2010 Think-tank Members


Ms. Mette Mørck Helland lives in Baerum. After having run a small IT-company from 1994 till 2007, she decided to explore other avenues and landed in the field of manufacturing and industrial development.
Flexiramp is her entrepreneur product. As the name indicates, it’s a flexible and very versatile lightweight ramp that can be rolled up when not in use. It is made of aluminum and glasfibre reinforced polyester (GRP). It has been tested by the Norwegian Technological Institute and approved for loads up to 400 kilograms. It comes in various widths and since it consists of 2.5 inch joints that are linked together, its length can also be adjusted according to the users’ requirements. Originally meant for wheelchair users, the ramp is equally useful for anyone who need to move, load or unload e.g. motor bikes, lawn mowers, trolleys, rotary snowploughs, trailers for small boats etc. Its field of use is almost without limit.
She holds a Master in psychology. She is also an IT engineer and holds a master in web and programming.


British by birth, Ms Rachael Hughes graduated in Economics and Finance from the University of Leeds (UK) and the Le Havre-Caen School of Commerce (France) in 1993.
After university, she started her career with the British manufacturing company GKN, before moving on quickly to CHEP, a joint venture between GKN and the specialist Australian logistics company, BRAMBLES. She was entrusted with the General Management of CHEP Argentina between 1999 and 2001.
In 2001 she joined HomeServe a purely English company at the time based in Great Britain. Founded in 1993 in the United Kingdom, HomeServe guarantees private individuals assistance in domestic emergencies as a supplement to traditional house insurance. Her task was to expand the company internationally.
She was Managing Director of the company between 2001 and 2008. In 2006, HomeServe appointed her as head of the European Division and she continued to expand the Group into Spain in 2006 and Belgium in 2009, combining both organic and external growth with acquisitions in Spain, France and Belgium between 2007 and 2009.
The European HomeServe business nowadays generates €138m turnover and employs 850 people.
In 2010, Ms Hughes was presented with the Aderly ONLYON award for the greatest growth for her double contribution whilst with Doméo and HomeServe Europe.


Dr Muhammad Ibrahim is the Founder and Executive Director of CMES, Centre for Mass Education in Science. Established in 1978, CMES is a UNESCO "partner for research," and over the last 27 years their work has had a significant impact on pedagogical methods across South Asia.
The aim behind the creation of Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) was to arrange an appropriate and effective mass education for the common people encouraging their thoughts and actions in science & technology. This should help create the human resource development with particular inclusion of the disadvantaged.
The objectives of the CMES programs are to provide alternative and second chance education for disadvantaged school dropouts, to provide them technical skills, to empower adolescent girls to create gender equity and to adapt appropriate technology for the improvement of the life and livelihood of people.
Dr Muhammad Ibrahim is currently the Vice President of the Bangladesh Solar Energy Society.


Mr. Bambang Ismawan is the President of Bina Swadaya, one of the biggest NGOs in Indonesia who employs over 700 persons. "Bina Swadaya" (meaning Community Self-Reliance Development Agency) is a people-centered development agency managing a number of services oriented towards the development of self-reliant communities.
While pursuing an economics degree at Gadjah Mada University, Bambang Ismawan found that he was interested in neither business nor politics, and wanted to identify with something more meaningful. He has been involved in Bina Swadaya’s formation and growth for the past 40 years, and has developed a proven track record of successful partnerships with government, NGOs and businesses. His philosophy of promoting self-reliance within Bina Swadaya’s self-help groups drives the strategic development of the organization. Bambang invests a large amount of his time on developing the leadership capabilities of the organization.
Besides generating profits from the sale of its own publications, Bina Swadaya has developed significant expertise in the field of publishing while at the same time offering market-leading consulting services. In 2001, the organization started a franchise operation for agricultural shops, which provides market access for the Bina Swadaya group’s products. It also offers microfinancing through four rural banks and cooperatives.


Jean-Pierre Jeannet is Emeritus Professor of Global Strategy and Marketing. His areas of special interest are global business and marketing strategies, and market orientation.
Professor Jeannet has been a consultant to several international companies and organizations including: ABB, Ciba-Geigy, Coutts & Co (ex-Handelsbank Natwest), DSM, ICI, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Nokia, Polaroid, SMH, Siemens, Sulzer, Swissair and Zeneca.
He resides part of the year in the US at Babson College, US and the remaining part of the year in Switzerland as faculty member at IMD. He received his MBA and PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Since 1974 Professor Jeannet has been on the faculty of Babson College, Massachusetts, where he is FW Olin Distinguished Professor of Global Business, teaching global marketing and strategy courses at various levels including MBA and executive programs.
Professor Jeannet has also been a Visiting Lecturer at Keio University Graduate School of Business in Japan. In 1981 he became a visiting Professor at IMEDE, one of the two founding institutes of IMD, and has regularly participated in a large number of programs and in-company seminars. Since 1993, he has a full-time dual appointment at IMD and Babson College.


Mr Vikas Joshi is passionate about making our lives more effective through interactivity. His vision has inspired a global market for interactivity software. As founder, Chairman and Managing Director at the Harbinger Group, he leads an international organization building cutting-edge technology products and services.
Thousands of trainers, educators, presenters, web designers and other dialog creators worldwide rely on Harbinger’s award-winning products for engaging users more effectively.
Recognized as a thought leader in interactivity, Mr Joshi has spearheaded Harbinger’s leadership in that space. Harbinger has also emerged as a provider of software product development services to several technology companies including Microsoft.
After IIT Bombay, where he completed his B.Tech.,he got his MS from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY on a Graduate Fellowship, working on artificial intelligence. He enjoys creative reflection on work and life through his writings and speeches. Through these he discusses the state-of-the-art of interactivity, interactive learning and innovative entrepreneurship. He lives in Pune, India and hangs out in the Silicon Valley a few months every year.


In 1998 Mr. Alou Keita set up a microfinance and investment organization, PASECA, a federation of village banks in the Kayes district of Mali. Alou’s banks are completely run by villagers, and a bank is only set up after the community is fully committed to providing the infrastructure and staffing for their bank.
His interest in financial management was spurred by his experiences living in a small town in Tunisia as a student at an agricultural college. He was living on a very tight budget. The requisite planning, discipline and budgeting that enabled him to survive his student years fueled his interest in financial management and micro-finance.
An agro-economist by profession, Mr Alou Keita founded PASECA to help rural people from his village and surrounding communities develop economically.
Alou has created one of the most successful of Mali’s community managed village banking networks, providing savings, credit and banking facilities for village communities. Unique among other village finance offices, the input of capital from migrant workers in France allows the banks to strengthen villages which have been weakened by emigration and the ripple effects of rural poverty. One of Mr Keita’s key innovations is a money transfer service for those living abroad which offers an effective response to the challenge of sending money home to remote villages.


Ms. Kerrigan has developed positive relationships with individuals in media, government, public policy and advocacy organizations, and the private sector that have led to substantive reforms and initiatives to help America's entrepreneurial sector. Ms. Kerrigan is President & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ( http://www.sbecouncil.org/), a prominent and respected advocacy and research organization she founded in 1994. She is Founder of Women Entrepreneurs Inc. ( http://www.we-inc.org/), a nonprofit business association that helps women business owners succeed through education, networking and advocacy.


Iqbal Khan has developed the concept and model of Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprise Hub for developing countries. He established the Case Study Journal (Editor 2008) and the Social Entrepreneurship Development Unit at Lahore School of Economics. He has been Deputy Secretary General of (ADFIMI) Turkey, a regional agency. Was one of the three lead consultants who setup the SMEDA for the Government of Pakistan (1999) and has been President of a Small Enterprise Bank for 5 years (1971 – 1975).