assistant Professor at the chair of management and organization at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Her research focuses on entrepreneurial ecosystems, corporate governance and innovation in family firms, female and immigrant entrepreneurship, and public policy. She is also a senior research fellow at the Institute for Development Strategies (IDS) at Indiana University at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), USA.

Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus (PhD, University of London, MSc, London School of Economics, BA McGill University) is Emeritus Professor of Teaching, Learning and Psychology at Bath Spa University and the Associate Academic Director of the Global Academy of Liberal Arts, an international community of diverse, innovative and socially responsible universities and colleges that transforms lives and enhances global understanding through interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research.

Dr Romnaus Shivoro is currently Chairman of Namibia Qualifications Authority Council; Chairman of the Universities Retirement Fund in Namibia; Assistant Director for International Relations at University of Namibia. Previously he has held positions of Director: Confucius Institute at the University of Namibia; and Southern Africa Director, and member of Leadership Council at the Centre for Global Education at Augsburg University (USA).

Gretchen Selcke, Ph.D: Vanderbilt University, Assistant Director, Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies

Gretchen Selcke is the assistant director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include Latinx literature and culture, Afro Hispanic literature, and Latinx entrepreneurship. Currently, she is completing a book-length manuscript on contemporary Latinx narratives. As the previous Director of the Latino and Latina Studies Program at Vanderbilt, Selcke helped lead the merger of the Latino and Latina Studies Program and the Center for Latin American Studies, creating the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX). Selcke serves as both the director of undergraduate and graduate studies of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies. Selcke is the founder of the SomosVU initiative, now an Identity Initiative in the Office of Equity, Identity, and Inclusion, that has created a university-wide network of Latinx students, faculty, and staff at Vanderbilt University. Selcke spearheaded the LatinxVU Employee Affinity Group, created a Latinx mentorship directory, is the inaugural advisor of the co-educational Alpha Psi Lambda fraternity, and founded the Latinx Graduates Recognition Ceremony to celebrate Latinx student achievement. Selcke is the current President of the Latino Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). She has presented her research at the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) Impact Evaluation Network, the American Studies Association, and the Modern Language Association. She also serves on several nonprofit boards in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Dhjaku is a digital transformation enthusiast  with more than  25 years of expertise in information technology, in the Banking Industry. Valbona is the IT Manager at Credins Bank where she has led multiple transformation projects. Additionally, with a PhD degree in Informatics, from the University of Tirana, Albania Dr. Dhjaku also has been teaching at the University Of Tirana for more than 20 years, in computer science disciplines.

David A. Bell is a faculty member of the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He earned his Ph.D. in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also received his MPA with a focus on nonprofit management, specifically of NGOs. At the undergraduate level, he studied public affairs management at Michigan State University.  His research interests include leadership and accountability involving public organizations, entrepreneurship and capital flow in developing countries, program evaluation, nonprofit management, organizational leadership, and cross-sector collaboration.  Bell is a member of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), the Conference of Minority Public Administrators and the Consortium for International Management, Policy and Development. He has extensive management and executive experience at civil society organizations, including those that focus on human services and the banking industry.

Ryan Bailey is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Change at the University of Wyoming. Ryan possesses 12+ years of diversified industry experience in the government, healthcare, communication, retail, and energy sectors.

As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and one of the first 500 industry practitioners to become a Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP™), he is an expert at managing both the technical side and people side of change. He has consulted on international and domestic projects for a broad spectrum of NGOs and Fortune 500 companies—e.g., RGP, Accenture, Walmart, Target, Comcast, Phillips 66, and others—on a variety of corporate and social entrepreneurship initiatives from $10K – $300M.

His industry roles have ranged from implementing new product launches and international market entries to creating training programs for prison inmates and managing correspondence with missionaries in 100+ nations. Accordingly, his research interests seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice regarding how firms and entrepreneurs can enact positive change through a variety of perspectives including social/commercial entrepreneurship, civic wealth creation, and value consumption.