Quarterly Board Update: Nora Taylor, Secretary of the Board, on the latest meeting in Amsterdam

Every quarter, the Board of Lovinklaan meets to discuss program developments and strategy. In early April, the majority of the Board gathered together in Amsterdam. Hear more about the meeting from Nora Taylor, Secretary of the Board.

‘The Board meeting in Amsterdam was the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 where the entire Board met face to face (with the exception of our colleague and Treasurer of the Board, Marco Foo). Having been our largest gathering in over two years, it was great to connect with one another on a deeper level – especially since we have recently welcomed two new Board members: Maricel Atienza and Zakiya Seymour. The meeting was incredibly productive as we had the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, meet with key stakeholders, discuss our current and future programs (including the launch of a dedicated sustainability program, and connect as a team. We also had the pleasure of confirming Giuliana Netto, representing Latin America, and Marco Foo, representing Asia, for a second term on the Board – their dedication and commitment towards Lovinklaan and Arcadians have been an invaluable asset.

As the Board is a global team working across various time zones and cultures, we recognize the importance of identifying our cultural differences and pinpointing how we can best work together. To help us understand how we can harness our diversity to work most effectively together, the Board participated in a Cultural Awareness Team Development session. The findings of this session were incredibly useful in helping us identify our strengths as a team to ensure we can deliver on fulfilling the Foundation’s purpose to empower Arcadians to reach their full potential and drive meaningful change.

A key highlight during our time in Amsterdam was meeting with Netherlands-based program managers, including Renee Beelen (Local Sparks) Tanya Huizer (Shelter), and Yvonne Verline (GSP). It was a great opportunity to meet our Dutch program managers. We discussed the current status of Local Sparks and Shelter and thanked Yvonne for all her hard work on the Global Share Plan as it comes to an end

We also met with our CEO, Peter Oosterveer, for dinner. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know one another on a more personal level and discuss the connection between Lovinklaan and Arcadis in a less formal setting. For many of our Board members, this was the first time they had met Peter personally, so this was great to be able to establish and build a connection.

Board members Giuliana Netto and Zakiya Seymour, along with two experienced Arcadis facilitators, are leading the re-design of our knowledge-sharing program, Quest. The program redesign will focus on including all Arcadians while aligning with the business and its sustainability goals. From now until August, the joint team from Arcadis and Lovinklaan will workshop through what the new program will look like and how we can continue knowledge sharing with Arcadians across the globe. Be sure to watch this space for more information on our new sustainability program!

Join us on Yammer and LinkedIn!

Did you know that Lovinklaan is now active on LinkedIn and Yammer? Follow our LinkedIn page for program updates and announcements, as well as our general Yammer Lovinklaan Group to stay up to date!