Speakers and Chairs Bios

Franz Karl Prüller currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Management Board of ERSTE Foundation and Savings Bank Group in Austria. Before this he was a member of that Management Board (2012-2016) where he served as CEO and Chairman 2015/2016. He joined ERSTE Foundation in 2005 as Programme Director for Social Development. Prior to 2005 he held various positions in Caritas Austria (1988-2005), where he last served as Secretary General in charge of International Programmes from 1996 to 2005.
He holds a BA in International Studies from Webster University, St. Louis/USA and a Master of Science degree in Development Management from the Open University in England.

He serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Zweite Sparkasse in Austria and on the Supervisory Board of good.bee Credit, a microfinance institute in Romania, as well as in the Steering Committee of the European Fund for the Balkans. Franz Karl is Deputy Chairman of the Network of European Foundations (NEF) and from 2014 he represents ERSTE Foundation in the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre.