Team members
The team of research centre Global Minds @ Work consists of 6 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)
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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
'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.'
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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.