Sabrina Bresciani

Dr. Sabrina Bresciani is a senior assistant professor at the Design Department of the Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

She investigates the effectiveness of working visually – the use of design thinking and visual mapping in organizations for improving communication within an organization and across cultures. In her interdisciplinary research she primarily deployed mixed methods, complementing experiments with qualitative data.

She has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University (Boston), the University of Cambridge (U.K.) and the National University of Singapore, and worked for 10 years as Assistant Professor at the School of Management of the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland)

Sabrina published in interdisciplinary outlets such as: Design Studies, Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Computers in Human Behavior, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphic, International Journal of Innovation Management, Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, etc. She received the Best Paper award from the Frontiers of Business Research in China International Symposium 2014, from the International Conference of Information Visualization in 2010 and in 2013. She also received the Carolyn Dexter Award nomination at the Academy of Management Meeting in 2011, as well as several research grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Sabrina has been an visiting professor at various universities worldwide including the Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland), the Central University of Finance and Economics (China), the Universidad del Pacifico (Peru), Aalto University (Finland), Franklin University Switzerland, the American University in Bulgaria, Eurocampus at Universidad Jaume I (Spain) and the University of Freiburg (Germany).

She lived in 8 countries, has two multicultural children, and is the founder and president of Kolours, a non-profit social enterprise supporting girls with disabilities in India through design. She is the co-founder and vice-president of Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie (“Alice in Wonderlands”), a non-for-profit organization that supports the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. She is member of the Association of Highly Sensitive People Switzerland and is listed in the official directory of researchers on sensory processing sensitivity.

Education

• Ph.D. Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
• PhD Harvard University (2009 — 2009)
• BA in Industrial Design Politecnico di Milano
• Master of Science Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)

Companies

• Senior Assistant Professor Politecnico di Milano (2022)
• President Kolours (2012)
• Assistant Professor of Digital Communication University of St. Gallen (2012 — 2021)
• Visiting Lecturer Université de Fribourg/Universität Freiburg (2021 — 2021)
• Visiting Professor Universidad del Pacifico (2012 — 2014)
• Visiting Professor Central University of Finance and Economics (2013 — 2014)
• Adjunct Professor Franklin University Switzerland (2011 — 2013)
• Senior Lecturer University of St Gallen (2011 — 2012)
• Equal Opportunities Service USI Università della Svizzera italiana (2011 — 2011)

Skills

• Strategy
• Workshop Facilitation
• Cross-cultural Research

Other

Economics, Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofits, Statistics, University Teaching, Management, Qualitative Research, Corporate Communications, Higher Education, Visual Communication, Data Analysis, Strategic Communications, Teaching, Research, Intercultural Communication