
Curriculum vitae
Wouter De Geest
Mr. Wouter De Geest studied law at the University of Ghent, where he graduated in 1977. He started his professional career as a lawyer at the Ghent bar. In 1982 he started working at BASF Antwerp as head of the legal department, later he became personnel director. In 1998 he started working at BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, where he prepared, among other things, the IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001 he returned to BASF's Antwerp office, where he was appointed CEO in February 2007 and held this position until the beginning of January 2020. From 2009 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018, Mr. Wouter De Geest was chairman of the employers' organization Essenscia, the Belgian sector federation of the chemical industry. At the end of 2018, he became chairman of VOKA, the Flemish network of companies. Mr. Wouter De Geest is member of the board of directors of the Port of Antwerp, construction group Besix Group, Exmar Group, Aertssen Group and Ziekenhuisnetwerk Antwerpen. He was also chairman of Moonshot, the Flemish initiative uniting industries, citizens and governments to develop breakthrough technologies to create climate friendly processes and products.
Mr. Wouter De Geest has been president of Global Compact Belgium before the merger with other sustainability organizations in The Shift, where he was member of the board. Mr. De Geest is chairman of the steering committee of Antwerp@C, a big CCS project in the harbour of Antwerp supported by the most important emitters of CO2.
He also holds various board mandates in the socio-cultural sector, including at the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.
Luc Tack
Mr. Luc Tack is an entrepreneur who owns and runs an extended global network of businesses in various industries, such as cleaning and water treatment, as well as the production and trading of home textiles, he is Managing Director of the Picanol Group (Picanol NV) and is also the director of several companies, including Acotex NV, Ter Molst International NV, Monks International NV, GTA USA, GTA India, Symphony Mills NV, Attent, De Vier Weverkens NV, Artilat NV, Vyrolat NV, Tankterminal NV and Unidet NV. On 18 December 2013, Mr. Luc Tack was appointed CEO of Tessenderlo Group.
Karel Vinck
Mr. Karel Vinck starts his career as a project engineer with Petrofina. From 1972 till 2005 he took the CEO responsibility in several international industrial groups: Compagnie Financière Eternit, Bekaert, Umicore, Sibelco and the Belgian Railways NMBS. In the nineties he was the Chairman of Agotia and Voka, the representative Federation of Flemish Companies. From 2005 till 2018 he was the Coordinator of the European Railways. He was a member of the Board of the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven (Belgium) for ten years. Mr. Karel Vinck graduated as an electrical and mechanical engineer from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and followed a post-graduate production management program at the University of Ghent. He also holds a Master in Business Administration from Cornell University (US). He had several cultural Board memberships in the National Opera de Munt and the Philarmonische Maatschappij van Brussel (Bozar).
Management Deprez bv, with permanent representative Ms. Veerle Deprez
Ms. Veerle Deprez started her early career with Alcatel Bell in 1980. In 1987, together with her brother, Mr. Hein Deprez, she laid the foundations of Univeg, which would become later on the listed company Greenyard.
Greenyard, where sustainability is at the heart, is one of the largest suppliers of fruit and vegetables in the world. Since 2005, Ms. Veerle Deprez serves on the board of former Pinguin, now Greenyard, and she is also member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. She serves on the board as well of various companies belonging to the group and she is board member of several family companies and the Nova Natie Group.
ANBA bv, with permanent representative Ms. Anne-Marie Baeyaert
Ms. Baeyaert holds a Bachelor's degree in Maritime Sciences and has completed several advanced programs in Middle Management, Effective Management, and Financial Management at Vlerick Business School in Ghent. She is the founder and owner of ResiGrass and Huisvernieuwers. Prior to establishing these ventures, Ms. Baeyaert held significant leadership roles within Katoen Natie Group, where she served as a Board Member and Business Unit Director. Her tenure at Katoen Natie began in 1985, and she remained a key member of the Board from 1987 to 2013.
Currently, Ms. Baeyaert serves on the Board of Directors of De Vlaamse Waterweg, where she also chairs the Audit Committee. Additionally, she holds the position of President of the Audit Committees at both De Vlaamse Waterweg and Tessenderlo Group. Previously, she was a Board Director at Befimmo and Rosier (part of the Borealis Group).
Ms. Baeyaert has been a driving force in developing and implementing proactive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies. At Befimmo, she played an instrumental role in the development of the ZIN project, one of Europe's largest urban mining initiatives, which exemplifies circularity and sustainable building practices. This 110,000-square-meter project in Brussels is set to be completed by the end of this year and will establish a new benchmark for sustainable real estate.
In her capacity as President of the Audit Committee at De Vlaamse Waterweg, Ms. Baeyaert closely monitors the organization’s participation in the Blue Deal and the execution of the Sigma Project, both of which are key to climate adaptation and the preservation of nature in Flanders.
Pasma nv, with permanent representative Mr. Patrick Steverlynck
Mr. Patrick Steverlynck was born into a Flemish industrial family. He studied Latin Science and graduated as a Diplomingenieur Maschinebau from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany. After his studies, in 1975 he joined Picanol, Belgium’s renowned weaving machine manufacturer, where he started in the after sales service. Mr. Patrick Steverlynck became CEO and chairman of the board of Picanol nv in 1987, in succession of his father, Emmanuel Steverlynck. He stepped back from his function as CEO in 2001 and in 2004 also as Chairman. His experience at Picanol allows him to share with the other board members his essential experience in weaving machines and his wide network within the textile world. Until recently, Mr. Patrick Steverlynck was, amongst others, also engaged as a director in following organizations/companies: chairman of Agoria’s Committee for Mechanical Engineering and director of the board of Jan Yperman Ziekenhuis in Ypres.
West Linde bv, with permanent representative Ms. Laurie Tack
Ms. Laurie Tack holds a Bachelor Degree in Finance, Accounting and Economics from the University of Kent (UK) where she graduated in 2012 and a MBA from Harvard Business School (Boston, USA). She started her professional career as analyst in a private equity firm in London in 2012, followed by holding various management positions in Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc., a company headquartered in Phoenix, AZ (USA) and part of the Tessenderlo Group where she gained experience in finance, sales and strategy execution. In 2020 she took the position of executive director of Harmony Industries – Clarysse nv, a company part of the Love Home Fabrics Group, headquartered in Belgium. Ms. Laurie Tack’s further particular interest goes to the workings, management, dynamics and governance of family businesses.
Ann Vereecke bv, with permanent representative Ms. Ann Vereecke
Ms. Ann Vereecke is Professor and partner at Vlerick Business School, and Professor at Ghent University. She has been Faculty Dean of Vlerick Business School from 2008 till 2018. She graduated as an engineer at Ghent University, and has obtained her PhD at Ghent University in 1997, having been a visiting PhD candidate in INSEAD (France). Ms. Ann Vereecke teaches Operations and Supply Chain Management in the MBA and Master programmes at Vlerick Business School. She currently serves on the board of the food company Ter Beke, North Sea Port and bpostgroup.