NextGen Chapter Committee Members

Coming from a healthcare background has shown me that a lot of my energy and passion lies within helping people and problem solving. I am eager to learn, grow and be challenged and I believe the challenges facing NextGen is such an exciting place to put these passions to work! I am constantly looking for new opportunities to develop solutions and learn and the LEAD network fosters just that. My work within the Unilever Customer Development team quenches my thirst for problem solving which helps drive my purpose every day. I believe working together and empowering each other is key to forcing change and I am so excited to have the opportunity to do that with this amazing team.

I have lived around the World; I love meeting new people, discovering new cultures, and navigating different ways of working. I am R&D manager at Barry Callebaut and have the chance to create and taste amazing cocoa and chocolate products daily. Throughout my career, I have participated in different DEIB initiatives and always feel energized with learning and finding solutions with like-minded people.
My favorite quote: "It always seems impossible until it is done" helped me push myself to achieve greater things and transform my surroundings; co-chairing the LEAD Next Gen Chapter is another great way to prove it.

I am a very energetic and active person coming from a multicultural background. I have moved countries most of my life and am currently living in northern Italy, working for Kimberly Clark as Procurement team leader for our EMEA Marketing services. I have a team who is spread out across the region in 5 different countries, and I absolutely love working with a variety of cultures. I started my career in logistics and have since moved around the supply chain to obtain a full 360° experience. As a person I am very positive and driven, I take every opportunity to learn new things and to connect with new people. Travelling to discover new places, scuba diving, and food & wine are some of my passions in life and I try to combine the three as much as I can.

I’ve always been passionate about diversity and inclusion. As young professional working as Key Account Manager for Reckitt, I’ve been part of the D&I committee within Reckitt for a while. To me, LEAD Next Gen is the perfect opportunity to connect with like-minded people in different companies and to motivate and inspire each other while empowering the younger generation of professionals.

Besides me being a passionate food technologist that loves to develop new products with innovative ingredients, I am an activist for more equality, diversity and inclusion! I have discovered the power of connecting, sharing, making aware and empowering each other within our Ingredion Women of Ingredion Network (WIN). When we support and empower each other we can achieve great things and can make a big step towards a better world. That’s the reason why I have joined the LEAD Network to help not only making a difference within the company I am working for but within the whole food sector! I have joined the NextGen chapter to connect to other passionate people that want to make a difference as well and making this in a sustainable way as we focus on the next generation of leaders and their needs!

I’m a yogi, foodie, love to travel and absorb in different cultures and experiences oh and wine, I love wine… I’m striving for balance and fulfilment in all areas of my life. I’m super passionate about wellbeing, self-improvement and development and show up for myself everyday to in turn support those around me and leave the world in a better place than I found it. I’ve always had this deep calling to follow my intuition and stay curious and live by the mantra that ‘everything is figureoutable’. I work for Kellogg’s as a HR Business Partner and my next adventure is relocating from Manchester to Dublin to take on a new European role supporting our Supply Chain teams.   

Growing up in Croatia with Kosovo origins, I realised early on that success is often dictated by access to resources and location, not one’s ability to drive positive change. This inspired me to rewrite the silent rules that perpetuate inequalities related to wealth and livelihood. With over a decade of experience in impact strategy for purpose-driven companies, I’m a firm believer in the power of technology and impact strategies to drive positive change. By leading Consult AI, my mission is to empower the growth of profitable, purposeful, and ethical businesses by leveraging innovative technologies such as AI and future of work designs like remote work.

I am a very energetic, optimistic, and curious person. I like to take every opportunity to learn and experience new adventures. My biggest passions are traveling, food and painting.  I strongly believe that collaborating and connecting are the biggest drivers of change and inspiring others, where leaders need to lead by example. Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible until it is done”. Let’s dream big, work hard, and together make a more inclusive and diverse world while supporting the next generation of authentic leaders.

I’m a big believer in the power of authentic leadership in the corporate, a NextGen by heart and women empowerment trainer, mentor & coach. While growing in the corporate world myself in great companies like Danone, ABInBev, BAT, I always loved to connect with like-minded people and drive big change for good be that large sustainability or procurement transformation projects or the work culture we share in the office. On a personal note, I am a passionate corporate dreamer & doer, love seeing the spark in people’s eye’s when they start to believe in themselves, dream big & go for it. That’s what I teach our cool 4-year old after work 😉. I am also a mindfulness practitioner – it’s the best way to connect with myself and those diverse and cool people around me.

One day or day one. This has been my motto when it comes to making a decision, one of which was joining the LEAD Network. I always look into making a difference and what better way to do so than through the LEAD network. Engaging with managers and young people alike, NextGen is an amazing chapter to be part of. I hope to help the NextGeneration of leaders to find their place in the world, with enough room for growth and having a critical mindset.

Coming from a technology background I know just how important Diversity and Inclusion is and recognise that there is still considerable progress to be achieved in this area. This is a topic that I am incredibly passionate about. Being part of the LEAD Network allows me to incorporate my goal of being a future leader as well as helping me meet like-minded individuals, where we can work together to solve the problems we each individually face and make a difference. I am a Project Manager at IBM, outside of work I am a huge lover of baking, travelling, and meeting new people.

I’m very curious person, always open to new opportunities, especially when it involves working with
new people and expanding my horizons. I love spending time in the mountains, the silence you find
there is a great stress reliever and the sensation of being so small and powerless in front of the them
is something that really fascinates me. I’m Italian so of course my love for food and wine goes
without saying! I always look for new experiences and stimulus but at the same time I’m very
tenacious with regards to my objectives. At Kimberly-Clark I’ve worked in different roles and in
different countries, but my focus has always been to give value to the people I work with, and learn
as much as I can from them. I’m currently responsible for a production department with roughly 150
team members: every day comes with new learnings and new challenges to achieve the results but
one important thing for me is to always celebrate even the smallest of successes for any one of my
team members. NextGen is a brilliant group and I’m very excited to be part of building the Next
Generation of Leaders.

My passion lies in infusing purpose into the business landscape. As One Young World ambassador, I can not help myself but spreading the seeds of positive changes everywhere I go! Continuous improvement and challenging myself is my mantra, whether through physical challenges or intellectual growth. My interests are very wide, they span practicing yoga, cycling, acquiring new skills or languages and exploration of diverse cultures through traveling. Nature is my biggest inspiration where I recharge my personal batteries.