Board Members

ANAIDA DIBRA

President

Anaida is an energetic HR leader with over 15 years of global international experience. After graduating from the University of Antwerp in Science for Applied Economics, she focused in building a career in Human Resources. She has had global and regional roles within Cargill, an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management product and services. She experienced a variety of HR business roles, from building teams, processes, programs to partnering with the businesses on divestment or business sell-out projects. Anaida brings a proactive, collaborative, transparent and high integrity approach. She enjoyed her experience to addressing business issues/challenges and particularly, leading an EMEA regional team of HR professionals and helping them realize their potential. Recently, founder of MEGADEA, her own consultancy, providing HR/Change Management/Leadership Development expertise to her clients. She has two daughters and loves to explore challenging and exciting time with family.

MIHAELA URICARU

VP Empowerment &
Mentoring Programme Co-Director

Mihaela is passionate about Organizational Development and about creating consistency between the business strategy and the talent agenda. With a varied educational background in International Business & Economics, Finance & Investments and Human Resources, Mihaela worked most of her career in Human Resources and Strategy Consulting. She has been leading large organizational transformations, including design and deployment of new organizational models and architecture, and has always been energized by advising and helping teams succeed in their strategy execution. Having Romanian roots, Mihaela lived in the Netherlands for 7 years, and now in Belgium for the last 10 years. She has a strong interest in cultural differences & diversity, and the influence of unconscious bias in the corporate environment. Mihaela has two kids and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys playing tennis and dancing tango.

AMANDA NEWWELL

Treasurer &
Women and Money Program Director

Amanda is a Financial Adviser with The Fry Group (Belgium). As a single mother of 2 children she has experienced both sales role and have run her own successful interior design business before coming to Belgium. When she moved to Belgium she worked as an Interior Designer for an American company. After one year, Amanda started looking for a career that brought together the best of the world of running a business and both engaging with and helping people on a day to day basis. She joined the Fry Group as an financial adviser and developed her own network. In 2019, working alongside PWI, Amanda has brought various workshops for Women and Money program to help our members and friends achieve financial independence but together at the same time help understand how to invest and put procedures into place, to look after money in a tax efficient way and where possible using socially responsible investment choices. Amanda's life is very different from the past, surrounded by amazing friends, being part of the local community and working for a company who had supported her. Amanda is proud of her children, being fluent in the local languages and all loving the European way of life.

PATRICIA ZAPATA FAMILIGIA

Operational Excellence

Patricia was originally born in Dominican Republic, studied in in USA and has been working in Belgium for the last 8 years. She holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and a master’s in Engineering Management. Engineer by education and Latina by origin and at heart, she has a passion for couching, process improvement and working with people from different cultures. Before joining her current company, Cargill, Patricia worked in the Electronics and Industrial Machinery Industries. During this time she worked on supply, demand and materials planning as well as implementing the full IBP process. These experiences allowed her to develop a holistic view of the full supply chain, how it operates and interacts with other functions. For the last 5 years Patricia is been actively involved in several initiatives around gender parity issues in the workplace. Within Cargill she is co-leading the EMEA Cargill Women’s network business resource group since Sep 2018. Patricia totally adores to dance to Latin rhythms , cook, travel and discover new natural products/brands.

MICHELLE VILAR

VP Leadership &
STEAM Program Co-Director

Michelle is a student and citizen of the world - having lived and worked in the United States, Spain, Singapore, and Belgium. After graduating from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota,USA, studying Spanish & International business, she has worked in finance/trade execution and Learning & Development/HR leadership roles, within Cargill, an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management solutions. Over her 25 years of service, she has enjoyed developing leadership and teams - as a business HR leader & manager of teams, as a coach & program manager of leadership development & learning programs for current & emerging leaders, and as a continuous facilitator of connections to bring about positive change, innovation and impact. Michelle is positive, collaborative, and energetic. Currently, she leads Learning and Development Team, serving the markets in Europe, Middel East, Africa. She loves her husband and two daughters; she also loves singing & music, hiking, mindfulness, and traveling.

BARBARA VERCRUYSSE

VP Marketing Communication

Barbara Vercruysse is a Kindness Advocate, Mentor, Personal Coach, Business Coach, Thought Leader and Public Speaker. +25 professional years as an entrepreneur, business consultant, mentor and role model on how to become resilient with grace after overcoming multiple challenges, surviving a stage 4 cancer being one of them. Happily married for more than 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful young adults, she strongly believes in leading by example. One of her clients is a group of BMW-dealerships where she operates as a Quality Officer and HR Soft Skills Responsible, she is responsible for screening all business processes and guiding people to perform optimally in their job. She has been part of the management team for several years there. Her passions are reading, painting, enjoying arts, traveling, serving humanity, profound conversations, connecting from human to human. Being passionate about books, every year, one of her goals is to read at least 50 books.

TERESA NEHRA

VP Membership

Teresa is originally from the USA. She studied at the University of Michigan and has a master’s degree in Psychology from Harvard University. She lives in Belgium for over 30 years, is now also a Belgian citizen and speaks fluent French. Teresa has corporate management experience from a 20 year career at MasterCard Europe in a variety of positions that included, technical documentation and Training, Communication, Recruitment, and Learning and Development. For the past 10 years, she has grown her own business focusing on personal and professional coaching, leadership training, and team building. She enjoys meeting new people, going for walks, reading, cooking, and sampling new foods. She loves to travel and explore lesser known sites both at home and away.

CHRISTINE MASURE

Director Partnership

Christine is extremely passionate about helping people reaching their full potential in their professional life. She holds a MBA and a Master in European Affairs. Having worked for several international and European organizations, Christine has an extensive experience in strategic communication, project management and international events organization. Two years ago, she took a leap of faith and started a career as an Entrepreneur, first by developing a consultancy company in business and marketing coaching. She has then created a digital startup that she currently develop and make it grow. She is a fervent advocate of the entrepreneurship mindset and passionate by questions related to business launch, growth and upscale. She loves interacting with people from different countries and with different cultural background. In her free time, she is a dedicated yoga practitioner.

ANA ESCARPENTER

Director of Your Path

Ana’s background is in tourism promotion, marketing and event organisation. In her 20 years of experience she has worked for marketing consultancy firms, economy & tourism ministries and international associations. As director of the Catalan Tourist Board for Benelux and of Brussels – Wallonia Tourism in Spain her role was to develop off-line and on-line opportunities in both markets. Her interest for digital marketing has brought her to participate in several initiatives linking new technologies to the travel and meeting industries. She enjoys the challenges of technologies and particularly those of human interactions. Connecting people with opportunities really motivates her. Being a NLP practitioner, Ana now follows an Executive Master at the Université Catholique de Louvain to become a Business Coach. In her free time she is a Nordic walking instructor and a Kundalini yoga teacher.

JESSICA J.J.LUTZ

Mentoring Programme Co-Director

Jessica is on a mission to accelerate gender equality by helping women get what they’re worth and claim their rightful space. Working for 20 years as a news correspondent in the greater Middle East, where it’s often dangerous for people to speak their mind, Jessica learned to always question what's on the surface. For the last decade she has directed her inquisitive skills to the mind and the body, exploring the edges of science and all that's conventional. She acquired certification in a range of practical methods in the field of mind-body medicine. Relentlessly digging deeper, she uncovers what’s underneath the stories her clients tell themselves, to enable true healing, empowerment and prosperity. Still a story-teller at heart, Jessica loves to give inspirational speeches and masterclasses.

CRISTINA VICINI

Honorary President of the Advisory Board

Cristina Vicini is a board member and a senior executive with innovative companies and charities in Europe and North America, with focus on international company development and strategy, digital innovation and international governance. During her career Cristina held international management up to P&L executive roles in Europe and beyond with technology corporations like Microsoft and Siemens, with the international public sector, with global non-profits and as an entrepreneur. Committed to women's economic empowerment, Cristina is Chairwoman of The International Alliance for Women Foundation based in Washington, DC, and a Mentor with the European Women on Board Foundation. Cristina was honoured in 2015 with the “TIAW World of Difference Award 100”. She is the Honorary President of PWI Brussels and was PWI’s President between 2006 and 2011. Cristina holds a Masters of International Management from Boston University and a Masters with honors in Computer Science from the University of Brussels (ULB). She is married and a proficient golfer.

ALESSANDRA ZOCCA

Member of the Advisory Board

Having worked in Belgium, Italy, Germany and Sweden, Alessandra is a change management expert with an international career background in managerial positions within leading global multinational organisations, including DHL, Accenture and the European Commission. Currently, Alessandra is working in HR at the EU agency Single Resolution Board (SRB), the resolution authority within the Banking Union. In 2011 she was appointed as Secretary-General of PWI Brussels where she founded the "PWI Magazine", an online quarterly review about management and culture. She started her career as an organisation and manufacturing lecturer at the University of Verona, where she graduated in Economics in 1985. In 2001 she earned her Master Degree in Neurolinguistic Programming. Recently, Alessandra founded and is the President of Opportunalia aisbl, an organisation in the tourism sector. She has also actively contributed to associations like AIESEC, Amnesty International and Fondazione Marisa Bellisario. Born in Verona, Italy, Alessandra speaks five languages, is a passionate traveler and a psychology scholar.

RHONDA OCHA

Member of the Advisory Board

Rhonda has lived in Belgium for over 30 years, speaks French fluently and has over two decades of business experience in the payment industry with Mastercard Europe. She has extensive experience in leading cross-functional global and virtual teams to sell and deliver innovative, complex, multi-market products, services and digital programs in the Benelux, France, Nordics and Baltics. Her career includes management roles in business development and key account sales in the US and Europe within the courier, internet, airline and financial technology industries. She is co-chair of the Mastercard Women’s Leadership Network and a steering committee member since 2008, an Advisory Board member of PWI Brussels and an active contributor to their STEAM Programme.Speaker, mentor and influencer, she is a passionate change agent for gender balanced leadership, diversity and inclusion.

SUSANNAH HAAN

Member of the Advisory Board

Susannah is a non-profit leader with over 20 years' experience in trade associations, governance, EU capital market & entrepreneurship public policy. Susannah has previously served as the Secretary General of European Issuers, a Brussels-based association which represents the interests of publicly traded companies in Europe, an adviser on the post financial crisis to the Financial Reporting Council, the UK regulator for corporate reporting and governance, an Associate Director of Public Affairs at Fidelity International, a major international asset management firm, a Senior Legal Adviser to the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and a solicitor at Clifford Chance, a leading City law firm.

BEVERLY SINTON

Member of the Advisory Board

Bev is a long life volunteer, President at ADHD, ASC & LD Belgium, Ambassador at Neurodiverse Brains @ Work and the power behind many PWI Brussels initiatives in the last 11 years. Bev brings a lot of knowledge around driving membership, building communities, creating solutions and empowering women. We need Bev's spirit of solidarity to strengthen our community.

GEERT MAESMANS

Member of the Advisory Board

Geert is the oldest of 6 siblings, decided to become an engineer and later sumbled into Research and Development Leadership. Geert strongly believes in diversity and inclusion, a concept in line with his own values. In his career he has experienced the power of inclusive teams who perform better and innovate more. Geert's collaboration will help us to engage men in advancing gender parity at workplace and society.

Elizabeth Hammer-Kjellberg (in memoriam)	2001-2006
Sandy Dumont	1999-2001
Eva Lotte Eriksson	1997-1999

Past Presidents