Born in Germany, Nelly grew up in different parts of the world ranging from Guinea (Conakry) to Hamburg and has become an avid traveler. After graduating from the University of Glasgow with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, she went on to finish her Masters in Psychology & Management at the International School of Management in Hamburg. 

In the scope of her studies, her interest in innovation as well as sustainable management were triggered while completing her year abroad at Boston University, where she increasingly saw the need for companies to change their traditional business models into more sustainable ones. Blending digital technologies and sustainability, Nelly’s Master thesis consisted in investigating the potential gain that NGOs could obtain from Virtual Reality.

For the past two years, she explored the digital world even further, working as a researcher for an Information Technology company, in the sectors of Internet and eCommerce. Now, her goal is to combine her previous knowledge to explore the mechanisms of open innovation ecosystems and how companies can work together to reach environmentally sustainable goals.

Research interests: Innovation, open innovation, digital transformation, sustainability, environment, innovation ecosystems, circular economy, digital ecosystems.

Host institution: Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Italy