Hi!
I am Nathalie...
A multilingual global-minded sustainability professional whose purpose is to catalyse individual, collective & systemic transformations to build a sustainable society where everyone can thrive.
What I do well:
✔️ Lead international multi-stakeholder projects & programs,
✔️ Organise & facilitate workshops & events,
✔️ Build bridges and partnerships across countries & sectors,
✔️ Train & coach on sustainability approaches,
✔️ Weave communities of changemakers,
✔️ Research & analyse, structure, advise, improve
✔️ Speak at conferences.
My experience of 17 years spans across:
- climate change and environmental sciences
- life cycle thinking, eco-design, circular economy
- city-level and regional public policies for sustainability
- societal responsibility of organisations
- social entrepreneurship & social business
- inner transformation and leadership
- systems thinking and stakeholder collaboration
- degrowth, ecological economics, environmental justice
I currently support cutting-edge research on Sustainability and Ecological Economics at the University of Barcelona.
I previously lived in Paris, Nairobi and Berlin.
I've also had life-shaping experiences in Japan, Australia, Benin, Myanmar, Madagascar, the Philippines, New Zealand, Tonga, Bolivia, Ecuador, Armenia, Iran, Mexico, Rwanda... 🌍
I work internationally. I speak 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇪🇸
I belong to several global changemakers communities through which I keep learning and impacting: Makesense, Amani Institute alumni, Catalyst 2030, Doughnut Economics Action Lab, Climate Fresk, Human Factor University, Degrowth Master's alumni and International Degrowth Network.
Companies that have trusted me
Pearl Consulting
Purpose-driven boutique consultancy focused on strategic deployment of social impact initiatives.
The Grameen Creative Lab
Innovative incubator and creative consultancy serving society’s most pressing needs through social business.
enpact
Non profit-organisation dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs to advance societal prosperity.
Makesense
Non profit organisation aimed at creating collective mobilization to build an inclusive and sustainable society.
Amani Institute
Higher education organisation dedicated to empowering and connecting social impact professionals.
GIZ GmbH
Germany’s leading provider of international cooperation services.
African Management Institute
Organisation providing learning for leaders to drive sustainable human progress on the African continent.
ChangemakersForward
Community dedicated to developing changemakers' leadership skills, emotional and social intelligence.
Science4Sustainability
Startup connecting scientists and social entrepreneurs.
Auxilia
Consultancy specialized in socio-ecological transition and in supporting cities and territories in their sustainability efforts.
Bio Intelligence Service
Consultancy in the field of environmental analyses of products, one of the pioneers in life cycle assessments.
Orée
Non-profit organisation providing network and tools for environmental best practices across organisations.
Testimonials
Nathalie has an outstanding ability to facilitate human connections and create environments in which creativity, innovation and solutions can flourish.
Nathalie has a talent for organization and facilitation, as well as communication in an international context, and contributes to a wonderful team spirit.
And last but not least, she is hard working and committed to excellent outcomes for her team and participants, making sure everything is in place, not matter what it takes.
Thomas Jakel, Social Entrepreneur and Mentor - Germany
I have personally experienced Nathalie to possess rare combinations of personal qualities and skills, such as:
- Perseverance, efficiency and reliability: Nathalie always get the things done within the given framework - also all the "last mile" issues complicated projects involve.
- Personal moral code: Nathalie is honest, trustworthy and possesses a sound integrity benefiting people around her so they can perform better.
- Personal ethics and responsibility: Nathalie cares and supports people agilely and efficiently - and she dedicates her energy and skills for people to succeed in their roles and tasks.
- Very friendly and warm hearted: Nathalie offers everyone involved a warm and welcoming approach, a hug, free space for conversation, great listener abilities and as well as formal and informal qualities adjusted to the situation
- Great project management, international communication and relation management skills: I have never been in doubt about the "what, where, why, how, when" during our mentoring programs.
- Highly developed understanding of quality development: Nathalie is constantly improving current and future operations. She clearly likes driving ahead for a better tomorrow.
- High reachability for everybody: I've often wondered how Nathalie overcame so much and such extensive communication with so many people and still possessing high clarity, precession and a cheery tone.
Erik Kristiansen, Development & Innovation Expert - Denmark
Nathalie's skills and leadership qualities would make her an invaluable addition to any team.
Nathalie can plan, create, and manage programmes excellently.
She’s a capable manager and facilitator with a capacity for engaging across geographic and cultural barriers.
Nathalie has my highest recommendation based on my collaboration with her.
Elizabeth Maloba, Change Facilitator, Entrepreneur and Mentor - Kenya
Nathalie worked miracles as the country coordinator and East African program manager for the enpact startup mentoring program.
The job requires many skills including intricate planning for complex contingencies, coordination across continents, quick improvising, and keeping everyone's mood up.
Nathalie brought all those skills to the table and added her own modesty, unflappable good demeanor and charm.
Oliver Beige, Tech & Innovation Mentor - Germany
Nathalie is a hard worker and reliable colleague who dedicated her work to the fields of social entrepreneurship and sustainability.
She has a deep understanding of the issues, developed over the past years not only her facilitation, but also public speaking skills, and is most definitely a peoples-person, who can easily interact and work with people from different cultural backgrounds.
She is passionate about the African continent and loves to build meaningful bridges between people and organisations across nations.
Melanie Akerboom, Social Entrepreneurship Specialist
Germany
Nathalie's organisation and facilitation skills are exemplary. Her sharp, creative and detail-oriented mindset has brought a lot of added-value in each of the programmes we have created.
Authentic and honest, she is a true people-person and a motivating facilitator & networker whether she is in Germany, Kenya, Ghana, Tunisia or elsewhere in the world!
Quentin Merelle, Program Manager - France
I was amazed at how organized Nathalie was. Being keen to details, while also not losing focus of the wider/ long-term process is her biggest strength.
She also showed great professional understanding on how to handle diversity while coordinating a program that brought together mentees, mentors and staff from different cultural backgrounds.
Her ability to build long term professional relationships is commendable and to-date, she still maintains vibrant and valuable engagements with teams/ networks that she established.
Simon Wachieni, Social Entrepreneur - Kenya
I witness Nathalie taking full control and successfully steering the various programmes she oversaw. It takes hard work and a special capacity to plan, design, communicate and implement a programme for 45 people over two continents. Nathalie delivered this to the highest level with her management skills, structured approach and professional attitude to all details.
An x-factor working with Nathalie is her personal engagement and her ability to create lasting connections with people.
She can deal with all situations from problem solving to discussing strategy with high level partners.
Stefan Godskesen, Director Entrepreneurship Programs - Denmark
Nathalie is super-woman when it comes to event organising. It looks like nothing can ever blow her away. Whatever obstacles may arise, she always keeps her good mood, professional behaviour and energetic personality.
She is especially experienced in handling diverse international groups.
Gabriela Schweinberger, Mentor and Leadership Coach - Germany
Some highlights of the last 17 years
As Programs Manager / Programs Lead
- Working alongside Professor Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize and the whole ecosystem of social businesses he has inspired
- Training and coaching 70 young entrepreneurs from 28 countries in solving environmental and social challenges through social business (Young Challengers program)
- Mentoring social business entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs
- Organizing and facilitating the East Africa Impact Days and Global Social Business Summit
- Interacting with 200+ entrepreneurs from 20+ countries in Europe and North, West & East Africa
- Organizing startup bootcamps in Berlin, Nairobi, Accra and Tunis
- Giving feedback to entrepreneurs pitches
- Designing and facilitating innovative learning and exchange formats between entrepreneurs
- Building and developing an entrepreneurial community in East Africa
- Building and developing partnerships with entrepreneurship ecosystem partners in East Africa
- Hosting conversations and webinars with a focus on leadership and transformation
- Helping the creation of new projects and the development of existing ones
- Contributing to building bridges between entrepreneurs and scientists
As Consultant and Project Manager
- Coordinating 10 European institutions in the context of a major Horizon Europe research project on sustainability, ecological economics and post-growth
- Helping 20+ public institutions, cities and local governments, companies in their sustainability efforts, from awareness raising to concrete action planning, evaluation and reporting.
- Coordinating territorial approaches: Agenda21, energy and climate action plans
- Coordinating organisational approaches: eco-responsibility, corporate social responsibility action plans, mobility action plans
- Providing in-depth analyses of the practices and policies of the organisations with regard to sustainable development
- Coaching dozens of sustainability managers and supporting them in achieving tangible social and environmental impacts
- Carring out environmental impact analyses for private companies, professional federations and public agencies: Life Cycle Assessment, environmental and health declaration forms, eco-socio-responsibility action plans.
- Leading a study for setting eco-design requirements for energy-using products for the European Commission
- Interacting with 100 stakeholders from all over Europe and leading meetings at the European Commission in Brussels
- Creating brochures, factsheets, articles, eco-profiles and other environmental communication documents
- Coordinating a network of 50 experts in eco-design
- Builing and online platform about ecodesign of products and services for enterprises
As Trainer & Facilitator
- Facilitating Climate Fresk workshops for students and professionals, helping them understand the scientific processes behind climate change
- Facilitating Human Factor Mural workshops, helping individuals understand the role that emotions, bias, and other factors play in changing our behaviour
- Facilitating a working group on Economic Transformation for Development, with 20+ senior leaders from international development organisations
- Delivering workshops on Learning and Leadership for entrepreneurs in Germany, Kenya, Ghana and Tunisia
- Training future mentors in Tunisia and Senegal
- Designing and facilitating design-thinking based workshops ("hold-up of ideas") to help social entrepreneurs overcome challenges
- Being the Master of Ceremony for a 200+ participant unconference and barcamp about social entrepreneurship and system change in Berlin
- Training 800+ civil servants, elected representatives and employees in sustainable development, eco-responsibility and societal responsibility
- Training 200+ employees of companies and students of engineering and business schools (Mines ParisTech, IESEG Lille) on the topics of life-cycle assessment, ecodesign and environmental communication
- Facilitating strategy sessions with directors and guiding reflection, prioritization and building up of operational action plans
- Designing and facilitating public events around sustainability (quizz night, role play, movie-debate evening...)
- Facilitating interactions within the degrowth master alumni community during our in-person meeting in Barcelona
As Public Speaker
- Talking about the "How" of sustainability at Berlin Sensecamp (Germany)
- Talking about entrepreneurship and sustainability at Afrolynk conference in Berlin (Germany)
- Talking about degrowth with a group of changemakers in Barcelona (Spain)
- Sharing my personal and professional experience at the event "finding your path and taking the leap" event in Nairobi (Kenya)
- Sharing ways to support social entrepreneurs in East Africa at Sankalp Forum in Nairobi (Kenya) and at the African Summit on Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Kampala (Uganda)
- Sharing insights about leadership across cultures at the occasion of a leadership course for international students (Germany)
- Sharing a personal travel story and leadership lessons during the TED-like "Travel on Stage" event in Paris (France)
Other Projects
🌍 Discovering the world
I was lucky enough to be able to set a foot on all continents. This website introduces some my travels (2013-2016). Amongst noticeable experiences:
° Taking a small step and ending up very far
° Living with very few belongings
° Being the foreigner
° Getting to know strangers, especially when hitch-hiking and couchsurfing
° Experimenting cultural differences
° Managing uncertainty, figuring things out on the way
° Adapting to the unexpected
° Trusting myself, my intuition, my own path
👐 Volunteering
Apart from long-term engagement with MakeSense, I volunteered for:
° Raising awareness about food waste (disco soup)
° Farm work / wwoofing in New Zealand and in Tonga
° Social business as a way to fight poverty in the Philippines
° Fauna inventory for conservation in Kenya
° Children education and cultural exchange in Benin
° Education for social innovation in Armenia
° Support for the homeless in Paris
° Public reception for an international street arts festival
° Prevention of drunk driving and night carpooling
° Organization of "cultural weekends" to European cities for students
Education
Environmental Sciences
& Climate Change
In 2007, I graduated as a Generalist Engineer from ENSTA ParisTech, Paris, France.
I specialised in Environmental Sciences: ocean, atmosphere, climate, and did internships in France, Japan and Australia.
Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Social Change Leadership
In 2016, I graduated in Social Innovation Management from the Amani Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Pluriverse
In 2024, I graduated with an international Master’s degree dedicated to Research and Policy for Degrowth, offered by Research & Degrowth and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Contact
Drop me a few words, it is so simple... And we will be in touch soon !
Copyright 2015