Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian, Ph.D., is International Course Manager, Academic Expert and Lecturer and in charge of strategic internationalization in the Department of Communication at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences for Management & Communication.  

She has worked as a practitioner in the media industry in the US, Europe and Africa and managed various aspects of communication in organizational settings, including her own media production and distribution company, Forefront Media Group. 

Leyla’s work has garnered various grants and awards, including a bronze Clio for the 2004 PSA campaign, ‘Educate’, which was produced in cooperation with Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town and the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust. 

She has worked as leadership development consultant and senior researcher for various United Nations agencies as well as in academia in South Africa and Europe. In her publications she explores the nexus of communication, sustainability, and ethics. Leyla serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy and is a member of the International Association for Media and Communication Research.