Now five years running, in honour of International Women’s Day, I’ve named 5 awesome women; women who I appreciate, admire, have learned from and who I personally know.  Here are my 5 for 2018.
Sabine Bartelse-van Zeijl – I met Sabine last year through her running club Vorstil, designed for runners who are entrepreneurs, have an entrepreneurial mindset or have a decision making function within a business. The early Monday morning runs are a great way to start the week (though it took me a while to get used to running first thing in the morning!). Sabine is also an entrepreneur helping lifestyle brands in their marketing and PR efforts.
Anke Ulens – Over the last several months, I’ve had the chance to work and interact with Anke as she joined the WINext Scale Up Executive Track. Since 2009, as CEO she has been growing Vivaldis Group into a successful Belgian scale up; now in her role as Growth Architect she is taking the company to new growth paths in new markets.
Joy Paterson – My friendship with Joy goes back decades to when we were little kids. She’s made her mark as a real estate entrepreneur, first with co-founding Condo Chicks, later with Stomp Realty and now with Joy Paterson Homes. She also runs Barefoot and Focus that provides school supplies to kids in poor communities in Jamaica to enable them to achieve lasting change in their lives by supporting their educational success. And you can read a wonderful write up about her and her family in the Neighbours of Lawrence Park magazine.
Sara Gerion, Ada Ubrezi, Amanda Marochko – I had the chance to meet these lovely ladies a few years ago at a wedding of dear friends in Costa Rica. They are co-founders of S#E, SheSharp, a community that fosters diversity in technology and entrepreneurship, by providing an open and safe community for under-represented demographics to explore their interests and potential. Join their events if you’re in Amsterdam!
Malina Ciolpan – I’ve known Malina since my AIESEC days; then and now I am always impressed by the combination of her intelligence, sharpness, kindness and warmth. She is currently making an impact in FinTech through her work at ING; in 2017 her team’s idea won ING’s innovation bootcamp and this year she is nominated as one of ING’s women of the year (hope she wins!).