PWI Brussels is a non-profit association that helps its members to grow and succeed, and to accelerate the move to gender-balanced leadership.
Through this podcast, we will get to know the amazing women behind PWI, their advocacies, their passions, and their journeys to ignite our own!
Geert is the oldest of 6 siblings, decided to become an engineer, and later stumbled 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 that perform better and innovate more. Geert's collaboration will help us to engage men in advancing gender parity at the workplace and in society. You will hear more of this in our very special episode of the Engaging Men Series.
13 Oct 2021
Episode 12: On reaching our goals and managing burn out with Patricia Zapata
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.
16 Sept 2021
Episode 11: Breaking Stereotypes in Cybersecurity with Alexandra Maniati
Alexandra is EBF’s Director of Innovation & Cybersecurity, leading the Federation’s work on data economy/open finance, CBDCs/digital euro, online platforms, cloud, payments, cybersecurity and digital operational resilience.
Working closely with bank associations throughout Europe, she is responsible for the EBF digital innovation and cybersecurity strategy, positioning on legislative/regulatory processes, and relations with EU and international institutions.
Alexandra is a member of strategic groups of the European Commission, ENISA and Europol EC3. She also represents the EBF in projects of the International Banking Federation and the G7 Cyber Expert Group.
Advocate of empowering bank employees and citizens through awareness on cyber risks and enhancement of digital skills. Creator of the EBF Cybersecurity Conference and of the EBF Innovation & Cyber Thursdays series of online events. She is compromised to reduce the gap of women in the digital sector overall, by breaking stereotypes. Cybersecurity needs as many women as possible to become professionally involved and it does not need only IT people. It needs also professionals that can work in policymaking, strategic positioning, organization of cooperation platforms, education, training, awareness-raising, amog others.
She firmly believes that in cybersecurity it all comes down to passion. Passion for taking your life in your own hands – which in our case is your digital life! Passion for protecting your independence, protecting your privacy, your values, your business, and above all, your loved ones.
13 Jul 2021
Episode 10: How to ask the right the question 101 with Ana Escarpenter
How can I ask the right question?
How can I listen more carefully?
And how can I become more engaged in a conversation?
In this episode Ana Escarpenter tells us how she manages to be a wonderful mentor and coach to help develop her mentees and clients, as well as her secret to manage her time.
It is hard to introduce Ana in one short paragraph, that is why you should tune into this episode to understand how Ana became the person she is today.
29 Jun 2021
Episode 9: Getting to know Magda Kufrej
In today´s episode we have Magda Kufrej as our guest.
Magda is not just a member of the PWI Brussels, but also a volunteer and she is responsible for the blog.
She is passionate about self-development and career development. That is why we mainly talked about the Japanese term and concept "Ikigai".
You want to get to know how Magda stays positive and full of energy? Then tune in to this episode and accept the challenge, which we mention at the end of the episode:)
14 Jun 2021
Episode 8: Going deep into Mentor - Mentee relationship with Frédérique Michiels
Frédérique Michiels is an ambitious mid-forties with a mission. A bon vivant, an adventurer, a do-person, unexpected, and half of a twin. She loves to inspire and motivate others about growing in all aspects of life and on how we are structured as human beings, why we do what we do, why interacting with others makes us insecure, leadership, motivating people, being a woman, elegance, stylish female outfits, being a rebellion and going into rules, interior design, art, food places to taste, places to visit, being authentic and enjoying life.
Enjoy this episode as we explore the intricacies of the mentor-mentee relationships and how we can both grow on both ends!
31 May 2021
Episode 7: Breaking Gender Roles with Michelle Vilar
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.
In this episode, we get to talk about her process in becoming her family provider, the challenges that come with it and of course advice on how to endure when your family is financially dependent on you.
18 May 2021
Episode 6: Getting to know Mihaela Uricaru
The topic of this episode is "Growth". Our guest Mihaele Uricaru is the perfect to talk about this topic! She is the 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.
3 May 2021
Episode 5: Getting to know Jessica J.J. Lutz
Don't miss out the opportunity to get to know Jessica. 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.
She is on a mission to accelerate gender equality by helping women get what they’re worth and claim their rightful space. Currently, she is writing a book about all the ways women can be held back -including internal ones- and how to overcome them.
Find out more about Jessica:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicajjlutz/
19 Apr 2021
Episode 4: Getting to know Teresa Nehra
In this episode, we caught up with Teresa, the VP for Membership of PWI where she gave us practical tips on finding your mentors and exploring possibilities while in these challenging times.
Teresa is a learning and development professional with experience in a variety of corporate education roles including: IT, Commercial, Communications, and HR positions. She has seen the business world from several perspectives. Her last corporate management role was Head of Learning and Development for MasterCard Europe.
Teresa founded Transforming Talent in 2009 to help people identify their talents and transform them into their definition of success. She facilitates leadership development programs, delivers customized team workshops, and coaches leaders at all levels. As lasting change starts from within, Teresa is driven to partner with people who are ready to begin with self-awareness and harness their strengths to achieve their goals.
Teresa has a master’s degree in Psychology from Harvard University and has complemented this with certifications including: Everything DiSC®, Talent Insights®, Genos EQ, and NLP Master Practitioner and European Coach. (See her LinkedIn profile for details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresanehra/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresanehra/))
6 Apr 2021
Episode 3: Getting to know Anna Koj
This time we interviewed Anna Koj, the VP for Partnerships of PWI Brussels.
The topic of this episode is "professional development in a changing context".
Anna is a passionate communicator, with a broad humanistic background and a strong leadership acumen. She holds an MBA degree in Communications; Leadership and has extensive experience in high-profile strategic communications, public affairs, institutional relations, as well as event organisation and project management in public and private sector. Anna has worked with a number of high-level international partners. Over the last years she has developed a particular focus on organizational management, political and strategic communication in the EU institutions and international organisations' environment, as well as on public diplomacy and business ethics. Managing Partner and co-Founder of her own consultancy, she currently provides strategic assistance to the clients within the areas of public affairs, communications and EU affairs recruitment. She helps clients unlock their true potential through trainings on meaningful communication and authentic leadership practices. Anna is an enthusiastic public speaker, covering the areas of her expertise and passion.
22 Mar 2021
Episode 2: Getting to know Grace Nicola
In this episode, we interview Grace Nicola, the VP for Marketing and Communications of PWI Brussels. Grace is an accomplished and energetic marketing and business leader, who has worked for companies in Healthcare, Consumer Products, and Consulting. Grace is most passionate about storytelling and is also recognized as a champion of diversity and inclusion. She is a strong believer in working on initiatives for growing, nurturing, and propelling female leaders so they can better fulfill their purpose. As someone who wholeheartedly believes in the power of sharing ideas, she is constantly looking for ways to spark meaningful conversations and actions to empower women. You can connect with Grace through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracenicola/
12 Feb 2021
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