Nicolette Loonen

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Professional background

Nicolette is one of the Founding partners of TOSCA, a consulting partnership that helps companies be a ‘force for good’. TOSCA believes in change agents who shape the transformation towards an inclusive and sustainable society. Nicolette specialises in sustainability reporting issues, taking the whole value chain into account, from strategy to embedding in culture and steering for real value. Nicolette is also a member of the Supervisory Board of ABP, the Rutgers Foundation and IPPF. In addition, she is a college member of the CvTA. Nicolette is the founder of WIFS, Women in Financial Services, and was the president of the association of more than 500 women in the financial sector from 2010 to 2016.

Personal Motto

Ieder steentje in de vijver kan een rimpeling veroorzaken.

Any pebble in the pond can cause a ripple.

Koen Eising

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Koen is the CSR Director at Alliander, one of the three major regional grid operators in the Netherlands, operating at the heart of the energy transition. Before joining Alliander, he worked for various consultancy firms at the intersection of organizational development and sustainability. Koen studied public administration and political science in Leiden and completed the post-academic program in Organization and Change Management at VU University. He recently finished the Comenius Philosophy Course. With this background, he is fascinated by how today’s large corporations dare to make significant decisions that are urgently needed. He is interested in understanding the leadership we should trust or distrust. Koen believes that public companies must play a leading role in the sustainable transition. He shapes this belief as the initiator of the Green Networks coalition, where 8 infrastructure companies collaborate intensively on climate, circular, biodiversity, and impact measurement. He is the chairman of the Infrastructure Value Theme Center of Next Generation Infra. Koen is also affiliated with the Impact Economy Foundation.

Personal motto

A sustainable world requires not money or technology but a different set of values.

Ralien Bekkers

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Professional Background

After two years serving as the Dutch Youth Representative for Sustainable Development to the UN, from Rio+20 to COP20, Ralien Bekkers moved to the United States for a master’s program at Yale University. There, she worked on the agreement and implementation phase of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including at the office of the UN Secretary-General. Currently residing in Washington, Ralien works with an international coalition for the implementation of the Paris Agreement: NDC Partnership (ndcpartnership.org). From 2019-2021, the Netherlands co-chairs this coalition. Ralien collaborates with developing countries to accelerate the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), mobilize necessary financing, and enhance international ambition to implement climate actions in alignment with the SDGs.

Personal Motto 

“The greatest gift that life has to offer is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing”
– Theodore Roosevelt

Imad el Fadili

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Professional background

Imad has worked as an adviser in different private and public agencies (a.o. Deloitte) in the financial field. For the past three years, Imad has focused on the world of Islamic Finance and more specifically, Islamic social finance. This is a discipline that implements innovative and sustainable solutions for present-day challenges (e.g. debt issues and poverty reduction).

Personal motto 

”Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.”
This quote includes two core values that are central in Imad’s life, humility and determination.

Christa Meindersma

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Christa Meindersma is the Director of Advocacy, Communication, and Finance at the International Campaign for Tibet-Europe, a global organization dedicated to seeking a peaceful resolution to the 60-year occupation of Tibet by China. Christa works to ensure that Tibet is on the political agenda in the Netherlands, Europe, and the United Nations, advocating that Tibet should not be forgotten.

Professional Background

Christa, a biochemist and international lawyer, lived and worked in Tibet from 1986 to 1988. Inspired by her experiences, she worked for 15 years at the United Nations as a negotiator in conflict areas and legal advisor. In the Netherlands, Christa served as a co-founder of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, Director of the Prince Claus Fund, and Senior Director of Porticus.

Personal motto 

The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.
– Michael Franti

Thaddeus Anim-Somuah

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Thaddeus is Global Senior Manager Sustainability bij Philips. In this role he is responsible for creating, developing, and executing the vision, strategy, and program of Circulair Operations. He is also a Board Member for the Future Energy Leaders at the World Energy Council, Board of Advisors member (Chemical Engineering) at Brunel University & Southampton University.

He has expressed an interest in diverse sustainable innovation themes such as: Circular Economy, the Energy Transition 4.0, Impact Startups and more.

Professional background 

Thaddeus holds a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering (Business Management) from University of Manchester. He started his career as an Industrial Engineer at Proctor & Gamble in the UK and has subsequently worked in various Engineering, Operations and Management roles at Croda, Cargill in the Netherlands and Spain. In 2023, he will move to a Sustainability role within Philips.

Personal Motto

Always keep dreaming, always keep doing

Gert-Jan Sikking

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Professional background

Gert-Jan Sikking is a senior advisor Responsible Investment at pension asset manager PGGM. He focusses a.o. on measuring and reporting the environmental and societal impact of the global investment portfolio. He is involved by several international initiatives around impact measurement. Before that, Gert-Jan was heading the innovation activities at PGGM. Earlier on he worked at NIBC in the Treasury and Risk Management departments. Gert-Jan is also involved in several Social Entrepreneurial initiatives in The Netherlands.

Marieke Rietbergen

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Professional Background

Marieke is the director and founder of Design Innovation Group (DIG). DIG is a strategic design consultancy dedicated to accelerating and improving transitions in organizations and society. The agency leverages creative intelligence, design thinking, and action, employing imaginative power, dialogue strength, and designing for behavior(change). This ensures a seamless integration of humans and technology.

Marieke studied occupational therapy (HvA) and political science (UvA) and previously worked at Nederland Kennisland, OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture, and as an independent professional for clients such as the creative industry top sector and Droog Design.

Marieke is a mother of two daughters and resides in Utrecht.

Personal Motto

Every day a wiser woman with beautiful stories.

Hans Reus

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Professional background 

Hans Reus is a partner at a global executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates. He assists companies in appointing senior leaders and supervisors who genuinely believe that financial results and sustainability reinforce each other. He played a key role in a major research project conducted by the firm in collaboration with the UN Global Compact, and he regularly delivers lectures on this topic.

Personal motto 

The business of business is sustainable business.

Tessa van Soest

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Professional background

I am an experienced sustainability professional and I lead the team of B Lab Benelux, the organisation behind the B Corp certification.

Every day, I see the group of companies growing that truly choose to take a sustainable course and make a positive contribution to the challenges we face. This often involves a radically different business model. This is sometimes uncomfortable and not the path of least resistance. On the contrary. It requires intrinsic vision, courage and perseverance to also convert the sense of purpose and urgency into real change. Thinking differently and doing differently.

I see it as my role (within B Corp Benelux) to bring this group of frontrunners and pioneers together to unleash (unconventional) partnerships. And where necessary to connect public, and civil society organisations to this group and thus create joint impact that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Personal Motto 

Dream, dare, and do