Curriculum vitae

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.​

Mr. Sebastià Pons has more than 25 years of experience in the crop protection industry, most of which he gained at FMC Corporation and DuPont in various management, technical and commercial leadership positions. During his career, Mr. Pons has contributed to the important development of these agricultural companies on an industrial, marketing and commercial level. He has extensive experience in developing value-creating strategies and has a passion for building strong marketing and sales organisations.  

Mr. Sebastià Pons is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Crop Life Europe and of various FMC entities.  He has a bachelor's degree in agronomy from the University of Sevilla, a master's degree and PhD in agronomy from the University of Lleida and an MBA from EUNCET-UPC Business School in Spain. 

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.