CRISTINA RIESEN
Hello, I am Cristina
My inner fire is fuelled by creativity and an insatiable interest in
entrepreneurship, education, innovation and technology.
Enthusiast by nature and lifelong learner by design,
I belong to a growing global community of entrepreneurs supporting
positive change in the world.
Cristina Riesen is a seasoned entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the fields of strategic communications, innovation, technology and education. A lifelong learner by design,
she is an EMScom graduate, certified strategic foresight practitioner and
design thinking professional.
In recent years, Cristina was actively involved in the tech startup world,
was General Manager EMEA at Evernote,
managed the launch of the Swiss Edtech Collider at EPFL Lausanne,
worked with the Strategic Development team at ETH Zurich
and founded Educreators Foundation,
an impact network supporting systemic change in education.
She is currently a Board Member of the European Innovation Council, a game-changing novelty of Horizon Europe and by far the most ambitious innovation initiative that Europe has taken.
With a budget of €10 billion for the period 2021-2027, it supports startups, SMEs and research teams developing high-risk, high-impact breakthrough innovations.
Cristina was named Digital Shaper by the leading Swiss economic
magazine Bilanz in 2019 and 2020.
Current Projects
Educreators Foundation
Founder and CEO
An impact network on a mission to support systemic change in education through participatory design, innovation and entrepreneurship. Informed by research and working closely with strategic partners, we create initiatives aiming to deeply help transform primary and secondary education in Switzerland and beyond.
European Innovation Council (EIC)
Board Member
Under the Horizon Europe legislation, the Board has the role to guide the implementation of the EIC as Europe’s flagship innovation programme with a budget of EUR 10 billion, supporting game-changing innovations throughout the lifecycle from early stage research to the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs. In particular, the Board advises on the EIC strategy, work programme and thematic portfolios in order to maximise the impact of the EIC. It may also advise on broader innovation policy matters.
DigiEduHack
Steering Board Member
DigiEduHack is an EIT initiative under the European Commission's Digital Education Action Plan, led by EIT Climate-KIC and coordinated by Aalto University. The last edition happened online and offline on November 9th and 10th, 2021. DigiEduHack is free, inclusive, sustainable, and open to anyone worldwide. Join us and co-create the future of education in the digital age!
UPCOMING AND PAST EVENTS
November 10, 2021 - PH Bern Schule braucht Persönlichkeit
November 9, 2021 - ResetEdu Education Innovation through Hackathons
November 9 - DigiEduHack Main Event Digital Education - Human by Design
November 4, 2021 - ACA, swissuniversities and movetia Innovation through Internationalisation
October 18, 2021 - DigiEduHack Podcast Social and Emotional Skills Online
May 18, 2021 - Movetia Conference Acquérir aujourd’hui les compétences de demain
March 31, 2021 - Ludovia Comment créer l'école du futur
January 26, 2021 - Next Gen Enterprise How the Next Gen Enterprise Uses Adaptive Learning to Thrive
November 8, 2020 - NexHack EdTech Swissnex India and Movetia
October 13, 2020 - CAETS Seoul Education for Smart Society
June 24, 2020 - BPW Zurich Designing Change
November 28, 2019 - Didacta Digital Swiss Digital Transformation at School
November 27, 2019 - We Shape Tech Role Models
November 21, 2019 - WISE Summit Doha Computational Thinking Unplugged
November 7, 2019 - Swiss Embassy, New Dehli Women in AI and Technology
October 2, 2019 - Digi Edu Hack Helsinki Innovative Pedagogies and Learning Spaces
September 19, 2019 - TEDx Lausanne Creating the School of the Future
September 6, 2019 - Ada Lovelace Festival Switzerland Satellite Becoming a Change Maker
July 1, 2019 - World Conference of Science Journalism Lausanne Jacobs Foundation pre-conference event Workshop on Storytelling in Science Journalism
June 25, 2019 - Tamedia TX Transforming Everyday Spaces in Learning Opportunities
June 12, 2019 - The Ark InnoVibes Making Space for Creativity in SMEs Workshop
May 21, 2019 - Council of the European Union Developing Digital and Entrepreneurship Competences in Early Childhood Education
April 3, 2019 - Intrinsic Lab Zurich The Future of Education
March 29, 2019 - Elternlobby Bern Bildung Im Wandel
June 20, 2018 - Gotham Lausanne The Future of Work
May 25, 2018 - Cross- MBA Alumni Event The Future of Work
May 8, 2018 - Swiss Tech Talks The Future of Edtech
April 19, 2018 - Startup Grind Zurich Fireside Chat Entrepreneurship
February 5, 2018 - MassChallenge Switzerland High Impact Entrepreneurship
May 18, 2017 - Switzerland Global Enterprise Forum SME Business Models in a Digital Age
May 9, 2017 - HEG Geneva The Power of Communities in the Digital Age
April 28, 2017 - Plan International @ Google Zurich International Day Girls in ICT
April 27, 2017 - Swiss EdTech Collider official opening at EPFL Lausanne
March 10-11, 2017 - STRIDE Zurich Future and Emerging Technologies Compass
February 2, 2017 - The Swiss Fintech Convention Geneva Social Impact in Fintech
November 18-19, 2016 - STRIDE Lab Zurich Future and Emerging Technologies Lab
November 11, 2016 - TEDx Zurich People First - Plea for a Daily Creative Act
November 7, 2016 - Impact Hub Zurich How Future and Emerging Technologies Shape Our World
October 28, 2016 - Keynote "Global Digital Trends" at Forum cinfo 2016 Bern A Journey in International Cooperation
TEDx Lausanne 2019
Creating the School of the Future
How Radical Collaboration is Shaping the Future of Schools
At TEDxLausanne 2019 Cristina Riesen challenged you to open your hearts and minds to a revolution in education.
Watch the interview at CNN Money Switzerland here.
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