#NORA Breakfast Seminar: Positioning Business Leaders as Political Actors

Her research interests are comparative political communications, political parties and public affairs. She was Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Modern German Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012/13 and has been a visiting fellow at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, and the Australian National University in Canberra. Römmele is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for Political Consulting and Policy Advice and works as a consultant to political and corporate campaigns. She obtained her master's degree from the San Francisco University within a Cross-Registration Program with the University of California at Berkeley, a PhD from Heidelberg University, and a habilitation from the Free University of Berlin.

She served as Chair of Democrats Abroad for eight years during President Obama's tenure. She has been a key advocate for Americans in Norway, frequently appearing on major TV and radio channels and numerous panels to discuss political issues.  With 35 years of international experience, including over 20 years in top management in Norway, Lisa sits on several boards. She is the founder and CEO of a non-profit dedicated to social change through mentoring, as well as a for-profit consulting firm specializing in strategy and organizational development in diversity and inclusion across various sectors. A pioneer in Norway's diversity field, Lisa is renowned for helping companies develop and operationalize their diversity and inclusion goals into contextually relevant initiatives that change behaviors. She has a bachelor’s in marketing from Penn State University and an MBA with honors from Oslo Handelshøyskole now part of BI Norwegian Business School.  

She is founder, ex leader of BI Centre for Corporate Communication, now NORA. Her research interests are corporate branding, corporate social responsibility, and reputation. Her works are published in numerous international journals and she has co-authored or co-edited several books, including authorship of Åpen eller Innadvendt: Omdømmebygging for Organisasjoner, 2d edition, and co-editor  with Professor Jan Ketil Arnulf of Kommunikasjon for Lederer og Organisasjsoner.  She recently was recognized by the European Public Relations and Research Association as a distinguished scholar in Public Relations. She has a bachelor’s degree in PR from the University of Georgia, an MBA from Georgia State University, and a DBA from Henley Business School in the UK. 

He has had an eclectic career leading public policymaking, advocacy, strategic communications and planning in the NGO sector and government. He’s been an epidemiologist at the New York State Health Department, a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, staff director of President Reagan’s Task Force on the Arts and Humanities, an administrator and instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California and chief communications officer for three large philanthropies: Pew, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors (history) from Hamilton College and a master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins. David emigrated from the U.S. to Norway in 2019 and lives in Tønsberg with his wife Merete and their Labrador retriever.

He is a central board member of the Norwegian libertarian party, and a founding board member of the Søren Jaabæk Institute. Born in Kodiak, Alaska, he grew up in both Alaska and Arizona before leaving home at 14 for a military academy. Austin then served in military intelligence for seven years, worked in politics, public relations, marketing communications, and today works primarily in IT. Since emigrating from the United States, he has traveled much of the world and has lived in Norway for 10 years with his Norwegian wife and their four children. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology and holds dual citizenship in Norway and the US.

He has been a member of Orkla's group management since 2012. He was director of Corporate Affairs at Orkla Brands in the period 2008–2012. Before this, from 1995 to 2008, he was information director at Orkla Foods. From 1993 to 1995 he was director of government relations at Orkla Foods in Brussels, and in the period 1991–1993 he was executive secretary at Nora Foods. Mageli worked as a journalist in Dagens Næringsliv from 1985 to 1990. He is chairman of NHO Mat og Drikke, chairman of NHO's trade policy committee and chairman of Stiftelsen Norsk Mat. Civil economist from BI School of Business in Oslo, The Executive Programme from Darden School of Business in Virginia.

She has 20 years' experience as a journalist and manager in the Norwegian press and previously worked as head of communications and marketing in the employee organization Delta. She has a degree in political science from the University of Oslo and a journalism degree from the English Darlington College of Technology.