Ursula Hillbrand – Experience, Mindset & Heart, & Results Supported by All
I help people and organizations go deeper and further than they could on their own.
Background & Expertise
I am a lawyer by training, a process designer, facilitator and executive coach. After studying law and taking my first professional steps in the Austrian public administration, I worked for many years in and with European institutions. There, it became increasingly clear to me that sustainable change does not arise from strategy papers, structures or programmes alone. It emerges where people enter into conversation, take responsibility and learn together.
- At the European Commission, I was involved for many years in social policies, strategic planning, organisational development, participatory leadership and collaborative working practices. I helped establish the Art of Hosting in European institutions, founded and accompanied Communities of Practice and designed international dialogue and participation processes.
- In 2010, I founded the Bregenzer Salon as a space for encounter, learning and good conversations. This work gave rise to Salonhosting: my own approach, which connects the Art of Hosting, salon culture, process facilitation and transformative leadership.
Vision & Mission
I am driven by the question of how people can reconnect with one another in complex times. In many organisations, there is knowledge, experience and goodwill – yet often the space is missing in which these can become shared clarity and effective action.
My work creates such spaces. I support people in listening to one another differently, asking more courageous questions, sharing responsibility and developing viable next steps together.
For me, participation is not simply a method – it is a culture. It is about leadership that does not need to control everything. It is about processes where difference is not a disturbance, but a resource. And it is about organisations that learn to act from dialogue, trust and collective intelligence.
“Never host alone”
Good work emerges in collaboration. Salonhosting is connected with my name, but it is not limited to me alone. Depending on language and context I carefully choose my partners for each project.
For larger projects, co-trainings and specialised topics, I work with a network of experienced colleagues and trainers. This network is not an anonymous field of experts, but a grown collaboration based on trust. We share a similar attitude towards dialogue, learning, participation and transformative leadership – while bringing different areas of focus, experience and perspectives.
