Netherlands Chapter Committee Members
CO-CHAIR
Valérie Kakebeeke – de Bruin
Strategic Programme Director, Unilever
“At a young age, in my family, I was raised with the values of equality. Ladies in my family were working and all actively participated in society. By being an example to young girls and realizing a positive change, I would like to improve these rights for people that have not had the chances that I have had. This motivates me every day in my activities, and gives me the belief that not only the generation of my daughter, but also of her daughters, have equal chances in society.”
CO-CHAIR
Anne Guit
Talent Acquistion Specialist, Ahold Delhaize
“I strongly believe in the power of diversity. We are all different and when we decide to value our differences, we can accomplish great things! This is why I volunteered for the LEAD Network where we work together with men and women from all over Europe. With our different backgrounds, experiences and ideas we share one purpose: to empower women. I am proud to be part of the LEAD Network as Co-chair of The Netherlands Chapter and to contribute to our mission of attracting, retaining and advancing women. I can’t wait to meet you all and hopefully, together we can accomplish great things.”
Heather Barker
Global, VP Regulatory Hygiene/Home, RB
“I am delighted to join the LEAD Network. My career has been shaped through learning and inspiration I received via the Network of Executive Women Canada. It’s exciting to be part of a similar organization in Europe.
I firmly believe in the power of a diverse workforce where men and women are enabled to reach their full potential. It takes courage to evoke meaningful change. I am personally committed to keep up the momentum through action.
Simon Sinek said “Leadership is an education and the best leaders think of themselves as the students, not the teachers.”
Lilly Cheung
Senior Manager, EAC Digital Strategy & Transformation, EY
“In a sharing economy where caring will make your company stand out in service. In a circular economy where collaboration with the right eco-system players makes you inclusive. In a continuously changing world where clashing diverse, creative ideas bring new disruptive innovations. This planet is asking for capabilities that differentiate women by nature, i.e. caring, connectivity, and creativity! Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma once said that one key to their success is having 47% women in their workforce, of which 33% are in Leadership positions. This allow them to win the consumer & retail industry in China, since women think about others first which is crucial in a consumer centric world. My aim is to work with the LEAD network to make impact together on innovation in the circular economy to leave a better planet for our future generations.”
Lisanne Dennert
Digital Innovation Manager, Etos at Ahold Delhaize
“My personal mission is to enable myself and others to go through continuous development to reach our full potential. I really believe that this is only possible in a diverse environment where men and women inspire each other and give each other the space to be their true selves. By volunteering for LEAD Network, I will help to bring the Netherlands Chapter members one step closer to such a diverse environment.”
Fallon Gorter
Marketing Manager, Benelux, Kraft Heinz
“On behalf of the Kraft Heinz Company, I am thrilled to join the Membership Subcommittee of LEAD Network’s Netherlands Chapter. It is key that we all support a diverse talent pool to maximize fresh ideas and business outcomes”
Caroline Hoefsloot
Business Leader Baby Care Benelux, P&G
“The reason I joined LEAD Network is because I have been raised with the mindset that there are no differences between genders or background vis-à-vis what you can accomplish. As I grew older, I realized that there are however different expectations and people have different perspectives on the topic. My personal goal is to make reality a bit closer to the mindset with which I was raised. I believe everyone should receive the same expectations from society and therefore be able to accomplish what they want as individuals.”
Lidija Tislijar
Client Business Partner, Nielsen
My first contact with LEAD Network was at the conference in Amsterdam in November 2017. I was so amazed by the content and energy that I decided to join efforts to launch the Netherlands Chapter and have been on the journey ever since. Diversity and inclusion are very close to my heart because they have played a major role in my career. I feel personally committed to ensuring equal growth opportunities for everyone. As business leaders in the industry, we share the responsibility to create an environment that will encourage young female talents to stay and build their careers. The only way we can do that is to actually walk the talk and ensure diverse workforce at all levels including management boards. With that, there will also be more female role-models to inspire and encourage young women to grow in their careers which is critical to the success of both diversity efforts in an organization as well as its business results.
Filippo Della Torre
Global Sales VP, Danone
I feel privileged to be part of the LEAD Network and represent Danone in The Netherlands. I’m convinced diversity is paramount to build high performing teams and it is a catalyst to drive business innovation. During my career I have always been passionate about developing talents with different background, nationality, race, gender.
LEAD Network is a fantastic enabler to advance women in the retail and consumer goods industry. Increasing LEAD members, attracting more male members, having engaged and active members, is key to drive gender equality in The Netherlands to the next level. Being a father of a lovely 23-year-old young lady is giving me an extra motivation to concretely support the LEAD mission and do the right thing for the future generations.
Meike Vorst
Legal Director Benelux & Nordics, PepsiCo
I am pleased to join the LEAD Netherlands Education Committee and on behalf of PepsiCo I can say we’re excited to continue our work with LEAD in advancing female talent. Diversity and inclusion is a core PepsiCo value since PepsiCo’s inception and has helped propel our company forward for decades. We aim to have our teams reflect the diverse countries and communities we live in and the consumers we serve. Building on this, we continue to raise the bar on talent and diversity and create an inclusive environment that truly empowers all associates to bring their whole selves to work.
Stephanie Yuri Manning
Marketing & Communications Director, Benelux, Alpine and Germany, Nielsen
My name is Stephanie Manning, and I lead Marketing & Communications for the Benelux and DACH regions at Nielsen. One of the reasons why I volunteered for LEAD Network is to help women like me not only realize our equality in the workplace and in senior leadership positions, but also to understand the biases we often place on ourselves. In many cases, we as women hold ourselves back more than our male counterparts: when looking for new opportunities, we tend not to apply for jobs unless we check all the boxes, and in the workplace, we talk ourselves out of our ability to handle bigger and better roles. I want us to fully realize how much we have to offer, so that we come to the table confident, ready and excited for our next challenges.
