Founding partners
Founding partners
Full Time Researchers
Prof. Dr.
Nikolay A. Dentchev
Chairholder
PhD
nikolay.dentchev@vub.be
Nikolay is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. He is the chair holder of the Solvay Business School (VUB), Chair for Social Entrepreneurship (founded in 2015 by Wolters Kluwer, Close The Gap and Euroclear) at the VUB and coordinator of NV Actief (KBC, Trividend, and Unizo) at KU Leuven. These two initiatives focus on encouraging social and student entrepreneurship.
Dra.
Claudia Alba Ortuño
"International support for enterprises in the BOP"
claudia.alba.ortuno@vub.be
Claudia has been working on the international support for enterprises at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). She is working on vulnerable entrepreneurs from an ecosystem/international point of view.
Drs.
Bart Leyen
"Building supportive ecosystems for social entrepreneurs"
bart.pierre.h.leyen@vub.be
Bart is looking to develop a methodology for creating supportive ecosystems for social entrepreneurs. Here will be looked in the ecosystem actors and their relationships, how an ecosystem can be assessed. This to safeguard the efficiency of the ecosystem. The ultimate goal is a tool for creating supportive ecosystems.
Prof. dr.
Jason Roncancio
"Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship for sustainability and social change"
Jason.Jahir.Roncancio.Marin@vub.be
With his research, Jason proposes mechanisms through which technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship can be used as tools for creating social change and promoting sustainability with economic growth. His work has been presented at several relevant conferences (T2S 2017, RnD 2018, Academy of Management 2020, 2021, DRUID Society 2022) and published in TFSC and IJEBR journals.
He currently serves as a mentor in innovation and sustainability for the Clinton Global University Initiative, and in entrepreneurship for the Novartis Foundation in Africa in its Startups for Healthcare program.
Dra.
Jingyuan Yang
"Development of Social Academic Entrepreneurship"
jingyuan.yang@vub.be
Jingyuan focuses on social academic entrepreneurship, a fusion of social entrepreneurship and academic entrepreneurship. Her research is trying to define this new change agent in which academics employ entrepreneurial means to provide systemic solutions to social and environmental problems while ensuring their own survival and sustainability.
Researchers abroad
Drs.
Romel Brun
Joint PhD student on "Sustainable business models at the Bottom of the Pyramid " between UCB, Bolivia and VUB, Belgium.
Drs.
Jorge Salas Vargas
Joint Ph.D. student on "Developing entrepreneurial competencies at Bottom of the Pyramid " between UCB, Bolivia and VUB, Belgium. His previous research had a focus on Economic growth and economic development models using DSGE and SVAR. He is also interested in research are related to quantitative methods in Business and Big Data in business applications.
Dra.
Andrea Gabriela Samaniego Diaz
Joint PhD student on "Frugile Innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid" between ESPOL, Ecuador and VUB, Belgium
Dra.
Evelina Van Mensel
"Universities in support of social entrepreneurship"
Evelina Van Mensel possesses an extensive marketing research background of 15 years working experience, managing both own business as well as establishing and leading the business of a major global marketing research provider. Evelina has been responsible for running projects for over 50 Fortune 500 clients across the Globe and has extensive experience training hundreds of employees within her line of work. Evelina is teaching Social Entrepreneurship and Marketing Research at the American University in Bulgaria.
Ms Van Mensel holds a Bachelor in Hospitality Management from Portsmouth University, as well as Executive MBA degree and Outstanding Academic Achievement Award from the American University in Bulgaria. She is currently a PhD student working on universities in support of social entrepreneurs.
Interns
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Beatriz Medina Zenzano
My name is Beatriz Medina Zenzano, and I am currently studying Master of Science in management at the VUB. I was born in Bolivia, raised in the UK and Spain. I was living in Barcelona before coming to Brussel. I started a career as a Content Moderator and then as SME where I was responsible to provide support and guidance to teams, exchanging opinions, and transmitting information. Last, but not least, I am a friendly, sympathetic, and analytical person. I like helping others and examining information at length. I work well with others, and I enjoy developing a positive work environment.
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Daisy Pelloni
My name is Daisy Pelloni and I am from Varese, Italy. After my graduation in dental hygiene, I moved to London where I could live in a more inspiring atmosphere, dealing with people from all over the world with different cultures and point of views. That experience taught me to be more sensitive about social problems and since I have been living here in Brussels, I have realized that I also have to do something in a concrete way if I want to live in a better and more sustainable world. Elanet is my first step towards this goal because it is the proof that if we want, we can be responsible as people and as entrepreneurs.
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Miguel Alejandro Chukiwanka Quiñones
My name is Miguel Chukiwanka, from Arequipa, Peru. I am an industrial engineer with a specialization in Human Resources Management and I have more than 5 years of experience in different areas, especially in the mining sector, from Process Control to Labor Relations. I firmly believe in changing customs and attitudes in public transport to combat climate change and I am passionate about soccer and trail running.
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Anxhelo Gorea
My name is Anxhelo Gorea, I was born in Durrës, Albania. I’m graduated at the University of Tirana, Faculty Social Sciences , Bachelor in Administration and Social Policy , i have volunteer for one year at the United Nations Youth Association in the department of Human Resources and the last year I have worked as a felid tax officer in the regional directory of Taxes of Durrës.
I also have been part of 2 incubator programs one from Yunus Social business and the other from start up live Tirana.
Alumni
Prof. dr.
Abel Diaz Gonzalez
"Ecosystems and universities in support of social entrepreneurship"
abelaland@gmail.com
Abel worked on the social entrepreneurship ecosystems and their support networks.
His research focuses on how to develop/build supportive ecosystems in support of social entrepreneurs. He wants to study different types of ecosystems and levels, including research on exemplary supportive ecosystems already operating.
His research will cover several places in Latin America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia), which are ideal settings to see evidence of the most pressing social challenges and where a lot of work is needed for supporting social entrepreneurs.
Prof. dr.
Philippe Eiselein
"Managing social enterprises: scaling and conflicting objectives"
philippe.eiselein@vub.be
Philippe has been working on how social enterprises can be managed from a scaling and conflicting objectives point of view.
He used both qualitative and quantitative research, and presented his research over a dozen of international conferences.
Prof. dr.
Ivan Bozhikin
Founding Partners
Olivier Vanden Eynde
Founder & Managing Director
Close The Gap
Charlotte Shaw
CSR Manager
Euroclear
National Bank of Belgium
