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Meet the Rational Games Board

Mark Young

Mark YoungNegotiation Expert, RGI President

Dr. Mark Young, the founder of Rational Games, is an independent author, trainer and consultant with many years´ practical and academic experience in the area of negotiation, mediation and conflict management skills. His theoretical work is tempered by practical lessons learned as a negotiator in government (US Department of Commerce) and in the field of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions in the US and Europe. Mark divides his time between Cambridge, Mass, Washington, DC and Berlin, Germany.

Raymond Cyr

Raymond CyrTreasurer

Raymond is a finance professional active in the controllers division of an international bank. Raymond’s experiences in both the nonprofit and for-profit business sectors come together to support the mission of Rational Games, Inc. Eager to support initiatives locally and globally which further work being done in the fields of conflict management, negotiation and mediation, Raymond is delighted to be serving Rational Games, Inc. in his capacity as Treasurer of the organization.

Ray is fluent in English and German.

Wayne LifshitzGrantee Relationships

Wayne Lifshitz is a 20 year professional with executive and senior level management experience in the non-profit, start-up and Big 5 consulting industries, and has worked with several large and globally recognized brands which have included CARE, Booz Allen, Nike, and WorldShop. Wayne is an entrepreneur, inventor, and strategic connector. He began his career in international development focused on social change where he was the Founder and Director for CARE’s Sport for Social Change Network [grant program] and later led a large grant portfolio for Booz Allen. At present, Wayne is the CEO of Kennin Co,. an entrepreneur and small business consulting firm, that is focused on COO as a service, strategy, strategic connections, general business consulting, KPI and project management and new business development. The firm works with tech start-ups, consumer goods manufacturers and non-profits on projects that improve short and long term growth and sustainability. He is also the inventor of the Piggyback Rider and other successful consumer products and works closely with LifecycleVC and Piranha Tank that help start-ups get seed funding.

Wayne obtained his Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and also holds a Master’s degree from Boston University. He has completed an MBA leadership certificate course at Cornell University and is a PMP and Certified Partnership Broker. In his free time, he’s a sailor, father, jujitsu blackbelt and USA National and World Team Judo competitor.

Norm ThomasNegotiation Trainer, Strategic Partnerships

Norm Thomas is a recognized industry leader in technology for professional services firms. He spent 8 years with Microsoft as Director of Industry Market Development for the Legal and Professional Services solutions business, focusing on customer engagement and channel-building in the services sector globally. Before joining Microsoft, Thomas was a Client Partner for Cambridge Technology Partners in enterprise-scale project management and client development, and before that was President of Softec Solutions, Inc., a systems integrator for small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from USC and an MBA in Finance from the University of Washington and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Washington.

Björn Hofmann

Björn HofmannNegotiation Trainer, RGI Board Secretary

Björn is a humanitarian aid worker with professional experience working for international organizations and for government departments. In addition to his regular work, Björn has been contributing to the ideas and work of RGI since 2009 as an independent trainer and consultant in negotiation skills. In 2014, Björn joined the Board of RGI as its newest member, supporting Rational Games in carrying forward the idea of constructive negotiations and of creative problem solving through seminars, and by strengthening RGI’s strategic partnership with other negotiation professionals. With his experience in the nonprofit and governance sector, Björn is able to bring new ideas to the work of RGI.

Björn is fluent in German and English and speaks French.

Associate Trainers

Catherine Mehrtens – Rational Games

Catherine MehrtensNegotiation Consultant, Coach

Catherine Mehrtens started her career in the Paris headquarters of the insurance company AXA. There she helped guide the strategic internationalization of the HR department which included negotiating and advising on the ensuing career paths for AXA executives and expatriates.

Since 2012 Catherine has worked as a freelance negotiation consultant, coach and trainer, serving both the private and public sectors. Her primary focus is the support of international change projects and strategic negotiations, particularly in the banking and insurance business, as well as healthcare and IT.

Catherine is a German citizen and is fluent in German, English, and French.

Jill Tanamal

Jill Tanamal BlackbyrnNegotiation Consultant, Trainer

Jill Tanamal has been a Research Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy Berlin - an institution of the Robert Bosch Stiftung in 2016. Her field of research was Mega Trends in South East Asia with the vision to enhance an informed and holistic understanding of the Southeast Asian region in Europe.

Since 2016, Jill Tanamal is part of the Board of Directors of the South East Asia Leadership Academy (SEALA) which is an initiative launched by the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF). Prior to that, she was Corporate Communications Manager at Bosch Indonesia for three and a half years succeeding in increasing brand awareness in Indonesia by opening up communication channels from traditional media to digital.
Preceding that, she worked for the German Federal Foreign Office as Liaison Coordinator for the second International Conference on Afghanistan. In this capacity, she was responsible for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. She performed similar roles for conferences at the Head-of-State and Ministerial level during Germany’s presidency of the G8 Summit, EU-ASEM and EU-ASEAN. Besides being the point of contact for the UN delegation, she was also key contact for all ASEAN countries during that time.
From 2008 to 2009 Jill Tanamal was Project Manager for the Corporate Division at MCI Berlin office, handling high-level symposiums for the German government as well as other event formats.
Jill Tanamal is a Certified Event Manager from IHK (German Chambers of Industry and Commerce). She followed up with Chinese studies from 2009 - 2011 at Beijing Language and Culture University.

Jill is fluent German, English and Indonesian, and speaks some Chinese.

Jan Schrankel, Trainer & Mediator

Jan SchrankelNegotiation Trainer and Mediator

Jan is an attorney, mediator and conflict management professional working for an international humanitarian organization. Jan is passionate about empowering people to constructively deal with differences and conflicts. He has delivered trainings in various parts of the world. Jan has complemented his practical experience in negotiation and conflict management with a range of professional trainings, including with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and Trigon Entwicklungsberatung. He is a CEDR Accredited Mediator and a Certified Mediator according to the German Mediation Act.

Jan gained further experience in two reputable corporate law firms, a development agency, the Foreign Service, the judiciary and several NGOs. Jan joined Rational Games as Associate Trainer in 2018. He is fluent in German and English and also speaks French and Spanish.

Jan Friedrichs – Rational Games

Jan FriedrichsNegotiation Trainer

Jan Friedrichs studied business administration with a particular focus on management and human resource development at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft near Hamburg and in Boston. After spending four years in international sales for a global consumer products company, and seven years in total in industry, in 2005 Jan founded his own company as an entrepreneur, trainer and consultant. He coaches, advises and trains middle and senior management and their teams, working for clients such as Airbus, HanseWerk und HELM.

Jan also teaches at the Leuphana Universität Lüneburg und the NORDAKADEMIE in Elmshorn. His company adventure learning (www.adventure-learning.de) offers innovative approaches to HR development for management and emerging leaders through original learning experiences training communication and leadership skills as well as personality development.

Jan is a German citizen and lives in Hamburg.

Joana Matos – Rational Games

Joana MatosNegotiation Consultant, Trainer

Joana is a trainer and consultant specializing in the area of negotiations and conflict resolution. Prior to embarking on an independent consulting career, Joana worked for several years as business development manager and as country manager for the biggest adventure tour company in Iceland where she had to negotiate contracts with suppliers and agents on a regular basis.

She has an MBA from Reykjavik University, has studied advanced negotiation techniques at Harvard Law School in the USA and Humanitarian Negotiations at Clingendæl, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. Furthermore she holds a Master in Humanitarian Action and Conflict from Uppsala University in Sweden. She has been both a participant, a coach and an expert judge in International Negotiation Competitions.

Joana is a Portuguese and Icelandic citizen and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English and Icelandic.

Felix Miller, Negotiation Trainer

Felix MillerNegotiation Trainer

Felix Miller has worked with RGI to develop and deliver customized seminars for various audiences.

Felix comes to this work as an entrepreneur, with the experience of setting up and co-founding distribution companies operating within Europe and North America. During the course of his ventures, Felix negotiated sales & procurement contracts, strategic partnerships and joint ventures as well as gaining experience in inter-cultural negotiations.

Felix holds an MSc in International Business Negotiation from IÉSEG School of Management in Paris as well as a BA in Business Administration from the University of Applied Science in Munich. He speaks German (native), English and French fluently as well as some Italian.

Max Felix Herrmann Portrait

Felix HerrmannNegotiation Consultant

Felix Herrmann is a business consultant in London, and Vice President at Second Chance Homes Ltd., a social enterprise with the purpose to deliver affordable social housing using refurbished shipping containers. He holds a bachelor degree in industrial engineering as well as two master degrees in Management from the École Supérieur de Commerce in Paris and Carlos III University of Madrid. As a management consultant at CCMI Consulting and the Otto Group, he negotiated a range of different IT and business projects with internal and external stakeholders. Felix holds the scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation and leads a European Citizen Initiative on gender equality which negotiates new legislation for a European parental leave directive. He lives and works in London.

Felix is fluent in German, English, and Spanish.

Sebastian Schäfer – Rational Games

Sebastian M. SchäferNegotiation Consultant

Sebastian Schaefer is a strategic consultant working primarily in the banking and financial services industry with a particular focus on marketing, pricing and negotiation. He also advises clients from the public and private sectors with regard to negotiation and communication skills as an Associate Consultant for the nonprofit training and coaching company Rational Games Inc.

Sebastian holds a degree in Industrial Engineering with majors in mechanical engineering and strategic management. He also studied International Business Negotiation at IÉSEG in Paris.

Sebastian is fluent in German and English, with a working knowledge of French.

Marc Kloubert, Communication Consultant

Marc KloubertCommunication Advisor

Marc Kloubert is a communications designer, frontend developer and communications consultant based in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has worked for clients such as Columbia University New York and the London School of Economics. Marc is co-founder of g31, a design company developing brands, campaigns, websites, print and digital media for international clients across the business, education, and cultural sectors.

Since 2015, Marc has been a lecturer at the design faculty of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf. There he teaches web design, user experience design and frontend development at the intersection of design and technology. He's focussing on learning applications and helped building the PPC application for Rational Games.

Marc is fluent in German and English.

Bastian Valentin Franz – Rational Games

Bastian FranzDesigner

Bastian Franz is a communications designer and movie director based in Trier, Germany. He's currently studying Media Design at the Trier University of Applied Sciences, focussing on movie direction, motion design and game design.

Bastian is co-founder of Bismarck & Nagel, a movie production agency supporting local artists and public events.

For Rational Games Bastian is the jack of all trades, working in the fields of design, marketing, social media and training implementation. He's fluent in German and English.