Sabine Pümpel
Initiator & Head of aws Sustainable Food Systems Initiative
Categories: Alumni, Private sector
***Alumna of the Ashoka Visionary Program (CEE) 2015/2016***
Sabine’s drive lies in the exploration, development, and sustainably anchoring of new “fields”: she played a significant role in the establishment of initial support shemes for the “creative economy” in Austria and initiated and now leads the “aws Sustainable Food Systems Initiative” (aws – Austria Wirtschaftsservice – public funding agency), which aims to support socially and ecologically relevant but (not yet) economically uncertain pioneer projects that provide impetus and contribute to the “transformation towards economically, ecologically, and socially just food systems.”
A strong personal interest and evident overlaps & synergies between the creative economy and social entrepreneurship motivated her to delve deeper: she is an alumna of the first round of the Visionary Program – these learnings were important catalysts for her and heavily influenced the later design of the “aws Sustainable Food Systems Initiative”.
Originally form Vorarlberg, she studied – after a Gap year in the US – international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her first professional stations were at MILKA and IKEA. A sabbatical led her 2014 to South Africa, where she volunteered in a township and a women’s shelter. She also serves on the OTELO (Ashoka Fellow) board.
