The Future Leadership Institute’s first Future Leadership Summit, or BREE/SCHILDE SUMMIT (the names of the two Belgian municipalities hosting this event) took place on November 3 – 5, 2010. The core of the Summit was a group of 50 elected student leaders from top business schools and universities across Europe, who together with business and political leaders, discussed and explored issues which are crucial to Europe’s leaders of tomorrow. Below are the biographies of some of the CEOs and political leaders who attended:

SWATI D BHARGAVA

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF POURING POUNDS

Swati D Bhargava is the CEO and Co-founder of Pouring Pounds, a new cashback and incentive website in the UK. Pouring Pounds is scheduled to launch right before Christmas 2010 and is set to become a leader in affiliate marketing. Prior to this, Swati spent several years in the Investment Banking division at Goldman Sachs. During her time at Goldman, Swati worked on various structured products and capital market solutions for banks and financial institutions and then managed the client engagement effort for Goldman’s CEOs in Europe.

Swati graduated from the London School of Economics in 2005 with a First Class Honours in Mathematics and Economics. She is also a recipient of the prestigious SIA Youth Scholarship awarded by the Government of Singapore to the top 40 students in India every year. Swati is a keen yoga enthusiast and often conducts voluntary yoga classes.

WILLIAM STEVENS

FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, EUROPE UNLIMITED

A Belgian national, William Stevens graduated from EAP-European School of Management (Paris, Oxford, Berlin – Diplôme de Grande Ecole de Gestion – Diplom Kaufmann) in 1989 and previously from the Catholic University of Brussels in Economics. He embarked on his professional career at the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA) where he was appointed Secretary General at the age of 25. He launched several ambitious initiatives, one that led to the creation of EASDAQ (which became Nasdaq Europe) while significantly growing revenues, profits and membership. William founded Europe Unlimited in 1998 to be a much-needed European hub for fast-growing entrepreneurs raising their profile with venture capital investors. Today, Europe Unlimited has achieved that difficult mission and is a profitable company. Europe Unlimited organises 25 international venture and technology partnering forums with over 1,000 presenting entrepreneurs every year attracting a real network of venture capital investors, corporate partners, university tech transfer groups, innovation policy makers and deal makers.

William speaks English, French, Dutch and German and gets by in Italian. His interests are his family and friends, reading politics, travelling and hiking. He is married and has 2 daughters.

CHRIS VAN ROEY

CHAIRMAN, UNITED BELGIAN ADVERTISERS (UBA)

Chris Van Roey (1956) studeerde toegepaste economische wetenschappen aan de K.U.Leuven. Als assistent richtte hij aan de universiteit het in die tijd (1980) visionaire ʻCentrum voor Microcomputersʼ op. Bij de groep Colruyt lanceerde hij met Dolmen in 1982 de eerste Belgische computershopketen. Vervolgens ging hij in 1987 aan de slag bij Apple Computer waar doorgroeide tot Marketing Director Benelux en lid van het directiecomité. In 1996 zorgde hij bij Mobistar voor een geslaagde lancering van de telecomoperator. Als
Chief Communication Officer en lid van het directiecomité maakte hij van Mobistar een sterk telecommunicatiemerk.

Na 25 jaar carrière bij sterke merken nam hij in 2007 de beslissing om zelf als ondernemer van start te gaan. In 2007 richtte hij ʻThe House of Brandsʼ op, dat strategische brand guides maakt voor bedrijven en hen helpt een sterk coherent merk op te bouwen. In 2008 lanceerde hij daarnaast het bedrijf ‘Pitchpoint’ dat zich richt naar adverteerders en gespecialiseerd is in de selectie, contractonderhandeling en evaluatie van communicatieen marketingleveranciers. Hij was inmiddels ook zes jaar docent in marketing en communicatie aan de Vlekho hogeschool. Gedurende zijn loopbaan kreeg hij verscheidene professionele onderscheidingen en hij werd gelauwerd als ʻMaster Marketeerʼ en als ‘Advertising Personality of the Year’. Chris Van Roey is eveneens CEO van de Unie van BelgischeAdverteerders, vice-voorzitter van de Raad voor Reclame, en lid van het executief comité van de World Federation of Advertisers.

FRANS GOETGHEBEUR

PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN BUDDHIST UNION

Frans Goetghebeur worked as a roman languages teacher in secondary education for many years. He has been associated with the Buddhist institutes in Schoten, Brussels, Huy (Belgium) and Cadzand (The Netherlands) for more than thirty years. He was the president of the Buddhist Union of Belgium (BUB) for 10 years. On 27 September 2008, he was elected president of the European Buddhist Union (EBU) with a mandate of three years.

Frans Goetghebeur is a founder member of various interreligious organisations and an esteemed speaker on topics such as the acculturation of Buddhism in the West, and the status of spiritualism in our society. His goal is to stimulate ecumenical and multi-faith philosophical dialogue within the various schools of Buddhism and also between spiritual traditions, science and ideology.

He has collaborated on numerous publications related to multi-cultural education, pacifism, and Buddhist philosophy and has been the author of six books published in French and Dutch.

BERNARD VAN MILDERS

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT-CEO, FLYING GROUP

Bernard Van Milders is founder and president-ceo of Flying Group, a major European player in business aviation, operating and managing a fleet of about 30 business aircraft based throughout Europe, flying around the world. Flying Group’s main base at Antwerp airport was created in 1995 with the ‘Flying Partners’ shared ownership program. Starting with just one small Conquest turboprop, the fleet expanded over the next 15 years and now includes a wide range of business aircraft, from light jets (such as the Citation Mustang) to long haul large business jets like the Falcon 7X. Spin-off activities emerged: maintenance, engineering, handling, charter brokerage, etc. Additional aircraft and company bases were created: Cannes, Paris, Rotterdam, Luxembourg, Moscow,…

Before starting his own company, Bernard started his career in 1983 as general manager of the family-owned Coca Cola Antwerp bottling companies. After his family sold the bottling facilities to Coca Cola in 1994, he continued for a while as Coca Cola’s Sales Manager for Flanders. But his entrepreneurial spirit and his passion for aviation pushed him to start his own company: Flying Group. In 1995 he demonstrated this passion for aviation by obtaining his US professional pilots licence. Today, Bernard is still flying some of the aircraft of the Flying Group fleet.

Bernard is President of the Antwerp-Waasland Chamber of Commerce. He has a master’s degree in industrial engineering from ‘Groep T’ in Belgium.

ANDERS BERGE

CEO, MERCURI URVAL BELGIUM & LUXEMBOURG

Anders Berge joined Mercuri Urval Belgium as Managing Director late 2006.

He started in the company as a consultant in Stockholm 1996 with consultancy work within primarily the IT and the telecom sectors. In 2001 he became International Key Account Manager developing a large account in the Nordic/Baltics. Lately he has, together with a UK colleague, developed the top-down large international account approach in nine of our 23 countries. He has strong experience of intensively supporting the large international companies’ fulfillment of their strategies.

His working and education background is from the Military Police and the Anti-Sabotage units in Sweden where he became Major before leaving 1996. It was the leadership, the training and the strategies that were the main reasons why Anders, after initial compulsory training, stayed in the army for twelve years.

“I strongly believe that being able to connect the customer’s strategy processes with their people and organizational processes is our key differentiator in the marketplace. Often those two processes do not fully go hand in hand enough and here we can truly assist. We can with our strong business experience and solid products together with our clients design the solutions needed for quicker strategy fulfillment. It is a pleasure to work together with our devoted and excellent colleagues all over our 23 countries and together contribute to our clients’ success.”

In his free moments Anders enjoys being with his family and preferably in the nature, regardless if it is the Belgian countryside or boating in the Swedish archipelago.

JOHN THOMPSON

CEO, ADVENTIPRO

John Thompson is the owner of AdvantiPro GmbH, a German publishing company which he founded in 2002. AdvantiPro has contracts to produce four English-language newspapers for US military families in Germany and the Benelux, and also produces an English-language telephone book which is distributed in the same region.

From 1996 – 2002 John worked for Lockheed Martin as Director, International Business Development, Middle East, Europe & Africa. Prior to that he spent 21 years in the US Air Force as Aircraft Commander/Instructor in T-37, RF-4, F-4, F-5, and F-15 aircraft.  His service in the airforce included assignments in Germany, the Yemen Arab Republic, Japan and other US bases. He also served as Political/Military Analyst for the Deputy Commander, Plans & Operations and worked in the HQ US Air Force (Pentagon) acting as Branch Chief, South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq). Other roles included Political Analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Pentagon) and the Office of Near Eastern & South Asian Affairs, serving as Country Director for Egypt, Syria, Jordan & Lebanon.  He was given a special assignment during his time in the airforce: personal instructor pilot for the Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who completed the US Air Force Pilot Training Program.

John has Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alabama and a  Master of Sciences, Human Resources Management, from the University of Utah.

PATRICE CROS

CEO, PREMIER CERCLE

LUC DEFLEUW

CEO, ALCATEL-LUCENT BELL NV

HENRI THIJSSEN

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALIAXIS SA

HERWIG FLEERACKERS

CEO, HEALTHCARE BELGIUM

Herwig Fleerackers is the CEO of Healthcare Belgium, a platform made up of the majority of the Belgian academic hospitals together with some key health technology partners (such as AGFA Healthcare & Ion Beam Applications) that drives the international valorisation of Belgian health solutions in its broadest sense.

Born in 1964, Herwig studied classical Latin-Greek at secondary school before completing a Master’s in Law. He spent the first decade of his career in banking and insurance but in 1999 became Sales and Marketing Director of Johnson & Johnson, rising to General Manager and Company President of Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute Europe, Middle East & Africa, based in Paris.

Herwig is a founding and managing partner of Hernor Invest, a Belgian investment and management company, is a managing partner of Finance and Business Partners, a credit and insurance broker and is founding and managing partner of OLV Robotic Surgery Institute, the first globally dedicated training Institute for surgeons on robotic procedures, based in Aalst, Belgium.

JEAN LAGAUNE

CEO, COMCO

Jean Lagaune (52 years old, Dutch Nationality) has a Masters Degree in Engineering & Building Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands (1985). He also achieved several post-academic learning programs at the College of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Oxford University (UK), Executive courses at INSEAD (France), London Business School (UK) and a Graduate Mastering Interim Management Programme at Vlerick Management School Gent (Belgium).

He has over 25 years of international professional experience in the area of Petrochemicals, Oil & Gas exploration, and Power & Utility. He obtained positions in General Management, Marketing, Sales, Product Management, and Business Management, with working experience in Europe, Middle-East, South Africa, United States, Central Asia and Former Soviet Union.

Jean is an experienced all-round manager with a strong focus on project development and has a high business level of interacting with different cultures. He has lived in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and the UK. He is a decision-maker with strong problem solving, people management and coaching attitude, capable of handling complex issues and structures in different industries, cultures and countries, with an honest but plain straight forward approach.

Jean is CEO, Managing Partner and major shareholder of several companies active in Clean Tech and Renewable Energy across Europe.

JAN MUEHIFEIT

CHAIRMAN EUROPE, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Jan Muehifeit is responsible for representing Microsoft Corporation and engaging with governments, large corporations, key partners and academic elites both cross Europe and on a global level.  His goal is to ensure that Microsoft continues to act as a relevant, trusted and valuable partner that listens and contributes to enabling long-term growth, local economic competitiveness, job creation and innovation both in public and private sectors.

Jan joined Microsoft in 1993 and, during his seven years in the company’s Czech and Slovak operations, held a variety of leadership roles including the position of General Manager. He received the Microsoft President’s Award for Excellence in 1994. He was named Regional Director of Microsoft Eastern Europe in 2000 and promoted to Vice President in 2002. Under his leadership, Eastern Europe became the company’s best performing region worldwide for four consecutive years. In 2004 he also became a co-architect of Microsoft’s global emerging markets strategy and a member of the Microsoft executive board for emerging markets.

Following these achievements, Jan assumed the role of Vice President of Microsoft’s Public Sector team in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2005. In this role he was responsible for promoting solutions for public sector organizations and ensuring delivery of an excellent customer and partner experience while contributing to EMEA’s national and international public sector growth and social agendas. He was named Vice President, EMEA Corporate & Government Strategy in 2006 and was subsequently promoted to Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation in 2007.

MICHEL KLOMPMAKER

CEO, BANKING &  FINANCE MAGAZINE

Michel Klompmaker is the founder of several trade journals and publishing houses in the Benelux area. He is the founder and CEO of Banking & Finance, a magazine published in Dutch, English and French which provides news and information on issues including compliance, risk management and new legislation such as SEPA, Sarbanes Oxley and Basel III .

He also launched the B&F ICT Innovation Awards, B&F Lunch Sessions, the Grand Gala and the B&F Congresses for C-level. He recently launched Banking & Finance TV.

Michel studied at the University of Amsterdam and has lived in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

PAUL BAAN

CEO, NOABER, THE NETHERLANDS

KAREL DE BOECK

FORMER CEO, FORTIS
CHAIRMAN BOEK.BE

Mr De Boeck was the CEO of Fortis from October 2008 – June 2009, ensuring the survival of the bank after the financial markets crisis. This involved three rounds of negotiations with the Belgian and Dutch governments and BNP Paribas, and taking the leadership role in six historic and controversial Shareholder Assemblies. Prior to that, from 2007 – 2008 as Vice Chairman of ABN Amro he was responsible for managing the transition following the purchase of ABN Amro by Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Fortis.

Mr De Boeck previously worked in senior roles at Fortis and General Bank. His long and distinguished career in the banking sector has included being Chairman of the Belgian Banking Association, Member of the European Banking Board and Chairman of the European Financial Management and Marketing Association (EFMA). He is a graduate (summa cum laude) in Civil Engineering Electromechanics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) in Belgium, where he also completed a Masters Degree in Economics two years later, in 1974. Mr de Boeck currently lives in Knokke, Belgium.

STEFAAN BETTENS

CEO, JETIMPORT (RED BULL)

RIK VANPETEGHEM

CEO, DELOITTE BELGIUM

Rik Vanpeteghem joined the tax practice of Deloitte in 1985, becoming a partner of the firm in 1996.  He was the Belgian tax practice leader from 2004-2008. In June 2008, Rik became CEO of Deloitte Belgium, responsible for the general strategy, appointing and heading the firm’s Executive Committee, and representing the Belgian firm in the worldwide Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu network.

During Rik’s career as an international tax advisor, he specialised in Belgian and European corporate tax issues around cross-border reorganisations and inbound investments into Belgium. Rik was named several times as a leading tax advisor in Belgium in the International Tax Review World Tax surveys.

MICHEL DEBIEVRE

CEO, TOUR & TAXIS

MICHAEL MATHRES

CEO, WORLD CLIMATE SUMMIT

Michael Mathres has 10 years financial, marketing and entrepreneurial experience in the environmental sector, working with international investors, governments, companies, media, NGOs, High-Net-Worth-Individuals and celebrities. In the past years he has raised over £10m for various climate-related ventures including The World Climate Summit, Climate Spark, Climate Capital Network, Mootral, and Global Cool (celebrity-led campaign: Sienna Miller, Josh Hartnett, KT Tunstall etc…). In 2006, Michael was responsible for Climate Change Now the first renewable energy switching tool and managed to convinceDavid Cameron and his Conservative Party to switch to renewable electricity. In 2005, he was the first entrepreneur to organise a global concert on climate change called the One Earth Concert with the help of Brian Eno. This was ahead of its time and did not happen, but paved the way for another event: LiveEarth last year. Prior to that he was the first person to tour 16 European capitals in a hybrid car and encourage Europeans to switch to renewable electricity.

He holds a BA from Hamilton College, NY, USA. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce (RSA) and Unltd* the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, where he won a Millennium Prize for Social Entrepreneurship in 2004. He is a member of the American Council On Renewable Energy ACORE and sits on their International and Climate Change Committees. Michael is a French citizen, with Cambodian and Ukrainian origins and was brought up in Switzerland. He is bilingual: French & English.

FA QUIX

CHAIRMAN, FEDUSTRIA (FEDERATION OF THE TEXTILE, WOODWORKING AND FURNITURE INDUSTRIES)

Fa Quix (°1957), studeerde economische wetenschappen aan de K.U.Brussel (kandidaturen) en aan de K.U.Leuven (licenties, nu master).  Na zijn universitaire opleiding was hij in het academiejaar 1980-81 verbonden aan de K.U.Leuven als assistent economie van prof. Mark Eyskens.  In 1981 gaat hij als attaché aan de slag bij Febeltex, de Federatie der Belgische Textielnijverheid, waar hij is opgeklommen tot directeur-generaal (sinds 1996).  Sinds 1 januari 2007 is hij directeur-generaal van Fedustria vzw, de fusiefederatie van Febeltex en Febelhout, die de belangen vertegenwoordigt van de textiel-, hout- en meubelindustrie.  Daarnaast is Fa Quix tevens bestuurslid (sinds 1984) en oud-voorzitter (1998-2002) van Ekonomika Alumni (K.U.Leuven), waar hij nog altijd hoofdredacteur is van het ledenmagazine Ekonomika Berichten.  Hij is geregeld gastspreker, ook aan de Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfswetenschappen en is er tevens ‘Fellow van het Hogenheuvelcollege’ (K.U.Leuven).

CAROLINE JENNER

CEO, JA-YE EUROPE (JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT – YOUNG ENTERPRISE EUROPE)

PETER LAMENS

CEO, OPTIMAL PARKING CONTROL

PETAR IVANOVIC

CEO, THE MONTENGERIN INVESTMENT PROMOTIONAL AGENCY JOVANA AND CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF MONTENEGRO

ANDERS ERIKSSON

CEO, BONNIER BUSINESS PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Anders Eriksson is the CEO of Bonnier Business Press International, a leading business media operation in Europe with activities in 12 countries. Bonnier Business Press International belongs to the Bonnier Group, the largest media company in Scandinavia. Among other things Bonnier Business Press runs daily business papers and associated web sites in 8 European countries. Prior to Bonnier, Anders was the CEO of Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, a division within Melbourne IT, a leading global internet solutions provider listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. During 8 years running the business Anders developed it from a small loss-making company with a turnover of €3 million into the number one global provider of Internet Brand Protection services with operations in 15 countries across 4 continents, €40 million turnover and a high profit margin.

Prior to Melbourne IT, Anders was Executive Vice President at Razorfish Inc, managing its European operations with more than 700 employees and about 1,000 MSEK in turnover. Earlier he worked as management consultant for SIAR Bossard and Cap Gemini specializing in M&A and market entry strategies as well as for the Modern Times Group, MTG. Anders has an MBA degree from Stockholm School of Economics in combination with executive education studies at the The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

EDOUARD CAMBIER

MANAGING DIRECTOR and OWNER of  SEEDFACTORY

Edouard Cambier is the Managing Director and owner of Seedfactory, a company of 120 employees providing flexible office space for media communications and graphic design companies in Belgium, allowing them to network and to leverage their complimentary skills and ideas. Edouard is a media specialist and was previously the Strategic Alliance Director at Roularta Media Group, responsible for partnerships with Tijd, Le Soir and Promedia, working on new projects with clients such as @dnet, Trends Online, Trends Review and the FEBIAC catalogue in cooperation with Le Vif and Knack and IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).

Edouard is past CEO of the Belgian chapter of the IIR (Institute for International Research).  He is past CEO of Affiniteam Belgium, introducing the notion of Cliemployé®, the first company in Europe to introduce a complete and original loyalty and motivation programme for co-workers.

RAN ANCHO

MANAGING DIRECTOR, BRINKS THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM

RIEN VAN LENT

CEO, EXECUTIVE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP

Rien van Lent joined Executive Learning Partnership (ELP) as a partner in 2009. Rien has a wide ranging experience as board member of companies and sector organisations in the media industry. He is also connected to several non-profit organisations. From 2006 until early 2009 Rien was President, International of the Amsterdam-based Telegraaf Media Group. Within this group he focused on management of international assets (online, newspaper, magazines, radio, games, television, conferences) and on strategy development.

Before joining TMG he was in charge of the European newspaper, internet and conference activities of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels and London. Rien moved from a journalistic background into publishing, as managing editor and publisher for the leading Dutch business daily Het Financieele Dagblad in Amsterdam.

Rien is a graduate of Nijenrode University in the Netherlands and obtained an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management. He started his career as a researcher at Erasmus University and he has published books on corporate governance and Dutch economic history. Rien is married and has two children.

KAREL PLASMAN

CEO, ACERTA

RICHARD DUJARDIN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VEOLIA TRANSPORT UK, IRELAND AND BENELUX ZONE, REPRESENTATIVE OF VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT FOR THE BENELUX

Richard Dujardin has had a long and varied career with Veolia Environnement, the mulitnational French company specialising in water supply, water management, waste management and transport. Initially he was an engineer for Veolia Water (Groupe Générale des Eaux at the time). From 1997 to 2000 he was a business development executive for Veolia Water UK, based in London, with his main function being to develop the Irish market. Having moved to Dublin in 2000 to lead the water operation in Ireland, Richard’s remit increased in 2002 to include the transport side of the business.  Now based in Brussels he is currently CEO of Veolia Transport for the UK, Ireland and the Benelux zone, a business which turns over £450m and employs 6,500 staff. In addition he is the Representative of Veolia Environnement for the Benelux, which turns over £750m.

Richard studied engineering at the Institut Catholique des Arts et Métiers de Lille (ICAM) and in 1991 completed an MBA at Reims Business School. He is a Member of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (MIEI) and an advisor to the Ministry of Trade and Commerce of France.

FREDDY NURSKI

CHAIRMAN, EKONOMIKA ALUMNI VZW, THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE KU LEUVEN FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Freddy Nurski has more than 30 years experience in general management, sales & account management and consultancy.

After initial assignments at Arthur Andersen and Paribas Bank, he worked for 15 years at General Electric, where he was promoted to the Executive Management team of the European GE Information Services business unit. During that period he worked with major global companies to introduce communication-intensive information systems in the pre-internet era : Apple, Microsoft, DHL, GM, Euroclear, Monsanto. He also was member of the GE Europe IT and Sales Councils.  After GE he headed up the Sales&Marketing organization of ISS Europe, a 1.5 billion euro facility services company; during that period he brought one of first extranets life in Europe, where the internet was used to interact with customers and suppliers (click here to see an article from The Wall Street Journal Europe for which Freddy was interviewed at the time). Since 1998, Freddy has been taking on several post-acquisition general management and VP positions at technology companies in Europe: S1 Corp, Selligent, Clear2Pay, SWIFT, Eastnets. Freddy specializes in integration of acquisitions and operationalization of alliances with global technology companies: set-up of global sales structures, globalisation of product marketing and development functions.

Freddy Nurski has a Master’s degree in Business Economics (Handelsingenieur) from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and is Chairman of the Faculty’s Alumni organisation Ekonomika Alumni vzw. He is co-founder of a European network of senior business professionals (N2EURO) that are helping Information and Communication Technology companies to expand their reach into Europe.

GUY HALLET

CHAIRMAN, EU REPRESENTATIVE YANGZHOU PROVINCE

LUC SCHRYVERS

SENIOR LICENSING EXECUTIVE (FRANCE AND EU), MICROSOFT

MARC DE PAUW

MANAGING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INVESTMENT COMPANY, AND MAYOR OF DESTELBERGEN, BELGIUM

Marc De Pauw has been the Managing Director of the National Investment Company since 1994, is Non-Executive Chairman of seven companies (Alken-Maes, Demanco, Credibe, Euromedia Group, Extensa, Mabeco and Urbaninfra) and is a Non-Executive Director of 14 other enterprises (Ackermans & Van Haaren Coordination Centre, Atenor, Axe Investments, Finindus, Finocas, Gimvindus, Henschel Engineering, Leasinvest, Nivelinvest, NMP/SNTC, OCAS, Sofinim, Videohouse and XYLOS). He is also the Managing Director of Sofinim N.V. and Ackermans & van Haaren Coordination Centre. He has worked at the National Investment Company since 1983 in roles including Director and Chief Financial Officer.

Marc has also had an active career in politics. From 1978 – 1983 he was General-Inspector of Finances at the Management of Budget and Control of Expenditure, in 1980 was  Advisor to the Cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Institutional Reforms, Mister H. Vanderpoorten and from 1981 – 1983 he was Deputy Chief of the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Foreign Trade, Mr W. De Clercq. He has been the Mayor of Destelbergen since 1995.

Marc graduated with distinction as a Master in Economics from the University of Gent in 1975. Before entering the world of business and politics Marc worked in academia. From 1975 – 1978 he was a full-time Assistant of Professor to Doctor M. van Meerhaeghe at the University of Gent for the seminars of international economics at the R.U.G. From 1979 until 1983 he also served as a voluntary Assistant to Professor Doctor Amerijckx at the seminars for Public Finances at the R.U.G.