Exectly for Women

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 5 March 2024, we were honored to have Alexia Bertrand, ederal Secretary of State for Budget and Consumer Protection as guest speaker.

Alexia Bertrand is Federal Secretary of State for Budget and Consumer Protection. She obtained her law degree at the UCL and then a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School. Following a career as a lawyer in commercial and corporate law, she turned her expertise to politics. First as an advisor, then as head of cabinet in the Cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders, a position she held until June 2019. Thereafter, and until her appointment as Secretary of State, she also served in the Brussels-Capital Parliament. She is also a local councillor in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 20 June 2023, we were honored to have An Vermeulen, Vice President & Country Director of Coca-Cola Benelux as guest speaker.

With more than 20 years of international experience in FMCG, An currently leads Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in Belgium and Luxembourg. Together with 2,200 employees, she aims to make a positive difference for the 100,000 local customers with strong brands and high service levels, in a sustainable way.

Since joining Coca-Cola in 2000, An has held positions in Strategic Planning, Public Affairs, Sustainability, Business Transformation and Field Sales in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 17 January 2023, we were honored to have Stephanie De Bruyne, CEO of itsme as guest speaker.

Stephanie spent most of her professional life in banking and technology and began her career with Bain & Company as a management consultant. In 2010, she joined BNP Paribas Fortis, where she was successively responsible for digital channels and product management of the Retail & Private Banking business. Within these roles, she worked on the launch and integration of itsme® into the bank’s mobile applications. After leaving BNP Paribas Fortis, she was involved in the start-up of a European fintech player. On 1 June 2020, Stephanie took over the helm of Belgian Mobile ID.

During our Exectly for Women event on Thursday, 13 October 2022, we were honored to have Julie Lietaer, CEO of European Spinning Group as guest speaker. The event took place at MoMu in Antwerp.

Our guests had the privilege of exploring “MIRROR MIRROR - Fashion & the psyche” a joint exhibition by MoMu and Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent, which examines the connection between fashion, psychology, self-image and identity.

Julie is CEO and third generation of her family business European Spinning Group and since 2020 start-up entrepreneur of Ariadne Innovation. Julie is a Commercial Engineer from KU Leuven and holds a master’s degree in Financial Management from Vlerick Business School. She has several years of experience as a business consultant at Arthur D Little, and business analyst at Barco.

She is active as a board member of the Belgian textile federation Fedustria, VOKA West-Vlaanderen and various educational institutes in Belgium. She is a strong ambassador for sustainability and circular production in the world of textiles with a passion for linking creativity with technology.

European Spinning Group is a third-generation family-owned textile group with over 100 employees, located in Flanders.  

A high level of specialization, strong partnership focus, innovation drive and an organization built on strong values have enabled them to conquer a vast market covering Europe, North and South America, Africa and extending to Asia and Australia.

In 2020, she launched her own digital start-up Ariadne Innovation to bring together a diversified local ecosystem to tackle the problem of sustainability in her industry. Inspiration, information and connection are the drivers behind Ariadne, driven by new technology.

During our Exectly for Women event on Thursday, 30 June 2022, we were honored to have Caroline Pauwels, former prorector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, as guest speaker. The event took place at the lovely Schönfeld Gallery in Brussels.

Our guests had the privilege of viewing a captivating art exhibition curated by Caroline Pauwels – through the lens of different media, such as photography and fashion – showcasing eight female artists: Paulette Taecke, Liza François, Janine Vandebosch, Lidia Szynkiewicz, Svelte Thys, Bénédicte Lobelle, Roxane Baines and Anne Germe.

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For this edition, we welcomed Annick Van Overstraeten, CEO of Le Pain Quotidien. She shared with us the background of Le Pain Quotidien, the challenges she faced and talked about her vision of leadership and entrepreneurship.

Annick Van Overstraeten has spent her entire professional life in the food and retail sectors. Before becoming the CEO of Le Pain Quotidien, she was Chief Executive Officer & Director at Lunch Garden, Operations Director at Quick Restaurants SA and Director-Commercial & Marketing at Confiserie Leonidas NV. She is also on the board of several companies.

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The views and quotes herein are those of Ms. An Vermeersch, shared during the Exectly for Women event on the 6 May 2021, during which we interviewed her to learn about her role in Global Health and how the Covid pandemic has changed her day to day work.

We welcomed An Vermeersch, Vice President and Head of Global Health Vaccines at GSK Vaccines, as our guest speaker. She shared her insights on what her function entails, the impact of the pandemic on her day-to-day job and GSK’s role in COVID-19 vaccines development.

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On January, 28 2020, we welcomed Countess Antoinette d’Aspremont Lynden, board member of GBL and BNP Paribas Fortis. She shared her insights into her journey to become a member of the board and her views on her responsibilities as a female board member. We hope that her insights will help to empower women in their professional and social roles.

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