PWN-SOFIA - Key Persons
Following a double Bachelors degree in Commerce and Law, Alison began her career in Finance in 2003 as a Graduate at one of Australia's largest Funds Management firms. 10 years and a Masters of Finance degree later, Alison gave in to her inherent "Wanderlust" and took the bold move to relocate to Frankfurt, Germany, where she delved back into the finance industry at Germany's second largest Bank. A few years later, an irresistible offer to join one of the world's most successful infrastructure investment banks came, and Alison found herself thrown into a whirlwind of Board Meetings, Board Directorships, team management, and responsibility as CFO of budgets up to US$2 billion.
After an overseas posting and 17 years in corporate, Alison decided to enjoy a sabbatical but in that time was consistently drawn to executive coaching, and began studying at the internationally renowned Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). Now a fully Certified Professional Coach and qualified ACC from the International Coaching Federation, Alison delights in helping emerging female leaders step into their power and embrace their Moxie.
An Organisational expert and HR Manager who dedicated her professional life to talent development. In almost forty years career she has developed a deep experience in the HR field, working in strategic Italian companies in Italy and abroad. Amedea's career includes roles in: consulting firm Studio Staff; HR manager of Fintecna; Italimpianti; Condotte d'Acqua ; Italstrade; Organization and Development Director at Alitalia ; Trenitalia, the Italian Railway company, as the HR Director first and later as Recruitment and People Development Director all over FS group.
Pursuing her passion for talent development, she became a certificated SHL assessor and a certificated ICF coach. In this role she evaluated, coached, and supported over 4.000 people.
Since 2015 she has been a passionate PWN volunteer as both a mentor and a team coach. In May 2022 Amedea was elected President of the Board of PWN Rome.
With her professional career now behind her, she can now dedicate her life to her passion: support and coach young, brilliant people in developing their own talent and career.
Job Titles:
- President, PWN Netherlands
Ana is President of the Professional Women's Network in the Netherlands which is a global organisation with the aim of gender balanced leadership. She also works in Workday as a senior manager for the customer success team in the Benelux and in the past, she had her own financial coaching startup.
A little more about Ana, she has lived in 5 countries (Madrid Spain, US, Budapest Hungary, London England and now Amsterdam The Netherlands.) She studied finance and started as a trader in the US, after moving to London to work in financial services and technology (fin-tech). She ran a financial coaching company with the aim to engage, inspire and encourage women to manage their money mindfully and make empowered investment decisions.
Job Titles:
- Business Consultant
- President, PWI Brussels
Barbara Vercruysse is a Global Kindness Advocate, Business Consultant, Thought Leader and Public Speaker.
One of her clients is a group of BMW dealers where she operates as a Quality Officer, Customer Board responsible and Operational Excellence Responsible, she synchronizes the high BMW standards with a welcoming work environment so that all employees perform at their highest level with great sense of well-being. She has also been part of the management team there for several years.
Barbara believes in the power of a strong network and is passionate of bringing a message of Powerful Kindness into the world and making a positive impact through women empowerment.
Happily married for 25 years, mom of 3 wonderful young adults, she strongly believes in leading by example after having survived a stage four cancer at the age of 32.
Her passions are reading, painting, enjoying arts, traveling, serving humanity, profound conversations, connecting from human to human.
After 22 years of international experience in a major international industrial group (Fortune 500), where Christine led the European Middle- East Africa & Indian : Talent Development Department , Christine left Zurich in 2013 to start an independent activity , specialized in Leadership & Talent Development based from French Rhone-Alpes.
Christine joined PWN Lyon in 2014 and launched with success the first Mentoring programs from 2015 before proposing an innovative hybrid version with the first Reverse Mentoring programs at PWN Lyon.
After 6 years of vice President Mentoring for PWN Lyon, where she developed a Mentoring expertise Team, she was elected President of the Lyon Board in July 2021 and she is very much inspired to put her energy & passion to contribute to this great global network and to support Women Leadership growth, Diversity & Inclusion with great innovative programs and new partnership.
Passionate about Diversity & Inclusion as well as Sustainable Living. An enthusiastic leader driven by emotional intelligence, with more than ten years management experience & a strong focus on people development. Excellent communication skills motivating others to develop their potential & (over-) achieve business targets. Analytical problem solver, able to anticipate issues & quickly resolve conflicts. Experienced in Leadership consulting & mentoring.
Job Titles:
- President
- Co - President, PWN Vienna
Environmental economist with 10 years of experience in promoting sustainable development at local, national and international level. Claudia worked mainly for public institutions and government departments such as the Italian Ministry of Environment with the role of Sustainable Development and Cohesion Policy expert supporting the National Environmental Authority and representing Italy in European working groups. In Vienna she worked at the Energy Community Secretariat as coordinator of the Regulatory Board team. She has also worked in international research projects on environmental taxation and on gender issues and has co-authored several publications.
Since 2014 Claudia is also President and Board chairwoman of the Vienna Family Network supporting 2500 international families in their integration and settlement in a foreign country.
Fiona has significant experience in building and developing teams to deliver results and growth in market share in a highly competitive fast paced environment. She passionately believes that as a leader - creating the right environment, is of paramount importance for a team to flourish and this approach allows each of us to reach our full potential. Fiona is an experienced Senior Management professional with over 20 years sales and marketing experience, 12 years of which was spent working in the telecommunications and internet sectors. Fiona's coaching style is an ability to connect with people at a human emotional level, enabling them to develop their awareness and understanding of their behaviours together with the emotions and beliefs that drive them. Using a person centred approach she uses emotional intelligence, cognitive neuroscience research and positive psychology. Fiona also uses ‘systems thinking' to connect her coaching work with tangible behaviour and business change.
She is an accredited Emotional Intelligence coach drawing on many professional techniques, including: Emotional Intelligence, Transactional Analysis, Strengths based, Neursocience and behaviours, NLP, Personality Profiling
Ileana is one of the pioneers of the Romanian capital market, having an experience in this field for over 28 years. Since 1995 she works at the Bucharest Stock Exchange and has a rich experience in the corporate field. From the general secretary of the company, director for listing & brokerage companies' activities on the market, the company's shareholders to the marketing, communication, and international relations areas of activities and corporate governance, Ileana currently coordinates the activity of admission to trading, as well as the financial education program "Fluent in Finance".
She is an economist, specialized in Finance, a legal adviser with an extended experience in capital markets and a trainer certified by the national authority. She is very closed to the academic environment as a member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Finance, Banking, Insurance and Stock Exchanges at the University of Economic Studies in Bucharest. Since 2020 she is a doctoral student with a topic in the field of corporate governance.
Since 2016 she is actively involved in associations as a volunteer, as Interim President of Professional Women's Network Romania since August 2021 after 5 years as Vice President of Women on Boards, as Vice President of the Romanian Association of Independent Administrators, member of the Association of Financial-Banking Analysts Romania and the Association of Legal Advisers in the Financial-Banking System. Ileana is a mentor within PWN Romania and the Association for Values in Education. In the period 2016-2017 she organized the first pilot program within PWN Romania, the Women on Boards Academy, "How to become a successful member of the Board of Directors" and between 2019-2021 the program "Skills Laboratory for a member of the Board of Directors" administration - An accelerated presentation ".
Job Titles:
- President, PWN Zug & Zurich
Jane Hallauer is a native Hongkonger and has been living in Switzerland since 1993. She started her professional career at KPMG in HK, continued with a secondment to the US firm and concluded as a partner of KPMG Switzerland. She is a qualified accountant who specialised in mergers & acquisitions across a broad range of industries. Since she "retired" from her over 25 years with KPMG in various roles and countries, Jane started to get involved in voluntary activities such as a mentor in PWN's mentoring programme with the objective of sharing her experiences.
Jane is a curious person and loves to learn anything new in both technical and social contexts. She believes in "try again, fail again, fail better" and having some fun along the journey.
Jane is a passionate and experimental cook, enjoys reading and travelling.
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Nice Côte D'Azur
Driven by a deep-rooted passion for empowering women in their professional journeys, and advocating for equal opportunities in the workplace, I find great inspiration in my work with PWN. Through this incredible organization, I have had the privilege of connecting with remarkable women, expanding my knowledge, and making meaningful contributions.
As an entrepreneur and executive coach, my focus lies in unlocking the potential of global leaders. My diverse background encompasses roles as a stockbroker, Global HR executive, entrepreneur, and angel investor. This multidimensional experience has enriched my understanding of various industries and allowed me to approach leadership development from a holistic perspective.In addition to my professional endeavors, I have served on a range of non-profit and for-profit boards, further deepening my understanding of governance and strategic decision-making.With a steadfast commitment to fostering inclusive environments and propelling women's careers forward, I am dedicated to making a lasting impact through my work with PWN and beyond.
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Sao Paulo
Doctor and master of Science, and bachelor in Business Administration at the School of Economics, Business Administration and Accountancy (FEA), University of São Paulo (USP), in Brazil. Lina's career includes research and consultancy in Human Resources Management, particularly in Careers, Sports, Organizational Climate, and Learning. Data scientist at Great Place to Work, and lecturer at Ibmec and FIA Business School. She was a lecturer at Insper, Universidade Federal de Uberl ndia (UFU), and Escola Superior de Administração de Gestão (Esags), with Human Resources classes. She has worked as a temporary researcher and lecturer at Universidad Autónoma del Caribe (UAC), in Barranquilla, Colombia, and also as a research scholar at Northern Illinois University (NIU), in Dekalb, IL, US.
Born in Split in 1978. After finishing law at University of Zagreb worked in as lawyer in Notary office, Addiko bank d.d. and was partner in law firm Bardek, Lisac, Mušec, Skoko, Šarolić d.o.o..
In 2013 Marijana incorporated her own law office and has been since then providing support to startup and technology companies in daily operations, investment, labour and regulatory framework.
For the last 10 years Marijana has been startup mentor in ZIP today ALGEBRA LAB and has actively participated as founder of CroAI (Croatian Artificial Intelligence Association) HOME | CroAI and founder and vice president of CRO STARTUP CroStartup - Croatian Startup Ecosystem.
Marijana graduated from Cotrugli Business School in 2014 as member of EMBA X generation.
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Paris
Indian by birth and culture, Nandini has worked in several countries, and led multi-cultural teams, making her a perfect President for PWN Paris' base of internationally profiled members. Nandini says, "Leadership with purpose is my compass, international is my horizon, innovation is my path, growing organizations and teams is my passion. I am convinced that a successful people and organization journey has a high impact in overall performance and in society, and as a leader I act for sustainable growth."
One of Nandini's favourite quotes is that of Gandhi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Job Titles:
- Co - President of PWN Paris
Patrick is Co-President of PWN Paris. He brings over 25 years of experience in global organisations in operational and functional Senior roles. He is now an independent consultant in strategy and technology. Patrick is also deeply involved as Business Angel and mentor for startups and works with French Corporates to accelerate digital transformation.
With 15 years in the communications sector and a paid internship in television as a prize for the best student of Social Communication at the Portuguese Catholic University (2004), she is a communications professional with institutional, reputational and product communication, media relations and marketing intelligence skills. With one of the most prestigious masters in Communication Sciences, in which he also defended at the Portuguese Catholic University a dissertation on the shopping center as a mass media (2008), she has been consolidating a strategic vision, know-how and communication skills in one of the most relevant companies for the country's economy, in which she has taken on different project and team management roles. She is the mentor and builder of Entre | Vistas (entre-vistas.pt), a communication and culture website she founded in 2014. Since 2016, she is board member of PWN Lisbon (pwnlisbon.net), an organization specialized in leadership and diversity, in which she assumes responsibility for the areas of communication and events. She promotes voiceover projects, coordinates and ensures the moderation of debates, being the author of the multidisciplinary reflection forum on leadership and talent "Conversas do Avesso".
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Istanbul
- Founder, and Agency Director
Founder, and Agency Director Sevda Solak serves in the role of Senior Communications Consultant and Public Relations Strategist at #TimePR Agency based in Istanbul.
Having received her bachelor's degree from the Public Relations and Publicity, Advertising Department at the Faculty of Communication in Istanbul University, Solak continued her studies at Oakland College in Hertfordshire. She then completed the MBA at Istanbul Bilgi University and in 2021 started another post-graduate program in Strategic Marketing and Brand Management at IAU. Having completed the ICCO Communications Consultancy program right at the beginning of her career, Solak has been offering communications consultancy and #PR services to local and international institutions for over 20 years. More info: www.linkedin.com/in/sevdasolak
Job Titles:
- President, PWN Copenhagen
With a robust 20+ year career canvassing roles in Sales, Marketing, Business Administration, Project Management, and IT Consulting, she has built a vault of knowledge and skills which she is enthusiastic to share with the PWN community. Her international work journey across Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and the Baltic States has not only enhanced her professional acumen but also enriched her adeptness in connecting with diverse cultures and backgrounds. Fluent in English, Russian, and Lithuanian, and on a journey to master Danish, Skaidre is a global citizen, embracing and encouraging a collaborative and supportive ethos among her team members. Outside the professional arena, she feeds her soul by travelling, immersing in books, revelling in operas, and cherishing every precious moment with her family.
Stéphanie Tumba joined our board in early 2022 and has played a crucial role in reinvigorating PWN London after the COVID lockdown restrictions. She has been associated with PWN for almost 20 years, actively participating in the Paris chapter since 2010! In her day job, she is an entrepreneur specializing in investments, acquisitions, and building marketing systems and processes, including CRP, for startups. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, meditation, writing, painting, and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Nice Côte D'Azur
Empassioned about the positive impact the intercultural connexions can have on value creation and societal development, I am happy to support the PWN Nice mission, focused on empowerment of women's professional lives. My vision of leadership - a dedicated, empathic and purpose-driven approach - has been enriched by being a lecturer in higher education; an entrepreneur in the making; and, provider of custom experiences within global corporate & sports hospitality environments. A strong believer of enabling people's capabilities, I am inspired to bring strategic project management perspectives to the non-profit sector, and to share knowledge acquired from operating collaborative teams in multi-faceted environments. Committment to serve the PWN mission resonates with my personal belief that efforts invested in driving growth, of a dynamic and inclusive network, result in valuable and sustainable social change.
As a teenager growing up in an Italian city famous for its "Temple of Speed," a world-famous track for high-speed cars and roaring engines, Valentina had a clear goal: she would become an engineer to prove that it was not just a place for men.
Following a Bachelor's in aerospace engineering and a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from Politecnico di Milano, she decided to move to Norway, where she started her career as a Graduate at one of the global leaders in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the energy industry.
Since then, Valentina has been living abroad, from Norway to Singapore, passing through Denmark, and she has continued pursuing her goals: progressing in her personal and career development while actively empowering women to bridge the gender gap, especially in STEM.
She gained extensive experience in the energy sector, working in product development for one of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in the world and in one of the major EPCI offshore companies operating on the Norwegian continental shelf. More than 20 years later, she continues to strive for equal opportunities in traditionally male-dominated industries.
She joined PWN in 2019 in Stavanger, and her involvement as a volunteer started in 2020 when she served as the Project Manager for the Mentoring Program in Norway and then as the leader of the Storytelling Group in Global.
Valentina has a strong interest in cultures and languages and firmly believes that differences can make a great difference.
Job Titles:
- President, PWN Geneva - Lausanne
I am Chartered Accountant and Finance Professional with 17+ year experience, acquired in International Audit firms and Finance and Accounting boutique firms in Milan and London. I manage my own consultancy firm since 2015. I have been CFO of an Hr tech startup for 3 years too. I graduated in Economics and Finance in 2004, hold a Master Degree in Finance. I live in Milan with my family and 2 kids, I love art & theatre, travelling and outdoor activities (maybe as a change of perspective from the all the figures I work with!). I joined PWN Milan in 2015, and participated in 3 editions of the Mentoring Program, both as mentee and as a mentor. I am part of Equal Opportunities Commission of my Profession in Milan since 2012 and I have been Treasurer of PWN Milan for the 2020-2023 years.
Job Titles:
- Co - President, PWN Istanbul
Yıldız Bozkurt, with 25 years of banking career consisting of corporate and commercial banking, held senior management positions at Interbank, Akbank, Abn Amro, Royal Bank of Scotland respectively. She left Royal Bank of Scotland in 2013, where she worked as the Managing Director of Commercial/Corporate Banking and Investment Banking Unit. She provided financial advisory services to the boards of three international construction companies until 2015.
She joined Med Marine Group as Group CFO in 2015, and is currently holding the position of Deputy General Manager.
Yıldız Bozkurt is a graduate of Bogazici University Business Administration Department. She has two master's degrees; one is MA Banking in Marmara University and the other is MSc in International Banking and Finance in Southampton University.
She is a founding member of Professional Women's Network Association Istanbul and currently undertakes the Co-President Role in Board and Vice President position responsible for corporate membership.
Partner in Eversheds Sutherland and co-President in PWN Madrid, Yolanda holds a degree in Mathematics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Yolanda has developed her professional career for more than 25 years within the scope of Business, Organizational and Human Resources Consulting, advising local and multinational companies. Her areas of knowledge are: HR Strategy, Compensation Strategy, Talent Management and Leadership, Change Management, Organizational Commitment and Culture, Transformation of the HR function, Organization and Communication, People Analytics. She has led and developed projects in multiple sectors such as Technology, Banking and Insurance, Consumer Goods, Pharmacy, Entertainment and Leisure, Construction, Engineering and Telecommunications, Industry, Auto, Food, etc.. Her professional career has been spent in prestigious multinational firms, such as Accenture, PWC, Towers Watson, Mercer and now Eversheds Sutherland.