Leaders for Impact

Moving between strategy and personal conviction, they will share how they navigate fragmented systems, short term pressures and the growing complexity that defines today’s landscape. The exchange will explore where they find the courage to act, how they balance competing demands and what it means to lead with intention when decisions carry weight.

Expect candid reflections on common hurdles: fragmented systems, short-term pressures, risk aversion, and equally grounded insights into what helps leaders stay focused, resilient, and connected to their purpose.

Participants will leave with renewed confidence that leadership for impact is not reserved for a few. It begins with choices each of us can make in our own context, and it grows through collective effort that shapes the world we want to live in.

Confirmed Speakers

Sandra Gerold: Country Manager, IKEA Austria
Sandra Gerold is the visionary retail leader driving IKEA’s mission and sustainable growth in Austria as its Country Manager. She spearheads the local strategy, focusing on elevating the brand’s commitment to people, positive customer experience, and circularity.

Stefan Wallner: CEO, Bündnis für Gemeinnützigkeit and Former Secretary General of Caritas Austria
A prominent leader of Austrian non-profit and social welfare work, Stefan Wallner currently serves as the CEO of the Bündnis für Gemeinnützigkeit (Civil Society Alliance Austria). He draws on an extensive career path, including experience as the Former Secretary General of Caritas Austria and Head of Cabinet to the Vice-Chancellor at the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service, and Sport.

Alma Zadić: Member of the Austrian Parliament. Former Minister of Justice
Dr. Alma Zadić, LL.M. was as a member of the Austrian National Council and worked as a lawyer in Vienna. She completed her doctoral studies in law at the University of Vienna and a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) at Columbia University in New York, USA. Her dedication to human rights and (social) justice drove her to politics. Those topics as well as democracy, transparency, gender equality, women empowerment and the fight against hate speech have always been a matter of great importance to her and are now at the centre of her political work.

Moderated by Alexandra Wolk, Organizational & Team Development Consultant
Alexandra Wolk is an organizational development consultant who supports organizations and teams in navigating change with strategic clarity and a strong sense for people and systems. With a background spanning consulting, social innovation and leadership, she brings a human-centered, systemic perspective that helps translate intention into meaningful impact.