Andreas R. Kirchschläger is a founding partner and Managing Director of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization and Delegate of the Board of Trustees of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation.

The purpose of elea is to fight absolute poverty with entrepreneurial means. As a philanthropic impact investor, elea focuses on investments in the areas of agricultural value chains, last-mile supply, employment-related skills and climate and livelihoods.

Since its establishment in 1978, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation has been committed to a free economic and social order. As an independent institution, the foundation promotes dialog between politics, business and civil society in order to strengthen the foundations of an open society in Switzerland.

Andreas Kirchschläger is also a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Earth Capital AG, an independent global impact investment company, and a senior advisor at Houlihan Lokey, a leading global investment bank. He is also a member of the University Council of the University of St. Gallen, a member of the Advisory Board of the elea Center for Social Innovation at IMD Lausanne and a member of the Board of Trustees of the St. Gallen Endowment for Prosperity through Trade and the HSG Foundation.

As Managing Director and Delegate of the Board of Trustees of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies, he was responsible for the annual International Management Symposium St. Gallen for over ten years. Andreas Kirchschläger graduated from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) with a degree in law and economics.