Diplomacy Dialogue Founders

Raymond Saner

A Swiss citizen, he holds a doctorate in social psychology from the Union Graduate University, Cincinnati, Ohio and is professor in organization and international management at the university of Basle, Switzerland (faculty of economics and business administration).  He is fluent in German, English and French

Dr. Saner has over 25 years of experience in designing and managing institution development and capacity-building projects in the public sector throughout the world. He has been a consultant to European, Asian  and African governments, multinational companies and international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Trade Organisation,  International Labour Organisation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His recent project leadership responsibilities have included the development of management training centres in Russia and institutional reform in Eastern Europe and South America. A former adjunct professor at New York University's Graduate School of Business, he currently teaches International Negotiations at the University of Basle (Switzerland),  Trade & Development for LDCs in the Context  of Multi-Actor Multi-Policy Governance and Management of Organisational and Institutional Conflict at the Master for Public Affairs Programme of the Science Po (Paris) and was a visiting professor at INSEAD (France).

Leadership Responsibilities

* Alternate Representatives of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) to ECOSOC/United Nations in Geneva (2005- present).
* Board member (elected), Organizational Development & Change Division, Academy of Management, (2002-2004).
* Chairman (elected), Advisory Council to Board of Governors, Academy of Management, Washington, USA (2001-2002).
* Head, Network "Development, Social Change and Governance", Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Baltimore, USA (1997- 2000).

Member of Editorial Review Boards

* The Hague Journal of International Relations, 2005- present
* Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 2005- present
* Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2001- present
* Public Organization Review, 2000- present

Lichia Yiu

Born in Taipei and a Swiss citizen, she holds a doctorate in psychology from Indiana University. A former associate professor at Chinese Culture University, Taipei, she was a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University in organisational psychology. She is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Dr. Yiu has over 20 years of experience as an advisor to governments and international organisations on organisational development and reform of public administration. She directed bilateral Swiss projects in China and Slovenia to support the public administrative reform and  currently advised governments on the question of quality of education and human capital investment. She has also been a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme and other specialised UN agencies, as well as to private-sector organisations on organsational development and change leadership issues.

Leadership Responsibilities

* Alternate Representatives of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) to ECOSOC/United Nations in Geneva (2005- present).

* Appointed member, Executive Committee, Division of Management Education and Development, Academy of Management, (2002 – to date).

*Founding Member of the Governing Board and Secretary, CUTS Geneva Resource Centre (2007 – to date).

Member of Editorial Review Boards

Editorial Board, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2000 – to date

Editorial Board, Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 2009 – to date

Reviewer, Gestalt Review, 2000-2008