Ankie van Wersch

In Ankie’s lectures, a positive tone prevails. She explains in a well-founded and inspiring way that it can be done; as a company, making a positive impact on the environment and people’s lives. ‘Thinking big and starting small‘ is her motto.

Inspiration is one thing, but how can you start to change something in your organisation yourself? Preferably today? Ankie shares her insights and experiences with the audience and provides simple examples and tools to take a first step towards a sustainable and impactful business model. Her lectures always match the audience.

Embracing failure. Nothing human is foreign to Ankie; in her view, daring to make mistakes is inherent to personal development and the successes you achieve, in any field. In an all-around mission like Ankie’s, namely to create a more beautiful world, it is necessary to share those mistakes with others she says.

Ankie has a gift for striking a sensitive nerve with her stories and grabbing her audience’s attention instantly. Painful, poignant even, but also hopeful and heartwarming. The stories she explains in such detail reverberate in the minds of the audience for a long time.

One of the statements that appeals to Ankie is ‘If you want to see change, stop fighting the old, but start building the new’.

This statement flows seamlessly into the message she preaches in her lectures, namely that it really is possible to create a new economy that adds value to people and the environment. But to do so, we will have to start think differently. She talks about the wealth of possibilities that already exist.

This statement flows seamlessly into the message she conveys in her lectures, namely that it really is possible to create a new economy that adds value to people and the environment. But to do so, we will have to start thinking differently. She talks about the wealth of possibilities that already exist.

During this keynote, Ankie will take you through the lessons she has learned after 19 years of sustainable entrepreneurship.

She gives the audience beautifully practical tools for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.

From dreaming about a net positive business to actually taking action the day after the lecture.

But how do you do that? Ankie takes you through this journey and makes sure you walk out the door with these actions in your pocket so you can get started the next day.

Through years of experience, Ankie has many motivating and beautiful stories and examples to tell.

Therefore, a customized keynote is always one of the possibilities. The most important thing for her: the audience walks out of the room feeling positive and motivated.

Together, you look at what is suited to your target group.

“Doing something good for the world has always driven me. I am lucky to come from a loving family and have the resources and opportunities to do this on a larger scale. Still, anyone can leave something good, something positive, by getting involved in something. Whether that is the environment or something else, every human being has a talent with which you can make the world a more beautiful place.”

“I deliver my story with sensitivity, talk about what an experience did to me. That really touch people. That is also the intention, because then they open up to change. I am also not one for ‘rose-tinted stories’; if you dream and act big you will make mistakes. Some self-mockery is fortunately not foreign to me; vulnerability and humour work together. Moreover, I hope that others learn from those mistakes so that they can initiate their own systemic change faster.

We once founded a company that offered healthy, affordable meals in the slums of Nairobi and India. Everything was right; the maths, the nutritional values, the distribution channels. Everything except… the taste. The meals were not tasty. The intention was good but the quality was not, and we intervened too late. At the relaunch, we got a well-known TV chef involved to put things right.”

“Of course, I could start listing all kinds of great thinkers and philanthropists, but my great examples are the Nepalese orphans I have had the pleasure of getting to know. Forgotten, malnourished, traumatised, and full of dreams that they make come true if only given the chance. A great example is Dhanraj Barkote. He lived on the streets of a village in Nepal and is now a director whose films about his homeland have won awards at various film festivals. Or Gita Rana, once disowned by her family after the death of her mother, she is now a gynaecologist. Both were once given a place in our programme at Tika foundation.”

“Besides my work for Enviu, I am chairman of the Supervisory Board of Simavi and a board member of Pro2 (the first compensation fund for Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar).

Apart from that, I am also just a mother of three children. With the youngest I like to go to football matches, with the middle one I binge-watch romantic series and with the oldest one I have a great time philosophising – we solve world problems over dinner! Furthermore, I greatly enjoy receiving family and friends at home, having a nice meal together.”