"In lifting and rising others, you also rise."
What is your personal motivation for serving on the SIE Board 2026-2027?
As the function of Secretary General in the SIE Board is a designated and not an elected one, you are singled out and this request came to me unexpectedly. That – in itself – already felt meaningful. Reflecting on it, I recognised how well it aligned with a motto I try to live by: in rising, lifting others, I rise. Supporting others is also a path to your own growth. And life taught me that opportunities present themselves, but seizing them always takes a bit of courage.
My active involvement within this organisation for over 25 years across different levels and functions gave me confidence. In this role today, I remain very much focused on the realities and needs at club level, while my personal ambition is to strengthen cooperation between the different levels of our organisation. Having led two small companies for more than thirty years, I’ve learned that collaboration doesn’t happen on its own, it has to be nurtured.
My motivation in 2000 to join Soroptimist was rooted in experiences from the early 1990s when I started my first own business. As a woman at the time, you had to prove yourself twice over. Looking back now, I recognise my childhood home situation being fairly patriarchal as well, with more traditional expectations for a girl versus an older brother; it motivates me to advocate for women and girls’ rights.
What is your vision for a better world?
I can easily draw on the Soroptimist objectives. A world with equal rights and opportunities for women and girls, without neglecting nor suppressing the potential of half its population. It concerns me that while progress has been made in many parts of the world, elsewhere the situation is worsening. High ethical standards give our world its backbone – ethics are what make progress worth having. An ambitious thread running through all of this remains peace through international understanding and goodwill. When people genuinely know one another across borders, cultures and differences, fear gives way to curiosity, and hostility can give way to solidarity. Peace is more than just the absence of war; it is the presence of understanding. Peace brings stability.
None of these goals are achievable in isolation – this is an interwoven vision. Gender equality advances ethical standards. Human rights nurture the conditions for peace. International understanding reinforces equality. Not everything is achievable at once, but in fostering these goals we all ‘rise’.
What do you do to stay motivated in your work?
Staying close to nature gives me energy, and I must admit I have the greatest respect for big old trees – fully appreciating their resilience and complex interconnection they’ve built over all the years it took to grow so big. Soroptimist is just such a big tree. Founded more than 100 years ago it is worldwide interconnected and standing strong in defending basic rights.
When motivation fades, I try to go back to the ‘why’ question, to reconnect with the purpose behind it all. Breaking an issue into smaller steps, and accepting that disappointment is part of the journey, works for me. It helps me to focus again at positive outcomes, projects, campaigns achieved along the way.
What is your country doing to support and empower women?
Talking about my country, I feel especially grateful to the SI Belgium about the interesting opportunity and wonderful experience being elected Governor for two consecutive terms. As a Governor you are the go between the Union (your own country) and the next level of our Soroptimist organisation: the European branch – SIE Federation.
In the function of Governor – with its cross-border exchange and solidarity between Soroptimists of all over Europe and beyond – you get the opportunity to learn a lot about our organisation. These multinational, multicultural relationships automatically give you motivation and energy. This is also the period when I more or less came onto the radar for this role in the SIE Board as Secretary General.
Tell us about your Soroptimist club! What projects are you most proud of?
I am a member of SI Club Knokke-Oostkust (Belgium). Last year we partnered with ‘4Girlz by CoderDojo’, a one-day event that ticks so many Soroptimist boxes: it gives girls aged 10 to 18 hands-on workshops in coding, robotics, and AI, in a supportive environment where they can learn at their own pace. By encouraging girls toward STEM education, our club helps preparing them for a still male-dominated workforce, in partnership with an organisation that continues this training beyond our event.
Money was raised and was even donated by exterior partners. Publicity was made (flyers printed and distributed locally wherever young people gather). We used our network actively, worked well together and with the CoderDojo Coaches. The budget allowed the purchase of 2 refurbished laptops that will further on be used for girls who cannot afford to buy a laptop themselves.
Good to know is that this global CoderDojo Foundation actively hosts girls-only sessions in regions across the UK, Ireland, and the rest of Europe to encourage female participation in STEM.
