Saskia Harkema

Saskia Harkema

CEO and Ambassador, Faces of Change and Female Wave of Change

Netherlands

Born in The Netherlands, I grew up in South America (Brazil, Argentina and Colombia) and this has had a great influence on my development and choices in life. My working career shows my multifaceted talents and skills. With a degree in Sociology I started my career as a consultant and later international project manager Europe at Philips Lighting. Where I acquired hands-on and academic experience in the broad field of marketing and project management. Even later I received a degree in Business Administration from the University of Bradford and made a switch to academia and education. In 2004 I finished my PhD at the University of Nyenrode in The Netherlands. In the course of the years I have become an expert in innovation and entrepreneurship with both hands-on and academic experience. I have developed several innovative programs for which I received funds from the EU, developed and managed 4-year European projects and carried out longitudinal research in different sectors (ICT, Services, Manufacturing, Construction, Legal Services, Food & Flowers) which has resulted in a large number of publications. Since a couple of years part of my efforts are geared at supporting refugees and marginalized people to find their way in society and materialize their dreams, through my foundation Faces of Change (www.facesofchange.online). I am also Ambassador South-America for Female Wave of Change and Global Leader at Market Leaders International (www.marketleaders.international). Furthermore, I teach at different universities, develop programs and do research in the field of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Diversity.