Lidewij Wiersma is a veterinary specialist with a PhD in emerging coronaviruses. She is the CEO of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation and consults for the United Nations.
As an introverted veterinarian with a PhD in emerging coronaviruses, Lidewij's friends sometimes jokingly ask whether she had any involvement in the release of COVID-19. To be clear, she did not but it is undeniable that some good things came out of COVID-19 for her, including her renewed interest in writing. Writing about gender issues might not seem the most obvious topic for someone with her background; she is not a gender specialist by any stretch of the imagination. However, she does have some experience with being a female (about 38 years), being in the workplace (about 13 years), being in leadership positions (about 4 years) and being a working mother (about 2 years). From this experience she can only conclude that we can, and must, do better if we want a more balanced workforce. Lidewij's contribution to this process is by writing and, hopefully, by leading by example. The veterinary profession is young and female. She writes for them and for everyone else who starts out juggling frantically and barely keeping all balls in the air.
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Chantal was originally trained as a lawyer and therefore feels strongly about social justice. She currently works as the Director Inclusive Banking at Dutch bank ABN AMRO and initiated the Fempower Your Growth partnership, a Dutch Financial Sector initiative, connecting the worlds of bankers and female entrepreneurs. She has been appointed as the Dutch Women's Representative 2023 and will provide a statement to the UN General Assembly in 2023.
Trained as a lawyer, Chantal feels strongly about social justice. She is a strategic executor and contributes to making our world a better, inclusive and sustainable place. She is a proud mother of a son and daughter and has become an all-round professional as an attorney-at-law, a development banker, and now she is the director for Inclusive Banking at ABN AMRO. She grew up in England and the Netherlands, sparking her love for travel, culture, and different perspectives. She enjoys getting the best out of herself and others and always wants to learn. She initiated the Fempower Your Growth program, a Dutch Financial Sector initiative, connecting the worlds of bankers and female entrepreneurs. She pays it forward by being a mentor and an advisory board member. She has been appointed as the Women’s Representative for the Netherlands in 2023.
Tessel is a management trainee at Hieroo Amsterdam where she works on different social projects to create positive impact in the region. She has a Master Human Geography and is specialised in International Development Studies. As a connector, Tessel excels in bringing together different cultures, disciplines, and points of view. Tessel interned for Incredible impact, a company founded with the aim to unlock the potential of female entrepreneurs and female leaders in service of a better world.
Tessel is continuously in search of new insights, has a passion to learn and does not shy away from challenging situations. As part of her bachelor’s degree, she spent one semester studying at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. There she found her strength as a connector: bringing together different cultures, disciplines and points of view, to make a positive difference. Tessel couples her strong analytical mind with an enthusiastic and hands-on mentality to create positive impact. She was an intern at Incredible Impact, a company founded with the aim to unlock the potential of female entrepreneurs and female leaders in service of a better world.
Marijn is the founder of Incredible Impact and currently works as Director of Partnership and Innovation at the 2X Collaborative. She is the co-author of the book “Banking for a Better World,” and is an expert on diversity & financial inclusion. As a visionary, multi-linguist, and free thinker, she is creative, curious, and innovative. She’s lived on three continents, worked in over 35 countries, and is a mother of four.
As a corporate anthropologist, Marijn likes to inspire people with her vision: unlocking potential of women in service of a better world. She is an ESG and gender expert, executive coach, has co-authored the book ‘Banking for a Better World’, loves storytelling, organized TEDxLeiden and Future of Finance events, facilitated female leadership programs, and has made a docuseries on female rolemodels in the financial sector. Her twenty plus years of sustainable development experience led her to Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. As the founder of my company Incredible Impact and of Zambia’s first private nursing school, I know what it takes to do good and make money. Her husband, their four children and Marijn have lived on three continents.
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Dear readers,
In our March campaign update #2, we informed you that we expected to close a publishing deal by the end of spring…
We are super happy and proud to inform you that we have indeed closed our publishing deal! We signed a publishing contract with MorganJames and we signed a special editing contract with Jennifer Bright (Bright Communications) who will be our editor and book ‘doula’, supporting us in bringing our book to life.
Wow, what a journey this was too. So much to learn about this industry for us. We talked to many publishers and made a true effort to understand the US publishing industry…. from types of publishers (traditional vs self-publishing vs hybrid) to editing, printing, designing, promoting. And from royalties, to foreign rights, e-book versions, audio book versions, to timelines, front cover options, marketing opportunities etc. There was a lot we needed to learn before we could make a wise decision, one that worked for the whole team.
At the end of the day, as with many things, it comes down to trust, to confidence, to collaboration and to intuition. We truly feel that we made the right choice contracting both Jennifer and MorganJames and are grateful – again – to Bethany Marshall from Publishizer who introduced us to both of them and supported us in our journey of finding the right publisher for us.
So – what’s next? Well, in short: we have a book to finish, edit, design, print, promote, sell, ship AND most importantly – get into your hands! We will keep you posted on timelines, and to give you an idea publishing a book takes on average as long as delivering a child.
As books can still be pre-ordered please do share our book project https://soswomenatwork.org/ with your networks.
We are looking forward to the next part of our book journey and to interacting with you on the content of "SOS: A Survival Guide for Women at Work". Let us know if you want us to come speak about it at your events, or if you already want to sign-up for one of our book signing events – to be planned.
All the best,
Chantal, Lidewij, Marijn and Tessel
