Our partner Lof spotlights 'Next Generation' role models: young women with ambition setting their own course.
Josephine van der Vossen-Jonker, member of the WIFS Advisory Board nominated Lievijne Neuteboom, boardmember of WIFS. Read there story here!
Josephine van der Vossen (Partner at executive search firm Partners at Work) nominated Lievijne Neuteboom (Sustainable Finance Specialist at European Banking Authority)
"I know Lievijne from my role as a member of the Advisory Board of Women in Financial Services (WIFS). Lievijne is a next generation role model; she advocates more diversity - especially focusing on women - in the financial sector from the board of WIFS. She is also an expert on sustainability in the financial sector. Until recently, she worked at De Nederlandsche Bank and gave guest lectures at Leiden University on sustainability. She is currently working at the European Banking Authority as a Sustainable Finance Specialist. She is a driven and ambitious young professional, with a good instinct for social developments. She is an example for other young professionals, authentic, she stands for something and knows how to express it with enthusiasm.
Lievijne and I share a mission to raise awareness on the importance of diversity in all its aspects in order to build a sustainable future where there is space for everyone. In terms of a valuable legacy for myself, I would like to see equal opportunities for all, regardless of gender, age, origin or orientation. But first, let's ensure that the value of female leadership is seen. And that this leads to gender balance in teams and organisations. This is proven to lead to better decision-making and results, increased job satisfaction and more innovation."
Lievijne on her nomination
"I consider my nomination very honourable. All the more so because I was nominated by Josephine, who as Partner of executive search agency "Partners at Work" sees examples of female leadership pass by on a daily basis. She conveys a philosophy with her company and puts it into practice that I fully support. With that, she has a good understanding of what effective female leadership looks like. I therefore consider the fact that I stand out to her as a role model in this area a very big compliment. I found female leadership interesting even at a young age. I wrote my profile paper in secondary school on the glass ceiling and I have continued to engage with the topic during my studies, internships and since I began working, through Women in Financial Services (WIFS). It is wonderful that these efforts have led to me now being nominated by Josephine as a role model in this field.
For me, female leadership is about leadership that has an eye for the world around her. I think now, more than ever, that is the kind of leadership we need. The world around us is changing incredibly fast and faces complex challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality. This requires business, politics and civil society organisations to allow and develop new insights and initiatives in which sustainability and future-oriented thinking are paramount. With as principles, well-being instead of prosperity and value instead of profit. I myself contribute to this by working on embedding sustainability in the financial sector, a sector that often still lacks both female leadership and a focus on long-term value creation. For me, there is nothing more beautiful than contributing to ever-increasing positive changes in those two areas in this very sector.
Trying to make the world a better place runs like a thread through my academic and professional career. It is the reason I chose to study International Development and after graduating I opted for a job where I could make social impact. Over the years, I have realised that the financial sector can fulfil an important function in making the economy and society more sustainable by financing this change. Since I am eager to contribute to this, I have been focusing on integrating sustainability in the financial sector since the start of my career, as a Sustainable Finance Specialist at De Nederlandsche Bank, European Central Bank and recently at the European Banking Authority. I also try to continue contributing to improve the position of women within the financial sector as a board member of Women in Financial Services (WIFS)."