Governance

The VIS Association

The Vienna International School Association (“VISA”) is the organization that operates VIS. VISA is a not-for-profit association entity that was founded under Austrian law in 1977 to promote and provide education suited to the needs of the international community in Vienna. In doing so, VISA takes into account the spirit and principles embodied in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the special character of an international education. VISA is organized under its own articles of association (the “Statutes”).

Governance Documents

Introducing the VISA Board of Governors

Mr. Ivica Pepovski (Board Chair) is the representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where he heads the Finance Unit in the Department of Technical Cooperation. His experience (and interests) is in public finance, procurement and budgeting. Mr. Pepovski is a father of two children in Secondary School.

Mr. James Erthal-Williamson (Vice-Chair) is an elected member. James is a commercial lawyer in London.

Mr. Sasha Damjanac (Treasurer) is the representative of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), where he is the Treasurer. As a former Head of Administration and Chief of Finance in several missions of the OSCE, and Head of Contributions and Head of Coordinated Research Activities in the IAEA, Mr. Damjanac brings 27 years long and extensive managerial experience in finance, administration, procurement, human resources, resource mobilization, partnerships, governance and strategic management. He holds an MBA and Master of Science in Economics degrees, and he is a Chartered Management Accountant Fellow. As a former professional sportsman, he is highly passionate about sports. He has one child graduated from VIS and one currently in the Secondary School.

Mr. Alexander Kunzelmann (Secretary) is the representative of United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), where he is a legal officer with the International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. Mr. Kunzelmann has previously practised law in both government and the private sector in Australia, specializing in constitutional, international, and commercial law. Mr. Kunzelmann has also lived and studied in Switzerland and the Netherlands. He is a keen amateur musician, playing violin and viola in orchestras in Canberra, The Hague, and Vienna. Mr. Kunzelmann has one son in Primary School.

Mr. Peter Krist, is the representative of the UNIDO, where he is a Chief of Accounts, Payments and Treasury Unit. He has a master degree in electro-technical engineering from Slovak Technical University in Bratislava and he is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK. He has over 27 years of experience in Finance, Accounting and Auditing, working for various multi-national corporations and international organizations. Last 12 years he is serving in UN, of which one year in New York. He has two children graduated from VIS and one currently in the Secondary School.

Mr. Tigran Shmis (elected member) is a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank’s Vienna office. He covers the education programmes in Western Balkans and Central Asia. He has extensive educational experience, having earned a specialist degree in computer sciences and economics (teacher), a Ph.D. in educational ICTs from the Russian Academy of Education, and a master’s degree in education management and educational policy from the University of Manchester. Tigran has worked on the preparation and implementation of educational projects in Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bhutan, Guyana, Kosovo, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Peru, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. His most recent projects are the Tajikistan LEARN project, India’s Gujarat GOAL and Nagaland’s NECTAR projects, and the Kosovo Early Childhood Care and Education project. During the COVID-19 crisis, Tigran contributed to the data gathering and response strategies to this crisis and led a few initiatives in response to and recovery from COVID-19. Tigran's areas of research and professional interests include innovative learning environments, Early Childhood Development, international assessment work, and COVID-19 response.

Mr. Harald Schippl (elected member) is a court-certified real estate appraiser and property developer who has been successfully running his company Schippl-Haus independently for more than 30 years. He is also a certified member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and an active member of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Schippl is a native Viennese where he lives with his wife Andrea and his 13-year-old son Sebastian, who was born in the USA.