On Tuesday 3^rd December 2024, EMEA Recruitment is proud to partner with some of the most prestigious businesses in Europe for a webinar on Career Lessons from Sustainability Leaders.

This highly anticipated event will bring together expert leaders from Ingka Group (IKEA), HEINEKEN, and Philips to share their unique career journeys, chaired by Claire McDonald, the Finance Senior Manager at ESG Lead at Nouryon.

Designed for those considering a career in Sustainability or ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), this webinar will explore how these leaders made the leap from a variety of backgrounds. They will also share the ways they continuously make an impact in some of the most reputable businesses in Europe.

Meet the panel

• Paulien Eckhardt has worked in sustainability since 2008. She is currently the Global Head of ESG Reporting at Ingka Group (The largest IKEA franchisee, with IKEA retail operations in 31 markets, together with sizable Shopping Centre and Investments businesses). In this role, she works to ensure that ESG reporting becomes an integral part of driving business to realize its purpose. Before joining Ingka Group, Paulien led ESG strategy at KPMG Netherlands, working with multi-national companies across Europe and beyond and helping boards to define integrated sustainability strategies that drive holistic value.
   
• Olga Smirnova is the Audit Director of the Internal Audit Department at HEINEKEN. Previously, she was responsible for sustainability reporting at HEINEKEN for almost seven years, preceded by over 15 years of experience in internal and external assurance, risk management and governance. She started her career as a financial auditor, followed by roles in internal audit departments of large multi-nationals, responsible for audits in the areas of supply chain and sustainability. A few months ago, she moved back to HEINEKEN internal audit, to continue looking at sustainability reporting and governance process from the audit angle. Olga is co-chairing ESG working groups of the Dutch Accounting Standards Board (RJ) and the Finance Executive Association (FEA), and is a member of ESG working groups of the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
   
• After finishing his MBA in 1990, Simon Braaksma started his career with Citibank, where he held various management roles. In 1998, Simon moved to his largest customer, Philips, in Treasury. He then joined a large finance transformation project and worked in Group Control before joining Group Sustainability in 2008. At Group Sustainability, Simon is responsible for all internal and external ESG disclosures, the relationship with ESG investors and Philips’ climate action program. He also represents the Netherlands on EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board (advisory group to the European Commission on for example the European Sustainability Reporting Standards), and chairs various ESG working groups.

Space at this event is limited, so please reach out to Hannah Mallia, Director in our Dutch recruitment division, if you’re interested in attending.

Earlier this year, we were proud to host an interactive roundtable on ESG Impact: Challenges & Opportunities in partnership with ESGNext in Switzerland. If you’re interested in hearing more about our upcoming events, please get in touch with [email protected]