Exectly for Women

CEO of Microsoft

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 24 April 2024, we were honored to have Marijke Schroos, CEO of Microsoft as guest speaker.

Marijke Schroos, the General Manager of Microsoft Belgium, and Luxembourg, is an experienced leader with a proven history of working in the computer industry. She has a wide range of skills covering marketing, sales and partner management, communication, organizational agility and change management. She has a solid record of business development and growth strategies, in both Commercial and Public Sector environments, including EU institutions and NATO.

CEO of AG Insurance

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 12 November 2024, we were honored to have Heidi Delobelle, CEO of AG Insurance as guest speaker.

Heidi is committed to growing AG in a sustainable way, relying on her ability to innovate, bringing the best out of people, and continuously adapting to the ever-changing world around her. She also envisions AG playing a key role in Belgian society and in the lives of its millions of clients, especially in projects that contribute to the long-term development and improvement of our society. This extends to areas such as pension, climate, and the transition towards a more sustainable world.  

Chief Regulatory Authorities and Public Affairs Officer

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 4 February 2025, we were honored to have Griet Heyvaert, Chief Regulatory Authorities and Public Affairs Officer as guest speaker.

With over 40 years of experience in the energy sector, Griet Heyvaert has excelled in public affairs, communications, and strategic policy. From her key role in the liberalization of the energy market at Distrigaz to leading the crisis management during the Ghislenghien gas crisis at Fluxys, her contributions are significant. Since 2005, she has driven regulatory and strategic projects at Engie Electrabel and joined its Executive Committee in January 2024. Her leadership has left a lasting mark on Belgium's energy supply. 

CEO of Neuhaus

During our Exectly for Women event on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, we were honored to have Isabel Baert, CEO of Neuhaus as guest speaker.

Isabel Baert studied law at KU Leuven and Humboldt University in Berlin. She then obtained a master's degree from Polimoda, the fashion school in Florence. She began her career at Hugo Boss in Germany in 2010. In 2012, she joined the East Flemish lingerie group, Van de Velde, initially developing her career in the US and subsequently becoming Managing Director of Rigby & Peller, a British luxury lingerie retailer, owned by the group. She returned to Belgium in 2017 as Channel Director for Neuhaus, where she streamlined the European sales channels and subsequently also became responsible for global marketing. In November 2023, she succeeded Ignace van Doorselaere as CEO of Neuhaus.

Federal Secretary of State for Budget and Consumer Protection

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.

Vice President & Country Director of Coca-Cola Benelux

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.

CEO of itsme

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.

CEO of European Spinning Group

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.

Former prorector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel

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.

The exhibition

“Summertime and the living is easy” seemed ill-timed as the war in Ukraine continued to rage, whilst Caroline Pauwels curated the exhibition with Greet Umans. But it turned out that the opposite was true. I remember seeing shots of Ukrainian people coming out of their basements amid the warfare to plant sunflowers in the pavement, such a symbolic flower for Ukraine, a lust for life and wonder. By now, the war still continues, cultural life in Kiev starts to pick up again with theater and concerts. Especially in those dark moments, humans appear to crave art, culture, connection, and, yes, carelessness. A summer exposition that wants to be colorful, fragrant, happy and a bit languid, was no longer inappropriate, but a necessity,” said Caroline Pauwels.

The “common thread” throughout the exposition is a slowing down, going back to the essence of life, the languor and the easy-going pace of the summer. The exposition doesn’t focus on “chronometrical” time, but on going with the flow; when you visit and look at the art, you get into a flow where time stops.

In the expo, Caroline brought together female and intergenerational artists from different disciplines: paint, photography, fashion and ceramics. Each one of them brought that summer feeling through their specific medium, and the same energy and engagement towards nature and our planet. At first sight, the expo looked colorful, happy and naive, but at the same time there was a more serious undertone. That is also represented by the art: the song “Summertime, and the living is easy” (a line made famous in the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess) has a somewhat sad undertone and reminds us that the vibrant summer always comes to an end and should therefore be experienced to its fullest. The expo represents that impermanence, languor and happiness. 

The eight female artists

The fascinating art exhibition curated by Caroline Pauwels – transcending different mediums such as photography and fashion – showcased eight female artists: Paulette Taecke, Liza François, Janine Vandebosch, Lidia Szynkiewicz, Svelte Thys, Bénédicte Lobelle, Roxane Baines and Anne Germe.

CEO of Le Pain Quotidien

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.

Vice President and Head of Global Health Vaccines at GSK Vaccines

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.

Purpose is increasingly a topic of conversation for companies today

For GSK, it’s embedded in their day-to-day decision-making.

GSK is an international pharmaceutical company and has three global businesses that research, develop and manufacture innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. Their goal is to be one of the world’s most innovative, best performing and trusted healthcare companies. Their focus on building trust relies on safety, reliable supply and our global health initiatives.

Millions of people live with unmet healthcare needs. GSK wants to help change this, using scientific expertise, partnerships and global reach.

For their Vaccines division, making an impact through global health means building partnerships with external organizations, such as the Gates Foundation and UNICEF, in order to develop, produce and distribute large volumes of vaccines to developing countries at lowest possible price. It also means working with governments of higher income countries to distribute vaccines at a higher price, in order to recoup (a portion of) the research and development costs. This tiered pricing model allows GSK to set the price of its vaccines based on the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of a country.

Managing with purpose through a pandemic crisis

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, for GSK, the objective of their response would not to make profit but about finding a solution.

They started internally – as many companies did – with business continuity management. They set up an “issue management team” to look at everything from managing a workforce from home and keeping their teams motivated and connected, to the larger operational issues, such as how to distribute vaccines with the pandemic impacting air traffic and how to organize clinical trials when participants were reluctant to leave their homes. 

Next, they looked at their response to the global health crisis brought on by the pandemic – i.e. how would they develop a vaccine? Would they do it alone or with whom would they partner?

The collaboration between GSK and Sanofi was unique – with two large ‘competitor’ pharmaceutical companies coming together – and it was agreed early on. Lines were drawn about what could and could not be discussed, but on a day-to-day basis the discussions have been happening amongst the experts.

While Pfizer and Moderna both were trying a new technology (mRNA) for the vaccine, GSK and Sanofi decided to use an existing and proven (adjuvanted protein-based) technology. Even though it meant they would be few months behind in entering the market, if the new technology did work, having multiple vaccines based on multiple technologies would help balance the global risk to vaccine development and provide more manufacturing capacity for global supply. 

GSK is also collaborating in another unique way – using their workers and production capacity to produce vaccines for two other manufacturers, while continuing the development of their several candidate vaccines. In addition, they’ve been working with COVAX on how to make available large volumes of the vaccine globally, and they continue to work with them, other partners, and governments to look at how the epidemiology will evolve, the impact of variants, the need for future boosters, etc. 

The road ahead

Not learning from a crisis would be a missed opportunity. Reflecting back on this pandemic and looking ahead, some learnings include:

• While mRNA technology is now a proven technology and will provide significant opportunities in some areas, it will probably not be suitable to address all major diseases and other technologies will be needed for example for vaccines that protect against bacteria. It may accelerate some vaccines and offer new solutions for certain diseases, but it also comes with its own challenges.
• The collaboration in this pandemic shows that when there is an urgency, we can move fast. However, while we can learn from this pandemic, when we return to business as usual, the focus will be split across technologies and programs for different vaccines.
• Pharmaceutical companies should continue to work closely with governments to streamline the regulatory process for vaccine approvals, while ensuring safety prevails.
• While individual governments focus on ensuring access to pandemic vaccines for their population, ensuring global access, through a globally coordinated mechanism like COVAX, is equally important.
• In this pandemic it was useful for companies to collaborate and share their knowledge and expertise with one another in order to ramp up capacity faster. However, in normal times, patents help the R&D-based company make a return on their investment and hence help stimulate investments in innovation.
• In the past there was a lot of focus in global health on neglected diseases like malaria and TB and less on pandemic preparedness. Now, the risk becomes that the pendulum swings the other way with more focus on pandemic preparedness and it could be more challenging to partner on neglected diseases.

The views and quotes herein are those of Ms. An Vermeersch, shared during her interview at the Exectly for Women event on the 6 May 2021.

An Vermeersch’s career

An Vermeersch has 25 years of experience in the Pharma and Healthcare sector. She began her career at GSK in 1995 before joining McKinsey & Company, Inc as a consultant in 2000. In 2008, she returned to GSK Vaccines where she took on leadership and global roles in R&D, Strategy & Transformation and Governmental & Public Affairs. Since October 2019, An has led GSK Vaccines' newly integrated Global Health department as Vice President, Head of Global Health Vaccines.

An holds a degree in Bioengineering in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Ghent and a Master in Business Administration from Vlerick Business School.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Gimv since June 2017.

Board member of GBL and BNP Paribas Fortis

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.

Antoinette d’Aspremont Lynden’s career

Antoinette d’Aspremont Lynden studied Economics at UCL. She graduated from the school of Engineering at Stanford University with a Master of Science degree in Operations Research (the only female student in a group of 250 graduates) and holds a PhD in Applied Economics. 

She was a Professor at the University Charles-de-Gaulle Lille from 1990 to 2010, where she taught Accounting and Finance, and a visiting Professor at the University of Olomouc in the Czech Republic from 2009 to 2011. 

She is a member of a number of Boards, including the Board of Directors of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert in Brussels, where she chairs the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors of BNP Paribas Fortis, where she also chairs the Audit Committee and she is a member of the Remuneration Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Royal Trust.

She is also active in the non-profit sector where she was a Director at the Royal Philanthropic Society in Brussels for 40 years and a Chairman of the Board for 6 years. She has been the Treasurer of the St Michael and Gudule Cathedral in Brussels for the past 30 years and has been a Member of the French-speaking jury for the Queen Paola Foundation for education for 20 years, of which 10 as the president of the jury.

She is also the recipient of several awards, including the Gold Award from the International Foundation for Computer Education in Banking and Finance (1989)

We have come a long way in terms of women in leadership positions, but there is still work to be done. Gone are the days when a woman needed to have a PhD to sit on a board, even while a man did not, or where a woman was asked about her husband in an interview. However, women still hold only 20.4% of board seats in Russell 3000 companies1, and 16% of leadership positions in European companies2.

Change is slow, but regulation is playing a critical role and the new corporate governance code3 pushes boards even further, requiring more responsibility and more diversity in general.

More responsiblity

There are two key elements for sound decision-making: competence and information.

Even if you are deemed ‘fit and proper’ as a board member, you cannot be ‘competent’ in all topics. Additionally, you will not have the same detailed knowledge of the company’s operations as management.

Yet you will be accountable for the decisions you make as a board member.

So, ensure you:

• Receive the quality of information you need to support your decision-making, and if you do not have it, go and get it.
• Ask questions of your executive committee and the relevant persons in the company, and challenge them where necessary.
• Are comfortable that the right processes are in place and operating effectively, that you can rely upon them to ensure risks are appropriately mitigated.
• Document your decision-making processes, and any dissent, in the minutes. If something goes wrong, the default is that you agreed; if you don’t, explain why and ensure it is documented.

More diversity

Boards are meant to be diverse – in gender, age, competence, etc. – and the participation of women on boards is improving.

However, while we want participation to increase, there are also qualified people on boards that cannot just be kicked out.

You can still take action by being proactive and looking at companies’ boards:

• Is a board member leaving? What qualifications is he/she leaving with, that you can bring to the table?
• Check the quotas. Does the company have less than (or only just) the required number of women on its board? Is there a case for more, particularly if one leaves?
• Diversity is more than gender – how else can you bring diversity to the board?
• The ability to think critically is the most important ‘competence’ for a board member.

Other tips for your role as, and journey to, becoming a board member

• Join a non-profit board: It’s good for society while also being a good way to network.
• Join a committee: Committees are where you can really dig into topics.
• Meet the chair of the nomination committee: Become a shareholder, attend a general shareholder’s meeting, ask an intelligent question and/or meet him/her at the reception afterwards.
• Be prepared: Google people relevant to the organization, read the annual report, check the board’s quotas, etc.
• Once you’re on the board, stay informed: If you are the chairperson the Audit Committee, work through the accounts with the CFO, speak to the external and internal auditors, ask questions. When needed, the Secretary General’s office will make the connections to the relevant persons in the company.
• Pay it forward. When you leave a board, share another qualified woman’s CV to replace you.
• Be yourself, and remember that finding a board position is a mix of having the right skillset, the right network and a bit of luck.

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1. _{As of June 30, 2019 according to 2020 Women on Board, https://2020wob.com/}
2. _{According to the European Women on Boards (EWoB) Gender Diversity Index 2019, https://europeanwomenonboards.eu/ewob-gender-diversity-index-2019/}
3. _{Effective 1/1/2020. For more information see: https://www.corporategovernancecommittee.be/sites/default/files/generated/files/page/comparative_table_code_2009_vs_code_2020_1.pdf}
4. _{The views and quotes herein are those of Mrs. d’Aspremont-Lynden, shared during her presentation at the Exectly for Women event on the 28 January 2020.}