ABOUT CHANGE ROOM
Change Room is an innovation consultancy and a think tank that connects sustainably driven fashion entrepreneurs and innovators with conscious consumers and established firms. Since 2018, working in collaboration with leading academic institutions and the regional government, we have been pioneers in promoting entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation in the city of Düsseldorf.
With a mission of “Doing Business Differently”, the Change Room team is committed to supporting impact-driven startups and individual innovators active in the fashion, beauty, and retail space. As a professional network we are well-connected and link experts from all areas for joint learning and exchange, thus providing a platform for conscious and interdisciplinary dialogue on both national and international levels.
THE TEAM
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Monika is an entrepreneur, social activist and open innovation researcher. Following her Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, she was a Managing Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, where she supported startups and corporate innovation initiatives and was actively engaged in the development of the startup ecosystem in the NRW region.
Monika is also a strong proponent of sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship and is a City Ambassador of a British social enterprise Fashion Revolution. Born and raised in Lithuania, she experienced the breakdown of the Soviet Union and could observe the effects that communism system had on the popular culture as well as societal relation to fashion and crafts. A true cosmopolitan, Monika stated traveling the world at the age of fifteen working as an international fashion model. Now, after ten years of a break, she returned to the fashion industry with a purpose to promote more sustainable and inclusive fashion production and consumption practice. A polymath and contrarian, she is active as a speaker, educator and strategic advisor to startups and established organizations.
THE TEAM
Monika is an entrepreneur, social activist and open innovation researcher. Following her Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, she was a Managing Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, where she supported startups and corporate innovation initiatives and was actively engaged in the development of the startup ecosystem in the NRW region.
Monika is also a strong proponent of sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship and is a City Ambassador of a British social enterprise Fashion Revolution. Born and raised in Lithuania, she experienced the breakdown of the Soviet Union and could observe the effects that communism system had on the popular culture as well as societal relation to fashion and crafts. A true cosmopolitan, Monika stated traveling the world at the age of fifteen working as an international fashion model. Now, after ten years of a break, she returned to the fashion industry with a purpose to promote more sustainable and inclusive fashion production and consumption practice. A polymath and contrarian, she is active as a speaker, educator and strategic advisor to startups and established organizations.
Laura is currently doing her BA in Fashion Management at Macromedia in Cologne. She enjoys fashion as a way to communicate but her personal heart project is to improve sustainability within the fashion industry. Therefore, she started at Repair Rebels and Change Room to gain a broader knowledge about sustainable communications and how to actively make a difference. After her BA, it’s her mission to start a MA and work in a sustainability-driven company to spread awareness among Millenials to set the tone for the future.
FRIENDS & ADVISORS
Parsia is studying computer science at HHU. He has work experience in building websites and artificial intelligence models. He is supporting the Change Room team with the development of software projects. In his free time, he does a lot of sports and strengthens his skills in programming. He joined Change Room team because he is eager to make a positive impact on the climate and fashion industry and is passionate about the encounter of technology and the fashion industry.
Laura is a trained clothing technician and holds a B.A. in economics. Environmentally conscious and fair product development is particularly important to her. After working for several years at Hessnatur in the field of new product development, she is now at home in the startup world. She is responsible for sourcing and product development at the German-Malawian fair fashion label Khala. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s degree at Hochschule Niederrhein, where she is focusing on innovation in the field of sustainable textiles. Laura is also an environmental activist and is a member of the Fibreshed DACH organization, which advocates for regenerative and local textile supply chains.
