Zürich · since 2024
Connecting minds and advancing corporate innovation.
A non-profit community for people who work in and around corporate innovation. We meet in person in Zürich, two or three times a year.
What this is
#OpenDoorInnovation started online in 2024. We kept hearing the same problems from corporate innovators in different companies, and there was no easy way for them to talk to each other. Startup founders have places to do that. We wanted the same for people doing innovation inside large companies.
So we built one. A room, a speaker who knows the subject, and enough time to ask the questions you actually want to ask. We keep the group small on purpose, because that is when people say what they really think.
The community also supports people who want to move into corporate innovation and do not know where to start. Members give their time for that. We are based in Switzerland and the doors are open globally.
Gitanjali saw a post about #OpenDoorClimate and thought corporate innovation needed the same thing. We were already having that conversation almost every day. That was the beginning.
Past events
Five evenings in Zürich so far.
19 August 2026Implement, Zürich Enge
Heather Pace Clark opened with one chart: access to capital is still the biggest thing blocking Swiss startups from scaling at home. After capital come a shortage of experienced executives and regulation. She also walked us through the technologies worth watching beyond AI.
1 October 2025Zürich
The talk was about building a change-ready mindset. The best part happened afterwards, when people started trading book recommendations across the room. Applied Empathy and The Social Brain went home with Tünde that night.
17 June 2025Karl der Grosse, Zürich
Our third meeting in Zürich, and the first one with a guest speaker from outside the group.
18 March 2025Zürich
The Zürich members asked for another one, so we ran it. An after-work evening for corporate innovators, with no agenda beyond the conversation.
27 November 2024Zürich
The online community had been running for a year when the Zürich members pushed us to meet offline. Friendly, unstructured, and small enough that everyone spoke.
Who started it
Co-founder
Founder of The Change Republic, where she coaches senior leaders through change and speaks on leadership in the AI age. Nearly twenty years in energy, consulting and transformation before that, most recently as a Partner at one of the Big 4 firms. Swiss and Hungarian, based near Zürich.
LinkedInCo-founder
Senior Partner at Implement Consulting Group and founder of NegotiateHer, where she helps women and people of colour negotiate their careers. Her doctorate is in education, leadership and innovation.
LinkedInThe core group
A small group keeps this running: finding the speakers, finding the rooms, welcoming people at the door.
Supported by
#OpenDoorInnovation is run by volunteers. Two businesses cover what it costs.
Executive coaching, leadership development and keynote speaking, from Zürich.
thechangerepublic.comNegotiation coaching, a podcast and a book, for women and people of colour at work.
negotiateher.comNext
The next event is in planning. Follow #OpenDoorInnovation on LinkedIn, the invitation goes out there first.