PARTNER AT THE IMPACT LAB
Geneviève (Giny) Laroche holds a Master in Political Science, a Bachelor degree in Cultural Management and certificates in territorial cultural development strategies and moderation of design thinking and open innovation processes. Former head of the minister’s office and spokeswoman of the Minister of Culture of Luxemburg, she, inter alia, supervised and monitored the implementation of national strategies and projects of great national interest and was board member of several cultural institutions.

As member of the department of regional cultural affairs, a crucial aspect of her tasks had been to provide advice and assistance to local, regional and national political and cultural players on cultural management, audience engagement/cultural mediation, marketing, communication, educational offer and concept development issues. In her actual role as co-founding partner of The Impact Lab, she is brought i.e. to develop museography and strategic cultural development concepts for the government, municipalities and foundations and to provide mentoring and support to cultural players.

Giny overall specialized in policy advisory, development of positioning strategies, territorial analysis and development, cultural and creative tourism, strategic concept development. She regularly serves as national and international advisor regarding the elaboration of participatory processes in culture with strong focus on cross-sector human centred approaches aiming to promote sustainable social impact. Giny is also core member of the European Innovation Council Jury who selects innovations for funding under the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument and is part of the pool of experts to the Panel of the European Capital of Culture action.

PARTNER AT THE IMPACT LAB
Dr Lidia Gryszkiewicz has 15+ years of consulting experience with Arthur D. Little, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, and as the co-founding partner of The Impact Lab, the latter with strong focus on cultural sector and policy innovation. For instance, Lidia helped establish the Impact Research programme of the European Capital of Culture 2022 to be held in the region of Luxembourg, with a robust research plan spanning identified 170+ internal and external data sources, research agreements with research institutes and academia, market research companies, international media analytics agencies, national statistical office and independent statistics expert in culture, mayors and cultural departments of several cities, ministry of culture, owners of 150+ international cultural projects, etc.

Other experience includes work with both leading and local museums in Luxembourg to develop strategic plans and concepts based on in-depth qualitative and quantitative research and according to the latest social, environmental, technological and economic trends. Lidia has also been regularly hired as independent expert for the European Commission, European Education and Culture Executive Agency, Research Executive Agency, European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), national governments and more. She holds a PhD in innovation management (economics and social sciences) and two Master’s degrees in business administration, along with certificates from the Oxford and Harvard universities on impact and creating shared value, respectively.

Monique Borsenberger has worked as a social researcher at LISER  (previously CEPS/INTEAD) since 1993.
Her current research focuses on  social cohesion, values, religion and cultural practices. She holds a  Master in Sociology (FR) and a Master in Geography (FR/DE) and is  currently doing a part-time PhD in Social science at Social Research Institute (SRI) at University College London (UCL).

Between 2009 and 2012, she coordinated the  research unit “Social Links” dedicated to the analysis of social  cohesion, values, culture, religion, and intergenerational solidarity. 
From 1994 to 2010, she acted as national expert for different research  groups at European level.

Since 2016, Jean Reitz has worked as a historian and independent consultant. He is actively engaged as a historian, consultant, and independent designer of cultural projects. He advises municipal administrations, government ministries, and museums, and has curated major national exhibitions on both historical subjects—such as the Gëlle Fra, the First and Second World Wars—and artistic themes, including Picasso and Jean Cocteau.

From 2002 to 2016, he served as Director of the Luxembourg Agency for Cultural Action, a resource center for cultural stakeholders. Under his leadership, the agency launched several key initiatives, including Relais Culture Europe, the national ticketing system, and the cross-border cultural portal of the Greater Region, www.plurio.net. He also acted as a lead partner or contributor to various European cultural projects.

Between 1992 and 2002, he led the regional branch of the Ministry of Culture in Esch-sur-Alzette, where he was responsible for shaping cultural policy at the local and regional levels and promoting cross-border cooperation within the Greater Region. From 1997 to 2002, he served as Secretary of the “Cultural Affairs” Working Group of the Saar-Lor-Lux Cross-border Regional Commission, and later of the Greater Region, playing a central role in launching and managing several cross-border initiatives.

Jean Reitz has also been closely involved in the European Capital of Culture programs hosted in Luxembourg. He served as regional advisor to Director Claude Frisoni and project coordinator in 1995; as board member and project manager in 2007; and as advisor to municipal administrations and project organizer in 2022.

From 1998 to 2015, he was Luxembourg’s national coordinator for the "Pépinières Européennes pour Jeunes Artistes" and served as President of the European network from 2007 to 2013.