Ann Mettler Ann Mettler is executive director and co-founder of the Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based knowledge economy think tank and innovation policy network. In addition, she serves as executive director of the European Digital Forum, a new think tank spearheaded by the Lisbon Council and Nesta, in collaboration with the Startup Europe Partnership and the European Commission.
From 2000-2003, Ms. Mettler worked at the World Economic Forum, where she last served as Director for Europe. Prior to this appointment, she was responsible for the World Economic Forum’s activities in the United States and Canada.
From 1997-2000, Ms. Mettler held positions on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the United States Senate, a strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC and the Foreign Policy Division of the European Commission, Brussels.
Ms. Mettler is widely published and quoted in key media outlets, such as the Financial Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal Europe, International Herald Tribune, Business Week and Newsweek. She has provided analysis of current affairs on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and BBC, and is a frequent speaker at high-level conferences across Europe. Ms. Mettler is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Europe and serves on the international advisory boards of the Telefónica ‘Think Big’ initiative and the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation. In 2006, she was named a young leader by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt.
A dual citizen of Germany and Sweden, Ms. Mettler has lived and worked in Greece, the United States, Switzerland and Belgium. She holds Masters degrees in political science and European law and economics, and graduated with distinction from the University of New Mexico, USA, and the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn, Germany.