The etymological wealth in the word ‘resilience’ and the uniqueness of each experience to sustain it require learning from the others. That said, executives’ interest hardly goes beyond the experiences of their peers, which I find very risky because resilience in lives beyond the executive floor comes with richer lessons.
In line with the promise of this book to explore the criticality of socioeconomic resilience for the business world, in the selection of the contributors, I put a balanced emphasis between the corporate and the non-corporate realms.
With this wide aperture, between 2021 and 2023, I interviewed 23 distinguished contributors from the worlds of architecture, design, textile, art, opera, healthcare, dairy products, media, printing, humanitarian aid, publishing, digital platforms, manufacturing, transport, legal services, energy, fashion, retail, insurance, childhood products, urban regeneration, and venture capital.
Except a few, I met all the contributors for the first time for this book and I am grateful for everybody’s generosity with their time and insight, without which this book would have remained in my echo chamber.
Selahattin İlbey / Architect & Founder - Çağın Architecture Bureau
Nilüfer İlbey / Retired teacher – Social volunteer - Law School Student
Anders Byriel / CEO - Kvadrat A/S
Andy Hunter / Founder and CEO - Bookshop.org
Anke Eilergerhard / Visual artist
Antje von Dewitz / CEO - Vaude
Godfrey Worsdale, OBE / Art historian & Director - Henry Moore Foundation
Hans Ulrich Obrist / Artistic Director & Curator – Serpentine Galleries London
Jacob Kragh / CEO – Stokke
Ken Iwata / Director for Policy Research – Ministry of Land, Transport, Infrastructure and Infrastructure of Japan
Dr. Leopoldo Pagotto / Vice-Chair of the Anti-corruption Committee of the International Bar Association and Partner at FreitasLeite
Marc De Shutter / Chief Cycles & Procurement Officer and Board Member - Danone North America
Marsha Smith / CFO – Siemens Mobility Rail Infrastructure & Software Global Business Units
Masako Kubota / Fashion marketing professional
Önder Boyman / Former Investment Director - Swiss Post Ventures
Robert Read / Partner and Head of Art and Private Clients – Hiscox Insurance
Rossella Miccio / President – EMERGENCY
Sandra Kohen Filizer / Head of Sales - Ofset Yapimevi
Scott Kratz / Project Director - 11th Street Bridge Park Project
Stig Kirk Ørskov / CEO - JP/Politikens Hus
Şahan Bülbül / Intensive care unit nurse
Umberto Fanni / Director General & Artistic Director – Royal Opera House Muscat
Vaughn Perry / Director of Equity - 11th Street Bridge Park Project