Ancuța Vameșu is a Romanian expert in civil society and social economy, with over 30 years of experience in strengthening NGOs, cooperatives, credit unions, and social enterprises. She co-founded and directed the Civil Society Development Foundation and its Institute of Social Economy, and more recently the thinktank Laboratorul de Solidaritate, an affiliate of CIRIEC International, and Vicepresident of the Romanian Network of Social Economy. Her career included roles as an EU High-Level Adviser to the Government of Moldova and with the European Commission Delegation in Romania.
Trained in engineering, public administration, and policy evaluation, she has been a key advocate, researcher, and practitioner promoting social economy models and policies in Romania and beyond.
Keynote speech at Strategica 2025: Social economy - strategies for resilience in socio-economic crisis – lessons from Romania’s transition How social economy actors have evolved in Romania transitioning political and economical regimes – their role in providing economic opportunities to less favored and lessons we can draw from their resilience, some reflections on the role of social economy in creating a socially responsible business climate, and, as such a successful economy.
Dr. Rohan Christie-David is the Dean of the College of Business at Texas A&M University. He is an award-winning researcher. Professor Christie-David specializes in banking, financial derivatives, market microstructure, and corporate finance. With over more than 40 articles in elite and high-quality business journals, he was ranked among the “Most Prolific Authors in Finance Literature 1959-2008.” He has published in the Journal of Business, The Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Futures Markets, the Journal of Derivatives, the Review of Futures Markets, and others.
Dr. Christie-David holds an ACIB from The Chartered Institute of Bankers (London), now the Institute of Banking & Finance, London, an MBA (with Distinction) from Wake Forest and a PhD in (Business Administration: Finance) from the University of South Carolina.
Keynote speech at Strategica 2025: Political Heterogeneity, Subjective Optimism, and Stock Market Outcomes We demonstrate that political heterogeneity, proxied by the spread in subjective optimism between Democratic and Republican investors, affects stock market returns and volatility. Our intuition, drawn from the psychology literature on intergroup conflict, leads us to infer that increased political heterogeneity causes investors to become entrenched, not just in their political beliefs, but also in their economic outlook. Consequently, they become resistant to contrary news, and this behavior is linked to lower market volatility and higher market returns. These findings are further underpinned by evidence that shows idiosyncratic volatility, which reflects the level of stock responses to firm-specific information, to decrease as political heterogeneity increases.
Re-an Müller is an Associate Professor in Marketing Management and Deputy Director of the School of Management Sciences at North-West University (NWU) in South Africa, with 15 years of experience in higher education, including seven years in a leadership role. His research focuses on strategic brand management with a with a particular interest in brand equity. He also supports local entrepreneurs through training and consulting and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Advertising Association South Africa (IAA, SA).
Keynote speech at Strategica 2025: Purposeful Fun Meets Strategy: Proactively Building Resilience from the Inside-Out This keynote explores how strategic internal brand management, combined with purposeful fun, can help organisations build resilience from within. By treating engagement as a deliberate, energising tool, leaders can strengthen team alignment and proactively identify risks and opportunities. Discover how inside-out leadership and meaningful engagement can transform internal culture into a competitive advantage.