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Meet the Rational Games Leadership
Dr. Mark Young
Negotiation Expert, RG 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.
Meet the Rational Games Board
Denny Meadows
Advisory Board President
Denny is a strategy and finance professional with experience in both the corporate and non-profit sectors. Throughout her career, Denny has enjoyed collaborating with smart, principled colleagues to expand possibilities and cultivate action plans that achieve win-win outcomes. These are the qualities she likewise appreciates in the Rational Games team, in service to an important mission.
Denny earned a B.A. in economics from Amherst College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. After residing in various cities across the United States and Finland, she has settled in the Seattle area of the Pacific Northwest.
Joana Matos
Co-chair, Negotiation Consultant
Joana Matos is an international negotiation expert, trainer and consultant with extensive experience advising organizations on high-stakes commercial negotiations, influence and cross-cultural communication.
She is Vice President and Deal Expert at Deutsche Bank, where she advises on complex negotiations and has helped build one of the bank's global negotiation initiatives. Alongside her corporate role, she lectures at Reykjavik University and is pursuing a PhD exploring the intersection of negotiation and artificial intelligence.
Joana has trained thousands of professionals across Europe, Asia and North America, combining academic research with practical experience from real negotiations. She holds an MBA from Reykjavik University, a Master's degree in Humanitarian Action from Uppsala University, completed executive studies in Advanced Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and Humanitarian Negotiations at the Clingendael Institute.
A former World Negotiation Champion, Joana has also coached and judged international negotiation competitions. She is a Portuguese and Icelandic citizen and is fluent in Portuguese, English, Icelandic and Spanish.
Dr. Remi Smolinski
Negotiation, Leadership Behavior
Remi Smolinski is a negotiation scholar and professor with extensive experience advancing both empirical and practice-oriented negotiation research. As Academic Director of the Center for International Negotiation at HHL and the founder of The Negotiation Challenge, a major global negotiation competition, he has long focused on negotiation performance: how negotiators succeed in various negotiation contexts and what factors distinguish high-performing negotiators in both individual and team settings. His work draws on interdisciplinary insights to develop models that link observable behavioral patterns with superior negotiation outcomes and competencies.
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Dr. Smolinski has been a leading voice on innovation in negotiation, especially in the context of artificial intelligence (AI). His research areas include work on AI-enhanced negotiation training and responsible integration of AI into negotiation theory and practice.
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Dr. Smolinski's research also explores the intersection of leadership and negotiation, investigating how negotiation competence shapes effective leadership behavior across organizational and strategic contexts. This includes both theoretical foundations and practical
assessment of negotiation as a leadership capability, grounded in decades of empirical work and global negotiation competitions.
As the current editor of the journal, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, he is finding new and innovative ways to bring scholarly research to a more public audience. Through this blended lens of performance research, innovation, and leadership integration, Dr. Smolinski’s scholarship connects rigorous negotiation science with tangible implications for educators, practitioners, and multidisciplinary audiences.
Ahmet Akın
Marketing, Negotiation Consultant
Ahmet Akın is a strategy advisor, brand strategist, and facilitator focused on helping organizations become purpose-driven and create meaningful social impact. With extensive experience in the marketing and advertising industry, he works with companies to strengthen brand & communications strategy, communications strategy, employer branding and sustainable brand development.
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In addition to his advisory work, he is an experienced lecturer, facilitator, and leadership trainer who works with executives and organizations to develop strategic thinking, future-oriented leadership capabilities including negotiation skills. Culture design and employer branding are also some his main areas of concentration.
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He holds an MBA from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bosphorus University. He also studied at the Deutsche Schule Istanbul. Ahmet is fluent in English and German and has proficiency in French.
Antonia Simon
Strategic Partnerships
Antonia Simon has an extensive career spanning over three decades in various roles related to marketing, cultural management, and editing. She has been engaged with the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) since 2008 and has been a member of the Green Party's think tank for culture (LAG / BAG Kultur) since 2011. Antonia is adept at bringing people together and enjoys working in an international environment.
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Antonia Simon holds a Diploma in economics (Diplom Volkswirtin) from Freie Universität Berlin. She also studied Romance Languages (Spanish, French) at Universität Heidelberg.
Ziad Holaihel
Strategic Business Consultant, Coach, and Trainer
Ziad Holaihel is a Strategic Consultant and Coach with over 18 years of experience in operations, management consulting, and executive coaching. He specializes in driving strategic growth and has a proven track record of supporting and transforming startups, SMEs, and public sector organizations across the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
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He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, with a minor in Mathematics, providing him with a strong analytical and problem-solving foundation. Fluent in English, French, and Arabic, Ziad is a trilingual advisor who leverages his certifications in Design Thinking, Business Coaching, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to deliver holistic, impact-driven business solutions.
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His multidisciplinary approach focuses on team development, operational excellence, and sustainable profit optimization.
Meet the Administrative Support Team
Georges Saroufim
Negotiation Consultant Intern, Strategic Partnerships
Georges joins Rational Games with a strong foundation in diplomacy, political consulting, and international negotiations.
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He holds a Bachelor's in International Relations from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), a second Bachelor's in Political and Administrative Sciences from the Lebanese University, and a Master’s in International Business & Negotiation at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris.
He has served in the Diplomatic Unit of the Lebanese President, advising on foreign affairs, with experience in government advisory roles, youth diplomacy, and consulting for ministries and NGOs, with a focus on (PPP) Negotiations and Public Policy.
Fluent in Arabic, French, English, and conversational Spanish, Georges brings cross-cultural agility and a passion for bridging divides. He believes negotiation should be both strategic and human, and he's particularly interested in how serious play can shift mindsets in high-stakes negotiations.