The members of ThinkBeyond

Joost Van Meerbeeck

Co-founder ThinkBeyond

Joost Van Meerbeeck is a board member of companies (ao chairman Royal Ahrend) and a long term investor (ao impact investments) via SUSTINVEST. He is also the co-chairman of the KU Leuven Institute for Advanced Study. In the past he was CEO of Royal Ahrend, managing director of HAL Investments and a consultant at McKinsey.

Ruben Verhoeven

Co-founder ThinkBeyond

Ruben Verhoeven is Board Member and Senior Advisor of several for-profit and non-profit organizations. He is Senior Partner emeritus of McKinsey&Company. Having started at Exxon, he worked for 30 year at McKinsey where he led several industrial practices and their Belgium-Luxembourg offices.

Tessa Avermaete

Tessa Avermaete is an expert in agriculture and sustainable food, affiliated with the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on sustainable food systems, agriculture (economics), food security and sustainable diets. She also has expertise and work experience in the field of science communication. She is a member of the Board of Directors of vzw KLJ and Groene Kring.

‍‍Sébastien Deletaille

Sébastien is a tech entrepreneur in the field of Digital Health. He is the co-founder and CEO of Rosa, a tech non-profit that helps patients find and book medical appointments. With a team of 40, Rosa supports >10 000 health professionals in Belgium across outpatient and hospital care. Prior to Rosa, Sébastien notably co-founded Riaktr, one of Belgium's leading scale-ups, active in the field of Telecom Big Data. Riaktr was sold to Seamless Distribution Systems in 2022.

Steven Van Passel

Steven Van Passel is Vice-Rector for Valorization and Sustainability at the University of Antwerp. He is a Full Professor of Environmental Economics at the Faculty of Business and Economics. He aims to inspire people to move toward sustainability by researching environmental and economic choices, educating students, scientists, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, and collaborating in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary manner.

Tijl De Bie

Tijl De Bie is Professor in Artificial Intelligence at Ghent University, having previously studied and worked at the KU Leuven, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Southampton University and the University of Bristol. His research covers the foundations of machine learning and data science, as well as applications to biology, (social) media analysis, employment, and more. Most recently he concentrates on AI safety and information integrity, funded by ERC Advanced Grant VIGILIA.

Tom Thijs

Tom Thijs is an experienced Communication Professional with 20 years of expertise in strategic communication, public relations, and media planning. Skilled in working with global brands and public sector clients, including the Flemish and Federal government and the City of Antwerp. Communication expert at GEI and LIAS, specializing in brand strategy, stakeholder engagement and content creation.

Elisabeth de Brouwer

Master in Business Engineering , working for an international consultancy firm.