Karen Ayas

Dr. Karen Ayas is the founder of Ripples Business Academy. She is a management consultant, educator, coach, and author with deep expertise in large-scale transformation and leadership development.

Her consulting work is mainly focused on coaching and supporting top leaders (CEO/GM) through major business transformations, growth strategies, cultural change, top team building, and leadership development. Her clients include leaders in large multinationals who are looking to grow and change all or part of the company, as well as at mid-size companies who are in need of a turnaround or striving to sustain the culture while managing rapid growth.

Dr. Ayas serves as a true partner to top leaders in the transformation journey, helping to clarify the direction as well as to build the capacity in the organization to get it done. In some cases this is all about defining a shared vision, engaging in strategic discovery, and building a roadmap for execution. In others, it is working on organizational change and cultural transformation that can enable the growth of the business and execution of the strategy. In yet others, it is simply focused on executive coaching and leadership development to help executives reach their outmost potential.

Dr. Ayas has a deep passion for education and teaching. For the past 20 years, she has been a Professor of Management Practice at Babson College School of Executive Education training over a thousand leaders.

Dr. Ayas earned her BS and MS degrees in Industrial Engineering at the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology, and her doctorate in the management of innovation at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She is fluent in English, French, Dutch, Hebrew, and Turkish.

Education

• PHD Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (1992 — 1997)
• MSc Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (1985 — 1988)

Companies

• Professor of Management Practice Babson College, School of Executive Education (2000)
• Founding Partner The Ripples Group (2000)
• Professor Saltire Foundation (2008 — 2015)
• Board of Trustees Society for Organizational Learning (2000 — 2010)
• Research Fellow Rotterdam School of Management (1992 — 2010)
• Assistant Professor Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (1997 — 2000)
• Partner Business Management Group / Getronics Consulting (1996 — 1998)
• Consultant Fokker Aircraft (1993 — 1996)