30+ years of sustainability, international business and non-profit experience. I support executive teams and organizations with the alignment of purpose, strategy and leadership. I build and implement sustainability strategies that are impactful, material and communicable. I have significant expertise in sustainable and traceable supply chains, multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives, and innovative finance and deal structuring. Experience with start-ups as coach, angel investor and board member. My interests include team and organizational coaching, change management, facilitating workshops and events, and board governance issues.
My Areas of Expertise: Strategy, Leadership, Capability Building, Sustainability and Change Management
My Sector Focus: Retail, Financial Services and Commodities (Food and Agriculture supply chains)
My Languages: English, Dutch and Spanish
My Education: BSE, Princeton University, Civil Engineering (Operations Research), MA, Boston University, Energy and Environmental Studies. MBA, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Global Executive OneMBA.
My Experience:
Sustainability Strategy Development: Worked with a leading global coffee merchant / trader to develop global sustainability strategy. Worked with large branded food company to shift corporate sustainability strategy from being purely based on percentages of certified procurement to impact targets that harnessed the power of the whole company.
Strategic innovation through sustainability: With a leading global coffee company, identified and piloted new business models to leverage under-utilized assets in the field and create value from its extensive network of farmer-suppliers. With several medium-sized companies, developed entrepreneurial approaches to use the Sustainable Development Goals as framing for new business development.
Innovative finance: With the Sustainable Trade Initiative, created a €100M blended finance facility and €30M technical assistance fund to drive and finance innovation in smallholder farmer-inclusive supply chains.
Corporate Sustainability roles: Global sustainability director Royal Ahold (supermarkets), Ecom Agroindustrial Corp. (soft commodities)
Founder/initiator/executive: Founded, ran, and served on boards of several non-profits UTZ Certified, ProRios, Better Cotton Initiative, World Cocoa Foundation.
Investor, board member: algrano.com, circular-systems.com
