Get to know the nominees of the AIESEC Alumni Positive Impact Award!
Hélène Bastien
co-founder of FruitCollect and consultant in project management for Ormit
Hélène is a consultant in project management for Ormit Belgium. After her studies in political sciences during which she was involved in the local AIESEC committee of Saint-Louis, she started working in the philanthropic sectot at King Baudouin Foundation. Eager to learn something different and acquire new skills, she decided to participate in the Explort Program with the AWEX, she got to learn about international trade and went to London to study the market for a Walloon company. After these few experiences, she was hired at Ormit Belgium, a company which develops young talents in leaders.
Beside all this, she was part of the team who created FruitCollect in 2015. FruitCollect in a non-profit organization which fight against food waste by collecting non-consumed fruits in private orchards and redistribute them to other non-profit organization. Today, Fruitcollect is a reference in the fight against food waste in Brussels. In her speech titled “how to turn the fight against food waste into a business opportunity” Hélène will talk about how this idea became an enterprise and what it means to be a social entrepreneur.
Anis Bedda
Founder and transformer in chief at Transforma Bxl.
Anis is the founder of transforma bxl, a coworking and innovation space in Brussels. He also co-founded the Intrapreneurship Conference, the premier global gathering of Intrapreneurs, corporate entrepreneurs, innovation managers and innovation experts. The intrapreneurship conference is now known as Innov8rs.
In his student years Anis joined AIESEC and stayed an active member for 6 years. During these years, he passionately lived the leadership development experiences provided by this wonderful network and helped members and stakeholders develop and become change agents. This experience has shaped the man that he is todayand left him with one obsession: personal fulfilment at work.
In his speech titled “sustainable innovation, the new normal in doing business!”, Anis will explain to you how technology, entrepreneurship, and finance combined together can help us overcome the world’s biggest challenges and how he is helping startups that use technology to solve these challenges through the new acceleration program within Transforma Brussels called « ImpactTech ».
Nikolay A. Dentchecv
Co-founder at Equalisi and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility at VUB
Nikolay is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and CSR at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where he holds the Solvay Business School Chair of Social Entrepreneurship at VUB, with founding partners Close the Gap, BNP Paribas Fortis and Euroclear. The platform of the chair is open to support any social enterprise (34 projects supported in 1y5), and the platform has been adopted by 6 universities in Bolivia, Colombia en Ecuador). His research is published in various indexed journals such as Business & Society, Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics: A European Review; and it serves occasionally as guest editor to special issues in journals such as Business & Society and Journal of Cleaner Production.
Next to his profession of professor, Nikolay recently founded Equalisi, a social entreprize that brings high quality products of vulnerable entrepreneurs to the market. In his adres entitled « Positive Impact with Love to Base of the Pyramid of Entrepreneurs », Nikolay will explain to you the crucial role that social entrepreneurship plays for the creation of a positive impact in today’s society.
Thomas Nowak
Secretary General European Heat Pump Association
Thomas is a long term (renewable) energy aficionado. Apart from closely following the energy transition both in the electricity and heating sectors, he is the owner of a heat pump, a PV power plant and a building in which both peacefully cooperate.
In his professional life, Thomas represents the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) as Secretary General in Brussels. His main responsibilities are the representation of the industry at the European institutions, networking with other stakeholders in the field of heating and cooling as well as the management of the association and its future development.
Thomas has published several articles on heat pump technology and the integration of heat pumps in the energy system and has spoken on this topic in European and international conferences.
He has also been contributing to scientific publications including the IEA energy technology perspectives and the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report.
Before working for the EHPA, he has worked in several projects on the economic and social benefits of renewable energy.
Thomas holds a university degree in business administration and economics.
In his speech titled “Its not a perpetuum mobile, but close”, Thomas will explain to you how an invention from the 19th century can help solve most of our energy problems”.
See you on March 7th to know the winner!
More information on the event on our Facebook page.