VRT board says goodbye to Lynn Wesenbeek and three others, independents take the place

With the introduction of independent experts, media minister Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) – and with him the entire Flemish government – wants to boost the level of expertise within the board of directors. After all, that council considers all strategic decisions taken by the management of the public broadcaster and, in an ideal world, should serve as a sounding board for the CEO. However, not all politically appointed administrators have sufficient knowledge and background to play that role effectively.

A total of 136 candidates responded to the call that appeared in March this year. The external consultancy firm Schelstraete Delacourt Associates drew up a shortlist of four preferred candidates and four reserve candidates. Today’s Council of Ministers followed their advice and selected the 4 candidates who were at the top of the list.

Jo Maes is a civil engineer and has been active at NMBS, Business Architects and Sopra Steria, among others. In 2011, he became COO at Ordina Belux, and subsequently became CEO in 2014. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2017.

Joeri Van Den Bergh, co-founder and partner at InSites Consulting, has extensive experience as an independent director at, among others, the Ancienne Belgique and Sensoa. He has also written a number of books on brands, marketing, young generations, marketing communications and trends.

Independent consultant Jaqueline Smit gained experience at Microsoft Netherlands and was CEO of the Dutch 538 Group for a while. This group includes the radio stations Radio 538, youth station SLAM! FM, SLAM TV and 12 digital stations. Smit also sits on the board of directors of the VAR, the advertising agency of the VRT.

Marleen Nijsten finally, is director of marketing and new services at Luminus. Before that, Nijsten held various positions within the media sector. From 1999 to 2006 she was a magazine manager at De Tijd and a market researcher at Concentra Media (1997-1999).

The arrival of the experts means that four other board members have to make way. CD&D, Open Vld, Vlaams Belang and N-VA had to sacrifice a seat. For Open Vld, former VTM face Lynn Wesenbeek disappears from the council. At cd&v it is Marc De Clercq, N-VA saying goodbye to Charlotte Verhaeghe. Jan Huijbrechts makes way for Vlaams Belang.

The new council will be officially appointed on 4 July.

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