Dr. Birgit Niessner

My professional career introduced me to two very different worlds: Development Cooperation and the finance sector. In the first part I was working for the Austrian Development Cooperation who agrees with African governments on development endeavors which are then implemented by local or European NGOs. The umbrella under which this cooperation is taking place are the Sustainable Development Goals. The most fascinating experience was to be part of the peace negotiations for Burundi leading to the signing of the Arusha Accords in 2000. My second professional pillar also provided deep insights to me - I started my career in country risk during the Global Financial Crisis and after some very interesting years at Erste Group, I enjoyed a working semester at EIB and then took a deep dive into the geographically very exciting home market of RBI. Here I have had the chance to develop as a manager and be part of the experience of the New World of Work.