Team members
The team of research centre Global Minds @ Work consists of 8 members led by professor Ankie Hoefnagels.
Lector
'On spaceship earth, there are no passengers. We are all crew.'
(Marshall Mc Luhan)
Ankie Hoefnagels
Ankie Hoefnagels is a passionate advocate for cultivating a global mindset in professional settings. She is a professor and the chair of the Zuyd Research Centre Global Minds at Work. Ankie earned her Master of Arts in English and Literary Studies from Utrecht University, followed by a PhD from the Nijmegen School of Management. Her doctoral research focused on the role of intercultural competence within the hospitality industry, exploring its impact from the perspectives of managers, employees, and guests. This research, along with her extensive fieldwork in the hospitality sector and experience teaching in international classrooms, has deepened her commitment to advancing the development of a global mindset. She believes that fostering this mindset is crucial for enhancing relationship quality across all professional domains.
Ankie is the founder of the Global Mind Monitor, a tool now utilized by over 25 universities in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, and Ecuador. She also serves as vice chair of the Graduate Committee for the Professional Doctorate in Leisure, Tourism, and Hospitality.
Ankie has made significant contributions to the academic community, publishing articles in several international journals and edited books. She is also the co-author of a book on intercultural communication in the tourism and hospitality industry. Outside of her academic work, Ankie is a regular columnist for Dagblad De Limburger and an education and society analyst for L1 Radio.
In 2023, Ankie had the honor of being the Walter Conti Professor at the Hospitality Management School of Penn State University in the United States, where she furthered her expertise in hospitality management on a global scale.
Ankie is also an integral part of the management team at the Hotel Management School Maastricht. She maintains professional affiliations with SIETAR, ICC Global, EuroChrie, and THE-ICE.
Her work reflects a commitment to the practical application of intercultural competence in transforming professional environments. It is Ankie’s drive to inspire and connect others to embrace diversity, empathy, and cross-cultural understanding in their careers.
Senior Researcher
'The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.'
(Hans Rosling)
Joris Boonen
Joris Boonen, born and raised in Belgium, studied Political Science (PhD, KU Leuven, 2016) and Journalism Studies (MA, VUB, 2011). He is a lecturer and thesis coordinator at the interdisciplinary B.Sc. Global Studies (Maastricht University), and affiliated as an assistant professor in Journalism at the Free University of Brussels (Master of Journalism program).
Lecturer Researcher
'To fight fear and ignorance, to eliminate little by little the subjection.' (Amilcar Cabral)
read more
Albert Mhangami
Albert is a PhD candidate and lecturer at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a Zimbabwean scholar with a background in Africa and great power competition based off expertise in Chinese politics, foreign policy and International relations (MA, Tsinghua University, 2021), and European Law with a specialization in human and legal decision making (LLB, Maastricht University, 2019).
Within the research centre Global Minds at Work, Albert is mainly responsible for the exploration of the database on intercultural competence and the interventions that influence its development. He largely uses quantitative methods and empirical findings for his research. His current work is focused on how the international experiences individuals have shape their intercultural competence, how higher education interventions influence these competencies, and how these interventions and the development of intercultural competence influence professional choices and experiences.
Lecturer Researcher
'Never judge a book by its cover.' (George Eliot)
read more
Hilde Hanegreefs
Hilde Hanegreefs got her PhD in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Leuven (2008). Her linguistic and economical background explains her interest in business communication and, more specifically, in promoting language as a means to smoothen organizational changes and achieve organizational goals.
In a multicultural society and business world, striving for sustainable communicative relationships naturally goes hand in hand with recognizing and overcoming intercultural differences. Therefore, Hilde’s field of expertise can best be situated at the intersection between linguistics, professional communication and behavioral sciences, with a particular interest for topics related to internationalization and global competence.
Hilde is supervising the Global Minds track at the Hotel Management School Maastricht, embedding global competence in the education and training of future hospitality managers. As a researcher she actively contributes to two Zuyd research centres: ‘Global Minds @ Work’ and its partnering research center ‘Professional Communication in a Digitalizing Society’
Lecturer Researcher
'In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.'
(Maya Angelou)
Marlene van Heel - Bradbury
Marlene van Heel - Bradbury was born in Sydney and lived in Australia for 24 years before living in Tokyo, Japan for 6 years and finally settling down in the Netherlands. Being interested in language and culture from a young age, Marlene studied Japanese and Chinese language and culture (Bachelor of Arts, Queensland University) followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, majoring in Japanese (Queensland University).
When she came to the Netherlands, she furthered her studies with a Bachelor in Education (English language and literature, Cum Laude, Fontys University of Applied Sciences) which was quickly followed by a Master in Education from the same educational institute.
These days, Marlene teaches English and intercultural sensitivity and awareness at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and is an enthusiastic member of the Global Minds @ Work research center. Her research is fueled by her strong interest in promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and intercultural understanding.
Senior Researcher
'If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.'
(Kurt Lewin)
Tom Kuypers
Tom Kuypers (Sittard, the Netherlands, 1985) studied International Business Studies (MSc) at Maastricht University and obtained his doctoral degree (PhD) at Maastricht University. His doctoral research focused on team dynamics, and more specifically on the effects that turnover can have on conflict, commitment, and performance within teams in the healthcare industry. His research interests broadly include organizational behavior, team behavior and team processes. His experiences as a researcher and teacher have been in international environments exclusively, with a strong link to the professional field. This fuels his continuous curiosity in workplace dynamics and the importance of developing a global mind.
Tom is a senior lecturer at Hotel Management School Maastricht, where he teaches courses in Strategic Management, Research Skills, and HRM. Furthermore, he is the coordinator of the minor ‘Leading People and Culture in a Changing World, and he supervises graduation projects and management interns.
Lecturer Researcher
'Wisdom is like a Baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.'
read more
Martine Prins
Martine Prins holds a Master degree in African Studies from Leiden University and lived and worked in different countries in Africa and Europe. She was involved in various research projects in Namibia and Cameroon, focusing on African History and Community Based Natural Resource Management and later worked as a technical advisor to several international cooperation programmes in Cameroon.
After she moved back to Europe she started working for Maastricht University as a project manager for capacity building programmes in higher education in low- and middle resource countries, such as Ukraine, Indonesia and Malaysia. Since 2012 she works for Zuyd and is engaged in a wide range of activities. She is a lecturer at the School of European Studies and contributes to the integration of global competence in the new curriculum. Furthermore she is involved in various international projects and initiatives, such as Erasmus+ mobility programmes outside Europe, internship projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the organization of a Euregional Summerschool. Her professional interest is inspired by international cooperation and sustainable development.
Within the research centre Global Minds @ Work she works on the optimal integration of the Global Mind Monitor in different educational settings, among which institutes of vocational training. Besides, she focuses on research in the Euregio, and has developed a genuine interest in topics concerning diversity, inclusion and equity.
Management Assistant
'Plans are nothing, planning is everything.'
(Albert Einstein)
Lyvie Schoenmaeckers
Lyvie got her Bachelor of Business Administration at Zuyd Hogeschool (2018) with a specialization in Event Management.
With a background in the leisure and business event industry she came to the Hotel Management School Maastricht six years ago. She started her career at the Hotel Management School Maastricht as the management assistant of the Teaching Hotel. Since three years she transferred to the educational sight of HMSM and has been working as a management assistant for the Research Centres, Global Minds @ Work and Future of Food. Besides her role as management assistant she is also working as support officer for several projects.
Lecturer Researcher
Taste is an acquired disposition to 'differentiate' and 'appreciate'; it is the product of upbringing and education that becomes embodied as a habitus. (Drawing on Bourdieu’s work: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979))
read more
Ilonka Omta
Ilonka Omta is a lecturer in Global Competence at the Hotel Management School Maastricht. With an academic background in organizational anthropology, she brings a deep understanding of cultural dynamics and management to her teaching and research. She holds an MSc in Organizational Anthropology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2006), where she specialized in analysing organizational cultures.
Her career has been shaped by international experiences, beginning as a Project Manager in Accra, Ghana, and later as an International Account Manager in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2012, she transitioned into the wines and spirits industry in France, deepening her expertise through the international OIV MSc in Wine Management at SupAgro University in Montpellier (2014). This intensive program allowed her to visit over 400 wine estates across 26 wine-producing countries in just one year, providing a unique perspective on the industry. Ilonka’s freelance work integrated market research, brand positioning, and storytelling with education and professional training, particularly for small and medium-sized wine and spirits producers in France. As a certified educator for WSET (Wines & Spirits Education Trust) and CIDS (Centre International des Spiritueux), she has trained industry professionals in category knowledge, production methods, and sensory analysis, equipping them with the skills to navigate global markets. She also serves as an international jury member for the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles – Spirits Selection, evaluating top-tier spirits from around the world.
Ilonka is currently engaged in a Living Lab project on Food Cultures, exploring how taste perception and cultural narratives shape dining experiences in hospitality settings. Her research investigates how the embodied experience of taste—shaped by memory, cultural narratives, and social interactions—affects food perception in hospitality. This research is a bridge between two research centres at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences: Global Minds @Work and Future of Food and focuses on Dutch and Belgian Limburg, as well as Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany.
ilonka.omta@zuyd.nl
Lecturer Researcher
"The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members." (Mahatma Ghandi)
read more
Esther Sarphatie
Esther is a graduate student from the Hotel Management School Maastricht and has a degree in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She worked for more than 20 years in the social domain of municipalities. For five years now, she works for the Dutch Association for Municipalities (VNG) supporting municipalities with changing and improving their access organisation for social support services.
Esther is a Candidate Professional Doctorate at the HMSM at the research group Global Minds at Work at the Hotel Management School Maastricht. Her researchproject is titled ‘The added value of hospitality to the public services of the social domain’. And is about the way in which hospitality can add value to municipalities' social services, given the complex challenges of access staff, so that they can provide hospitality-friendly support that is accessible to citizens.”
In her own neighborhood she is a community ethnographer and runs local projects in order to create a welcoming and hospitable stage where unheard citizens of Amsterdam North are heard, to increase inclusion and to reduce polarisation.