🎤 Thursday 27/04 09:00 Opening session "Brussels. Europe. Global"
🎤 Friday 28/04 09:00 Opening session "Competition & Competitiveness"

Martin Sirk is International Advisor to Global Association Hubs, a partnership between Brussels, Dubai, Singapore and Washington DC.  He runs the consultancy Sirk Serendipity, advising a wide range of international associations, tech start-ups, and meetings industry organisations, and is a frequent event moderator and media commentator on association issues and meeting design.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 09:00 Empowerment, Diversity, and Professionalisation: Kicking off a new Decade for the European Association Summit
🎤 Thursday 27/04 16:30  The Future Speaks: Insights from Young Association Leaders on the Sessions of the Day
🎤 Friday 28/04 09:30 AI and Automation for Associations: The Future is Here
🎤 Friday 28/04 15:30 Looking Forward: Reflecting on and Key Takeaways from EAS23

Marco has extensive experience in association management and works as Senior Association Manager for Kellen. While his core expertise is in the field of European Regulation and Public Affairs, he works as a bridge-builder between different environments, sharing complicated legal knowledge with different audiences in an understandable manner. Marco knows how to monitor policies and how to craft strategies for associations in order to make change happen, ensure membership growth and increased awareness of specific topics. Marco serves as Secretary General for FERM, the European Federation of Rice Millers, as Secretary General for TomatoEurope, which represents the tomato processing industry in the EU and as Executive Director of APEP, the European Potash Producers Association.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00 Skilling up for the future - Learning for Associations

Born and raised in Italy, with a true European vocation, Giulia has been working for the European Vocational Training Association - EVTA since 2013, in charge of the development and implementation of the network’s strategy. She has acquired an in-depth knowledge and expertise on internationalisation and mobility in VET, by carrying out several concrete activities to boost excellence and quality in the training provision. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00 Skilling up for the future - Learning for Associations

I am Executive Director of INCON an international alliance of conference organisers. During the pandemic I created a virtual learning program for INCON partner staff from around the world. This concept worked very well and continues to bring together remote teams to discuss shared experiences, best practice and challenges. As Co-Chair of the Communications Committee of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE) and Vice President of the Trinity Women’s Graduates Association, I continue to play this role of bringing people together to learn from experts and from each other.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00 Skilling up for the future - Learning for Associations

Andrea Lapegna is the deputy director of the Lifelong Learning Platform, where he manages external relations, public information and advocacy campaigns. He is an alumni of Universitè Libre de Bruxelles, where he gratuated with athesis on civil society participation in decision-making processes. A true lifelong learning, he is an associate author for the Aspen Institute, a trained musician and asports advocate. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00 Skilling up for the future - Learning for Associations

With over 20 years of extensive experience in the full range of non-profit organisations management, she currently leads the Education and Scientific Affairs at ESAIC, where she is responsible for the overall strategy development and project implementation of all the educational and training activities. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00  Maximise the money, minimise the risk: strategies for revenue diversification

Anna (she/her) is Partnerships Manager at ILGA-Europe, the European umbrella organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) equality.  Over the past six years Anna has developed and implemented fundraising strategies to diversify ILGA-Europe’s income streams and increase flexible funding. She looks after individual donors and partnerships with private sector companies, and coordinates the annual ILGA-Europe Equality Fundraiser event in Brussels.  

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00  Maximise the money, minimise the risk: strategies for revenue diversification

Kai Troll has background and is active in diverse industries and has extensive experience in association management, revenue development and income generation. He is a member of a US and a German family office and a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. Kai serves as the President of Brussels based ASSOCIATIONWORLD, is the Chair of Best Buddies EMEA and the head of the Development Committee of the International Sport and Cultural Association (ISCA). He also drives developments at several International and European associations in the field of disabilities,- NCD’s related topics, new technology,- sports and education.
In 2021, Kai founded the Geneva International Association Forum (GIAF), the Brussels International Association Forum (BIAF) and the Washington International Association Forum (WIAF) in 2022. Previously, Troll was Director at Special Olympics International in Europe-Eurasia and a Senior Management Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group based in Europe, North-America and Asia. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Mentorship Matters: Empowering the Future of Associations

Joyce has over 20 years of experience with global non-profits to build, engage and mobilise communities. She ensures cross community collaboration to work on the real-world challenges that comes with connecting people to the opportunities the Internet has to offer. She serves on the International Section Council of the American Society of Association Executives, has an Advisor role for NGO's led by youth and acts as a mentor and coach for young professionals. She is also Past-Chair of the EQUALS global partnership for gender equality in the digital age..

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Mentorship Matters: Empowering the Future of Associations

Sophie Charrois joins the panel for oikos International, a student network for sustainability & change in higher education. Over the past 2 years, Sophie was invited to steward the international oikos community as a Co-President. She graduated with a master's degree in sustainability, complexity & participatory leadership (msls.se) in 2020 & has been continuing her learning journey ever since. Sophie is a practitioner of the Art of Hosting, a Flowgame host & active in the Warm Data community, to mention some of the networks she associates with. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Mentorship Matters: Empowering the Future of Associations

As a life & leadership coach, Jessica J.J. Lutz helps ambitious, driven professionals have more impact by identifying their true potential and developing poise, presence and purpose. A former news correspondent in the Near East, she is also an author and public speaker. As a volunteer she runs PWI’s (Professional Women International) highly successful Mentoring Program.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 12.00 Mentorship Matters: Empowering the Future of Associations

Susan is a coach and Managing Director of SJ West Leadership Consulting. With 25+ years of corporate and association experience, she brings a wealth of business and leadership insights to people who seek to create more value for their people, organisations and communities.  In 2020 she was recognised as one of the Top 20 Women Advancing Associations.  Susan teaches leadership and change in the Executive Master in International Association Management at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Trailblazing Advocacy: Paving New Paths to Make a Difference

Yann Finger is Director for Intelligence & Operations at DIGITALEUROPE. He is responsible for the management of the Operations of the organisations including core operations, technology management, finance and staff development & wellbeing. Prior to joining DIGITALEUROPE in September 2017, Yann worked in the London-based innovation foundation Nesta, where he researched effective policies supporting digital entrepreneurship.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Trailblazing Advocacy: Paving New Paths to Make a Difference

Barbara Weizsäcker has joined EMECA, the European Major Exhibition Centres Association, in 2012 as Secretary General and also acts as Secretary General for the European Exhibition Industry Alliance, EEIA, in Brussels. Before, she held the position of Public Affairs Director at Messe Frankfurt. Barbara Weizsäcker has long years of experience in advocacy having worked for the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and for the European Booksellers Federation in Brussels in beginning of her career.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Trailblazing Advocacy: Paving New Paths to Make a Difference

Olivier Devaux holds a double degree in Sociology and History and graduated from Science Po Aix with a Master’s degree in Advanced European Policies. Olivier has worked for a public affairs consultancy specialised in health issues in Paris before moving to Brussels in 2013, where he joined spiritsEUROPE, the association representing spirits producers in Europe, as public affairs manager for the “Spirits and Society” department. He joined the European Snacks Association, which represent savoury snacks and snack nuts manufacturers in Europe, in December 2014 and is since then in charge of the association’s public affairs and communication activities. He is also since 2018 vice-chair of the FoodDrinkEurope Communications Committee. With more than 10 years of experience in Public Affairs and Communications, for both consultancies and trade associations, Olivier has an extensive experience in developing and implementing internal and external communications strategies and policy position developments.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 12.30 Representativity on the Board: What's the Cost?
🎤 Friday 28/04 12:00 Finance and Tax Issues facing international non-profit associations

Founder and head of EY Law’s Non-Profit & Trade Associations Team, Antoine has been practicing not-for-profit law for 20 years. As a lawyer he has developed a specific expertise in (i) structuring and restructuring of non-profit organisations, and (ii) designing complex governance structures for non-profit organisations. He is the author of several publications in the field of not-for-profit law. He is an associate member of the Federation of European and International Associations Established in Belgium ASBL (FAIB) and a member of the Charity Law Association. Antoine also has followed the Executive Master in International Association Management (EMIAM), from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 12.30 Representativity on the Board: What's the Cost?

Nicholas Hodac is the Director General of UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe since October 2019, leading the Brussels-based association representing the European soft drinks industry with 24 national members and 10 corporate members. Previously, Mr. Hodac worked for IBM Europe, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Mr. Hodac holds a Masters in European Foreign Policy, a Bachelor in European and International Economics and a Bachelor in Law. Mr Hodac is currently reviewing the governance of UNESDA and its statutes, therefore can share his first hand experience in this matter. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 12.30 How can associations help mend UK-EU relations, post Brexit? 

Sandra Khadhouri is Director of Keeping Channels Open, a new dialogue network for UK, EU and US politicians and other stakeholders. Their latest initiative is to launch the New British House in Brussels as a venue for UK-EU dialogue. She previously worked in politics and strategic communications in conflict zones for many years on behalf of NATO, ICC, UN, EU, OSCE, IOM, AU and UK Govt. Sandra has also been a journalist, documentary-maker & author of a novel: Kabul Traffic. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 12.45 From Community Building to Growth: A Case Study of Glue Up with ENAR

Kseniia has dedicated over six years of her career to working at Glue Up, starting as an intern and progressing to become a sales leader in the EUME region. She holds a Master's Degree in International Law from the esteemed Beijing Institute of Technology. Along with her passion for traveling, Kseniia is an avid animal lover and actively supports animal welfare initiatives.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Workshop PR/PA

Before joining FEDMA, Robin was the Communication Coordinator at the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), for which he is now the Vice-Chair of the Board. He carries a strong background in communication and public relations, spanning from the private, non-profit and institutional spheres. He previously worked in the field of human rights with Euromed Rights, the ONE Campaign and the United Nations. Robin is also the spokesperson for Democrats Abroad Belgium (DAB), the official arm of the US Democratic Party abroad.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Effective Advocacy: Making Your Message Heard

Juliette JACQUES is the Deputy Managing Director of Starch Europe, the trade association that represents the interests of the European starch industry both at European and International level. Juliette has been with Starch Europe since 2004, managing Starch Europe’s Committees covering Economic Affairs, Environment, Trade and Specific Sector Groups (e.g. plant-based proteins, potato starch, sugars and green chemistry) and representing the sector’s policy and regulatory interests to the EU institutions and various stakeholders. In 2014, she co-founded the European Bioeconomy Alliance, the unique cross-sector alliance dedicated to mainstreaming and realising the potential of the bioeconomy in Europe which today gathers 15 EU trade associations. She also is involved in the food-value chain, through her co-chairing of FoodDrinkEurope’s working group on agriculture. Previously, Juliette has worked in EU Public Affairs in Brussels, and in Finance in London, where she held positions with The London Stock Exchange and The Nasdaq Stock Market. She holds degrees in Economics and International Public Affairs (UCL, Belgium), Trading & Investment Management (London Institutes, UK), and most recently a MasterClass in Sustainable Finance (Solvay/ICHEC, Belgium). 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Workshop PR/PA

Roberta is the Director of Eurada European Network of Territorial Development Agencies since november 2022, gathering 70 development agencies located in 20 different European countries. She’s the former President of the Associaction and Head of ART-ER International and Territorial Cooperation, Social Innovation Unit and is currently a member of EC working groups and of OECD Leed Programme Directing Committee. Experienced in territorial cooperation projects, capacity building for local development decentralisation processes, social economy and social innovation in EU and in Albania, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey, Lebanon, Libya, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Ethiopia.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Breaking Barriers: How Inclusion Drives Better Associations

Veronika Kupriyanova joined the Academic Cooperation Association in 2020 as a Senior Policy Coordinator leading the Secretariat’s policy development, advocacy and member engagement work. She has almost fifteen years of experience in the design, implementation, coordination and evaluation of EU policy initiatives and projects in higher education and research. Her areas of interest include institutional partnerships, impact of internationalisation and academic mobility, global talent attraction, staff mobility, & professional development.  

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Breaking Barriers: How Inclusion Drives Better Associations

Rachael Moore is an LGBTQI+ activist and a DEI consultant who has extensive experience in advocacy, community-building and of course applying DEI. In addition to her collaborations with a wide range of organisations such as N26, the British Embassy in Brussels and Kunstenfestivaldesarts, she coordinates Rainbow Nation Brussels, an organisation she co-founded in 2018 with a focus on the mental health and wellbeing of Black and of colour LGBTQI+ persons. She is also the European representative on the ILGA World Bisexual Steering Committee.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Breaking Barriers: How Inclusion Drives Better Associations

Kim L. Smouter Umans joined ENAR in March 2022. Kim previously worked as ESOMAR’s Head of Public Affairs and Professional Standards, having joined ESOMAR in 2012. While there, he headed a small team of professional standards and public affairs experts championing the value of market, opinion and social research and data analytics. Through his former role, he also worked to promote the interests of over 5,000 professionals and 550 companies working in the field of market, opinion and social research and data analytics, leading ESOMAR’s advocacy efforts on major policy dossiers including the General Data Protection Regulation and the ePrivacy Regulation. Kim also served a stint as Secretary General of the European Network of National Civil Society Associations. As its first Secretary General, Kim laid the foundations for securing its role and its future as one of Europe’s leading bodies defending the interests of the non-profit sector by bringing together over 20 national civil society infrastructure platforms. He has also served in various policy roles working for the North East England Office in Brussels and in the European Parliament working in the fields of social policy, education, and employment. He holds a master’s degree in European Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in European Studies and is a graduate of the University of Maastricht.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 14.00 Breaking Barriers: How Inclusion Drives Better Associations

Milan Šveřepa is director of Inclusion Europe. Inclusion Europe is an organisation of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Before he came to Inclusion Europe, Milan worked on replacing segregated “care” institutions for people with disabilities with community-based support. He is co-author of publications on how to manage the transition from “care” institutions to community-based support. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 15.15-15.30 Revitalizing Association Management with Eudonet CRM: A Case Study Session

Agneta Ronceret is an expert in CRM & Community platforms, at Eudonet. She loves dealing with Professional Associations daily obstacles and challenges, and applies creative thinking to find successful solutions adapted to the size and the objectives of the organisation.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 15.15-15.30 Revitalizing Association Management with Eudonet CRM: A Case Study Session

Denis Bourmault is a CRM & Community platform expert at Eudonet. With +10 years experience in project management, he enjoys build authentic relationships with professional associations, helping them to tackle their key challenges from handling data to personalising their members' experiences.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 16.00 Demystifying the Metaverse 

Jo is managing partner of Scopernia, consultant, transformation strategist, author and keynote speaker. He is passionated about change and how digital and societal disruptions are impacting everything around us. In his latest book, The World Is Round, Jo describes the big technological and societal challenges that the world is facing and provides scenarios for an optimistic future.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30  Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Charlotte is in charge of creating, planning and executing multiple highly successful and globally-recognised events, webinars and other projects. As a dedicated professional, Charlotte contributes with her innovative insights and an eye for detail, to the success of SolarPower Europe. Charlotte is also in charge the marketing team and oversees marketing strategies, campaigns and initiatives to increase the association awareness. She has previously worked as a communications and event officer at a European industry association and before that at a EU funded organisation. She has a bachelor in International Affairs, and holds a European Studies Master degree from the KU Leuven and an MBA from Solvay Brussels School.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30  Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Will is well experienced in the association world, having worked for the UK National Farmers Union, the global agri-input industry association CropLife International and now with FoodDrinkEurope – Europe’s food and drink manufacturers. He is passionate about driving sustainability into the fabric of the organisations he works for.  

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30 Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Sven joined AIPC as CEO in May 2020, after having lead a transformation programme at the European Society for Radiation Oncology (ESTRO). Prior to joining ESTRO, Sven worked for 20 years in the financials services world. The first 10 years of his career he worked as an international programme manager at ING, followed by 10 years at SWIFT – the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30 Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Johanna Roodt has been organizing events on an international scale for 10+ years and is currently the Head of Events & Member Engagement as well as the Annual Conference Project Manager at the European Association of Research Managers & Administrators (EARMA). Johanna leads a team 5 and together they organize approximately 50 annual online and in-person events with their flagship event being a 1000+ delegate strong conference that takes place in a different country in Europe once per year. She is passionate about people (especially about developing her team members and about EARMAs members) and about organizing meaningful and memorable events that don’t cost the earth.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30  Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Giorgio has been working in Brussels across corporates, trade associations, and professional services firms for the last ten years. At Kellen, he’s responsible for the energy, climate actions and cleantech business, and also represents the EU leading battery trade organisation. Before moving to Kellen, Giorgio worked with the leading renewable energy trade body and the largest EU power, gas and CO2 emissions exchange.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30  Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Georgios Kostakos is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS), which focuses on the need for a new globalization narrative, rethinking education for the digital era, the establishment of a Global Resilience Council, and supporting SDG implementation. About half of his thirty-year-long work experience has been with the UN, including with the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

🎤 Friday 28/04 09.30  Sustainable at Heart: Empowering Association's Sustainability Practices

Pauline is an Events Coordinator at Eurocities since almost two years. Originally French, she started her career in Brussels 7 years ago at Euroheat & Power where she discovered the event industry in associations. Since then, creating events that can contribute to positive change for our society became her dream job and a passion. End of last year she joined the sustainability strategy taskforce at Eurocities and she would be delighted to share her input during the sustainability session. 

🎤 Friday 28/04 09:30 AI and Automation for Associations: The Future is Here

Loredana Bucseneanu is a digital enthusiast working on Gender, Diversity and Inclusion, promoting grassroots initiatives to create interest in and to provide skills to girls and women in ESTEAM, coupled with top-down advocacy to create conditions for increasing their participation and to foster female entrepreneurship and leadership in ESTEAM sectors.

🎤 Friday 28/04 09:30 AI and Automation for Associations: The Future is Here

A specialized journalist in the association management field, Remi has been working for more than 15 years in the meetings industry. In 2017, together with Cecile Koch, he launched Boardroom, which has then become the global reference point for the world of associations. Targeting associations based the world over, Boardroom doesn’t deal with the meetings industry per se but, instead, covers a wide spectrum of issues of interest to the associations.

🎤 Friday 28/04 11.15 Beyond Membership: Engaging Associations' Community for Greater Impact

Adriana Martins has 6 years of experience in Brussels-based membership organisations, particularly focusing on health associations. At the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), she oversees a cancer patient community of 450 organisations and manages capacity building. She has previously held roles in communications, governance and education enabling a holistic and strategic approach to membership engagement. 

🎤 Friday 28/04 11.15 Beyond Membership: Engaging Associations' Community for Greater Impact

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Associations 3.0: Navigating the Future of Work

Paul Walsh is Senior Member Services Manager for the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and focuses on growing the EBAA’s membership base and developing an ambassador programme for the association.

🎤 Friday 28/04  11.15 Beyond Membership: Engaging Associations' Community for Greater Impact

Caroline Moulins is French and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Social Economics from Sciences Po Lyon, France. She has worked for the past 15 years in communications and marketing in non-profit organisations. She recently led the Communications team for the European lobby in medical technologies, and is now heading the Communications and Events team at EORTC, the European specialist in independent and multidisciplinary clinical trials. This mix of experiences, between humanitarian, academic and industrial profiles, helps Caroline understand better her audience and how to interact with it daily. 

🎤 Friday 28/04 12.00 Finance and Tax Issues facing international non-profit associations

Ruth is a Counsel in Osborne Clarke's Brussels office in the corporate department and heads the not-for-profit practice. Ruth is a multilingual specialist in national and cross-border restructurings within the not-for-profit sector. With a client base mainly from the research, TMC, education and healthcare sectors, Ruth assists trade and lobbying associations, charities, hospitals, NGO’s, foundations and other national and international not-for-profit organisations with corporate governance and general corporate matters as well as with contractual disputes. She is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences in the not-for-profit sector and an associate member of the Federation of European and International Associations established in Belgium (FAIB).

🎤 Friday 28/04 12:30 Future-Proofing Your Association: Embracing the Evolution of Work in a Rapidly Changing World

Lighting the fuse. Getting people excited. Translating an infectious vision of the future into practice. That's what Isabel does best. Isabel De Clercq is passionate about the search for good and sustainable work. She sees an important role here for the individual who has to dare to take responsibility for his or her own happiness, for the team that has to make good agreements about synchronous and asynchronous cooperation, for the organisation that has to decisively commit to leadership and focus time. Isabel is the author of several books. In 2017, she wrote - together with an international team of authors - the book Social Technologies in Business. An ode to knowledge sharing via digital tools. In 2021, she published The Hybrid Work - A Manifesto: a plea for flexible work as a quest for good and sustainable work. Isabel also has her own podcast in which she provides fresh insights into sustainable careers and healthy organisations in an original way. The name of her podcast is: Hybrid - a sustainable view of work, which can be listened to on all regular podcast carriers.

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Associations 3.0: Navigating the Future of Work

Irina Varlan, Managing Director of GIGAEurope industry association, has over 20 years of experience including in senior executive roles within the digital and connectivity sector.  As a considerate, yet results-oriented professional, her leadership style has enabled her to build strong teams and establish valuable partnerships across sectors and industries.  

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Associations 3.0: Navigating the Future of Work

Wouter lox is currently working as the Secretary-General of the European Fruit Juices Association and has obtained his master degree in Bioscience-engineering at the University of Ghent. Having worked for several years in Libreville (Gabon), he started his career in Brussels in 1994 as Secretary-General for different European and national food associations and acted as a European regulatory expert. For many years he is a treasurer and Council member of EFLA, The European Food Law Association, and Council member of the European Society of Association Executives ESAE. Wouter is experienced in public affairs, lobbying, general management, and business strategy planning for both international and European associations as well as for companies lobby strategies.  Very enthusiastic networker helping associations to  building a professional reputation as a responsible and trustworthy stakeholder.  Challenge-driven and eager to learn to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities. Moderator and speaker at conferences and workshops identifying new trends in association management and lobbying. Contributed as speaker to many industry organized international and European conferences.

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Spark the Change: Igniting Sustainability in Events

Julie Nysten works as Events Manager at IAPP.  The IAPP is the largest and most comprehensive global information privacy community and resource. Founded in 2000, the IAPP is a not-for-profit organization that helps define, promote and improve the privacy profession globally. We are organizing about 10 conferences around the world. Our flagship EU event is Data Protection Congress that we have been organizing at Square Brussels for more than 10 years now, with about 2500 attendees from all around the world.

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Spark the Change: Igniting Sustainability in Events

Alex Alles joined JMIC Joint Meetings Industry Council in August 2022. There he is responsible for the overall operations of the association. Before, Alex held different positions, including marketing and finance. He was mainly dedicated to investment and trade promotion between Europe and Asia. Throughout his career, Alex has been organising numerous business events, from small meeting to large conferences.

🎤 Friday 28/04 15: 00 Destinations as the driving force of your conference

Nienke van der Malen has a broad expertise in the event industry, with over 15 years of experience in various functions. After her studies at Hotelschool The Hague, she moved to Germany to work at Intercontinental Hotels as a sales manager for meetings, incentives, conferences and events. Her enthusiasm for technology developed when she moved to Spain to work for a travel start-up. After returning to the Netherlands she was director of sales at a hotel chain, where she managed commercial activities. Most recently, she worked as Director of The Hague Convention Bureau, where she implemented a new business proposition, launched new branding and developed and implemented innovative partner management approaches. Working in the conference industry her entire career, Nienke had one ambition - to build a platform that connects associations, venues and destinations. During her work in the industry, she noticed that creating and maintaining these connections can be challenging and that the entire event industry would benefit significantly from having a better access to each other. This is how Conferli.com was created.

🎤 Friday 28/04 15: 00 Destinations as the driving force of your conference

Bregje Frens, Association Director or creator of opportunities at Conferli, the Conference Matchmaker. After finishing her Bachelor’s degree at the International School of Hospitality she worked in commercial positions in the hospitality industry for over 10 years. In these positions her talent for coaching and training staff became significant as well as her talent for growing a network and maintaining relationships. Her strong desire for entrepreneurship, creativity and ownership brought her to Conferli, where she is in charge of growing the database of associations by positioning the company as a specialist in the field of destination marketing. She is responsible for the social media strategy, content creation and sales. She believes in showing your relevance to the market, educating associations on the importance of a destination with the new movement 'Destinations as the driving force of your conference'.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 09:00 Empowerment, Diversity, and Professionalisation: Kicking off a new Decade for the European Association Summit

🎤 Friday 28/04 16:00 Looking Forward: Reflecting on and Key Takeaways from EAS2023 

Isabella Beck Jørgensen is a Communications Expert specialised in digital and European communications with a Master’s Degree from Copenhagen Business School. Isabella moved to Brussels to finetune her European communication skills by working in the European Parliament but quickly fell in love with the world of associations. Isabella now works as a Communications Manager for one the world’s biggest association management companies, Kellen. Isabella’s work primarily focuses on clients from the energy and tech sector. Isabella is passionate about ‎digital communications and strategy, media influence and building strong messages and stories that can be picked up ‎across nations. ‎

🎤 Thursday 27/04 09.00 Empowerment, Diversity, and Professionalisation: Kicking off a new Decade for the European Association Summit
🎤 Thursday 27/04 14:00 Effective Advocacy: Making Your Message Heard
🎤 Thursday 27/04 16:30 The Future Speaks: Insights from Young Association Leaders on the Sessions of the Day
🎤 Friday 28/04 09:00 Mastering Competition. Boosting Competitiveness for Associations
🎤 Friday 28/04 14:00 Associations 3.0: Shaping Together the Future of Work
🎤 Friday 28/04 15:30 Looking Forward: Reflecting on and Key Takeaways from EAS23

Lydia is the Communications Manager at CENTR, leading the general communications strategy as well as supporting the organisation’s Administrative and Marketing Working Groups. Lydia has a background in languages (Spanish and Polish) and European Studies, and recently completed Solvay’s Executive Master in International Association Management.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00 Panel on learning

Colm specialises in strategies, stories and structures for international associations and events. Projects he leads usually involve developing vision into business plans, educational content (onsite and online), organisational structures, and/or communications. With a wide range of advisory, leadership and operational experience, driving change whilst building consensus is central to his work. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30 Trailblazing Advocacy: Paving New Paths to Make a Difference

Ilaria is a Senior Public Affairs Consultant at SEC Newgate EU. With a focus on sustainability policy, she advices clients across different sectors on how to better engage in public policy, by developing advocacy & communication strategies. Prior to joining SEC Newgate EU, Ilaria worked in the public affairs department of a trade association and at the legal service of the European Parliament, in Brussels. She holds a Master’s Degree in European Public Law and Governance from the Maastricht University. 

🎤 Thursday 27/04 11.30  Mentorship Matters: Empowering the Future of Associations

Andrea has a background in diversity and inclusion policy design and is a program coordinator at DUO for a JOB, a European non-profit organization with over ten years of expertise in intergenerational and intercultural mentorship. The mentoring program connects young job seekers with an immigrant background with mentors aged 50+ who can accompany and support them in their job search. Active in 17 cities across Belgium, France & the Netherlands, DUO for a JOB aims to achieve three main objectives: leveling out job market access inequalities, capitalizing on the skills and experience of older people and promoting a better society by offering a unique platform for encounters between different generations and cultures.

🎤 Thursday 27/04 10.00  Maximise the money, minimise the risk: strategies for revenue diversification
🎤  Friday 28/04 11:.15 Beyond Membership: Engaging Associations' Community for Greater Impact

Jeroen is an expert in the development and implementation of international and regional strategies and business planning.  For more than 20 years, Jeroen has been guiding associations in building sustainable business models and governance structures, helping association leaders rethink and retune their operations and remain relevant in the digital age. With a background in both trade and professional organisations, Jeroen helps association executives navigate in a multi-stakeholder, customer centric and fast-moving environment to generate, deliver and monetise value.

🎤 Friday 28/04 12.00  Finance and Tax Issues facing international non-profit associations

Adrian Harris is President of of the Federation of European and International Associations (FAIB), which represents the interests in Belgium of the international associations and NGOs in their dealings with Belgian legislation and administrations. He is also a member of BeAngels (business angels). Before his retirement, he was CEO of Orgalim, Europe’s Technology Industries’ Association. This is an industry which today directly employs some 11,5 million people in the EU and accounts for over €2300 billion of output.

🎤 Friday 28/04 14.00 Fireside sustainable 

Frances van Klaveren joined ICCA as the Community Engagement Manager in January 2021, focussing on developing and engaging with the ICCA Association Community. Frances became a Certified Association Executive through the ASAE in 2020 and has 15+ years’ experience in international programme management, membership engagement and volunteer management, working for non-profit associations including the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Biochemical Society in London, UK. Frances is passionate about working with association professionals and other stakeholders within the meetings industry. She also has a keen interest in regenerative and sustainable leadership and young professional engagement, and currently works on projects within ICCA including the Future Leaders Council and Net Zero Carbon Events.