
Inspire - Implement - Impact
IGNITE
Conference
At the University of St. Gallen
Switzerland
16. - 17. November 2016
About the IGNITE Conference
Our Vision: Drawing a path towards a more meaningful business world.
At IGNITE, we question the business as usual paradigm, challenge the status quo, and are committed to a more purpose-filled world. When you sign up for the IGNITE Conference 2016, you too can become a part of the movement!
We will start by taking a bird’s eye view on the topic of purpose by learning about the businesses and the rationale behind the Conscious Capitalism Movement.
Next, we’ll zoom in and concentrate on you - yes, you! Two guest speakers from the United States and Canada will be coming to St.Gallen exclusively to help you explore your own purpose, along with some tools on how to enact upon it.
Lastly, we invite you to discover various companies from Switzerland and abroad approaching the topics of leadership and organizational culture from their own unique perspectives.
So, help us create a more meaningful business world by joining the #ignitemvmt
Leadership
Inspirational Leadership: How to become an inspired and inspirational leader? How to create a common vision in your organization that everyone can live by?
Culture
Strong Company Culture: How to create a strong company culture and values that enable the team members to become an active part of the organization? How to support each other to best realize individual and collective potential? How to create accountability?
Society
Positive Impact on Society: How to reinforce society through business? How to combine profit and positive impact?
A message from the speakers: Discover Your Why. Realize Your Leadership.
Very few people and organizations, however, can clearly articulate Why they do what they do. When we clearly understand our own Why (purpose, cause or belief ), we can gain a greater sense of meaning in our work and play. Once the Why is established at the individual level, we can extrapolate this information and use it in conjunction with that of our colleagues to help shape the vision of the organizations and communities of which we are a part.
About the Speakers
SPEAKERS OF THE 2016 ignite conference
The 2016 Conference will host successful business leaders who are as diverse as the industries they work in and countries they come from. Their inputs on the topic of purpose-driven business combined with their impressive personal and practical experience makes each of our speakers an indispensable actor of the IGNITE Movement. The strong relationships built with them throughout the year preceding the conference has enabled us to set the scene for a revolutionizing and inspirational journey. The 2016 IGNITE Conference will represent an essential milestone on this journey.

Pa M. K. Sinyan
Country manager @ Gallup (DE)
Pa M. K. Sinyan
Country manager @ Gallup (DE)
“Worldwide, only 13% of employees are engaged at work”
Pa M. K. Sinyan is Gallup’s Country manager for Germany since 2015. Gallup counsels companies and provides statistics to help businesses overcome their challenges. Pa uses his knowledge of employee engagement, organizational culture and the power of leadership to inspire and train business leaders worldwide. His insights into worker engagement, his charisma and his inspirational personality made his presence memorable at the Ignite Conference in 2015.
Matt Whiat
Co-founding partner @ Barry-Wehmiller Leadership University in St. Louis (USA)Matt Whiat
Co-founding partner @ Barry-Wehmiller Leadership University in St. Louis (USA)
““ I hope that one day someone that I will never meet, in an organization I have never heard of, in a place and time I will not occupy, will be touched positively by our efforts today.”
Matt is a co-founder of the Barry-Wehmiller Leadership University in St. Louis (USA)
Matt draws on 20 years of leadership experience. Matt’s previous roles include service in the United Nations, working with NATO partners, boot camp squadron commander and service on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He now works for Barry-Wehmiller, a global manufacturing company with more than 9,000 employees and 90 businesses. What resonated with IGNITE about the Barry-Wehmiller story was their drastic switch from a financially-driven company to a human-centric enterprise. They have shown us what it really means to create a working environment in which everyone matters. During the 2008 financial crisis, some of Barry-Wehmiller’s major clients withdrew their orders, which made the company financially unstable. Instead of firing employees because of poor market conditions, Barry-Wehmiller put their values to the test, and decided instead to retain staff.
Carl Elsener
CEO @ Victorinox (CH)Carl Elsener
CEO @ Victorinox (CH)
“Did not fire any employee after the attacks on September 11th 2001, despite a 30 percent decline in revenues.”
CEO of the Swiss manufacturing company and family business Victorinox, maker of the iconic Swiss army knives. While adhering to the company's traditional values and, at the same time being innovative, he has succeeded in bringing Victorinox into the 21st century, by establishing an employee-oriented management system. For instance, he has implemented long-term employment, training and development opportunities and has strongly emphasized, among other policies, the integration of young and older workers. His profound commitment to the family of Victorinox employees means that the company has adopted a policy of never firing staff for economic reasons.
Stephen Shedletzky
Head Engagement Officer @ Start With Why (USA)Stephen Shedletzky
Head Engagement Officer @ Start With Why (USA)
“My Why is to engage people in meaningful ways so that we live in a more fulfilled world.”
"Stephen is the Head Engagement Officer on Simon Sinek’s team at Start With Why. He supports leaders in creating environments in which people are inspired to go to work, where they feel safe and where they belong. Simon Sinek’s TED Talk at Puget Sound (the third most viewed TED Talk ever) helped define the essence of IGNITE, and guided us to ask ourselves WHY? What is the purpose of our organization? Whom do we serve? The work of the Start With Why team has been crucial in helping to shape our understanding of purpose-driven business and leadership"
Andreas Renner
CEO GEXSI, B-Lab partner (DE)Andreas Renner
CEO GEXSI, B-Lab partner (DE)
“Good Governance & Innovation as a force for good”
Dr. Andreas Renner, CEO of GEXSI, B Lab partner of the movement of Certi ed Bene t Corporations and founder of Impact Union, a crowdfunding initiative of Sosense, Zurich/ Berlin.
B Lab’s vision is stakeholder oriented economy where companies compete to be best for the world rather than just best in the world, this new hybrid movement including more than 1000 companies, which are certi ed and ranked by the value they bring to the community, their employees and the environment. Ben & Jerry’s and Pantagonia are some of its best known representatives.
Discover how business can be a tool for social change and the framework behind the B-Corp movement.
Francesco Zoppi ; Daniel Sigrist
HR Development Specialists @ Swisscom (CH)Francesco Zoppi ; Daniel Sigrist
HR Development Specialists @ Swisscom (CH)
“Give all employees a sense of purpose and personal responsibility over the long term”
Francesco Zoppi and Daniel Sigrist work in the HR department and focuses on Leadership Development at Swisscom. With more than 21,000 employees, Swisscom is Switzerland’s leading telecom provider. An important aim of Swisscom’s strategy is to become one of Switzerland's most attractive employers by 2020. In order to enhance and develop its corporate culture and increase employee engagement, Swisscom has started to implement multiple unconventional and innovative measures, including Holacracy, in the past few years. The topic of the workshop will be Holacracy and Leadership, with a particular emphasis on Swisscom's leadership map created specially for the company.
IGNITE in numbers
Two intense days, all about a more meaningful business world
120
Company and Student Participants
11
Speakers from 3 continents
16%
Engaged Employees in Switzerland
Program
About the Program
During the various keynotes, the participants will gain precious insights in different purpose-driven businesses. The traditional view of doing business will be confronted with the experiences of business leaders who, through their work, will show new and disruptive ways that business can be done. In addition to the keynotes, the interactive workshops will allow the participants not only to be spectators of the IGNITE Movement but to actually take part in it.
IGNITE Conference 2015
Check out how last year´s conference kicked off our movement!
Check out more info from the conference last year!
Download Final Report Conference 2015Check out a short video from last year!
Students and Accademia
Students and Academia
Free for Students and Academia
Only 100 places available
Partners
Thank you to all our partners who share IGNITE's believe in the positive power of business
Click on the logos to see what is our partners' vision and why they support the IGNITE Movement.
Your contribution matters. Join IGNITE on its journey and help us to continue growing. Have we sparked your interest? If you would like to find out more about IGNITE or become a partner please contactbm@ignite-movement.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Vision Partners
Our vision partners share the vision IGNITE stands for. They inspire us, support us in many ways and have showed us some of the best-practices that prove that many purpose-driven businesses are very successful. Besides that, they are also participants at our conference, take part in the workshops and keynotes and give us an additional perspective in our discussions.
Corporate Partners
Our corporate partners are companies that can relate to the topics of IGNITE and share similar values with us. They see the challenges today’s businesses face first-hand and agree with us on how business should be done. Besides their important financial support, they are participants at our conference, take part in the workshops and keynotes and allow us to create meaningful interactions between students and corporate representatives.
Collaborators
Our collaborators are companies and organizations that support IGNITE with different services and help the movement grow. They allow us to share the insights of the IGNITE Movement with the best tools, such as an updated web page or by connecting IGNITE with other students and universities.
Supported in kind
Our various supporters and sponsors of food and beverages allow us to offer caterings to all of our participants. Through their products and services, we can guarantee a delightful and pleasing experience and provide refreshing drinks and delicious snacks for the attendees of the conference.

Venue
Why the University of St.Gallen
The HSG is deeply involved in the surrounding
community, with faculty personally supporting
roughly 300 businesses in the region. Passionate
and excellence-driven culture makes the HSG a
suitable location for our conference.