Behind The CEO

In this episode of Behind the CEO, we sat down with Chaker Khazaal: an award-winning Palestinian-Canadian author, global speaker, humanitarian leader, and Executive Chairman of OBCIDO Inc. Born as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, he grew up in the Bourj el Barajneh camp in Beirut before immigrating to Canada. Chaker’s journey is one of resilience, creativity, and service. He’s penned six powerful...

Welcome to Behind the CEO!In this intro episode, I share the vision behind this new podcast: a space dedicated to leadership and empathy. Behind the CEO is the continuation of my previous series, We Belong, which ran from 2020 and narrated diversity and inclusion across 15 European countries. That series is still available, same links. With this new chapter, I’ll be going deeper into the personal...

Jean-Claude Juncker est l'un des pères fondateurs de l'euro et un pionnier de l'unification européenne. En tant que Premier ministre du Luxembourg, il a été le chef de gouvernement le plus longtemps en poste au sein de l'Union Européenne, avec 18 ans de mandat. Il a été le premier président permanent de l'Eurogroupe et a contribué à définir la réponse à la crise de la dette souveraine en 2009. En...

Meet Salwa Boujour from Belgium, a Journalist, an Entrepreneur and Founder of ADIM, a non-profit that promotes Diversity & Inclusion in Media. Salwa specializes in social issues, particularly in matters related to gender identities and feminism, decolonization and inclusion, as well as the prison system. She identifies as a feminist journalist committed to creating a more inclusive media world...

Meet Stefano Manservisi, former Director-General at the European Commission. Prior to that, he was the Head of the Private Office of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs. In 2014, Mr. Manservisi was the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. He held different positions at the Commission, including as Director-General for Migration and Home Affai...

Meet the MEP Salima Yenbou from France. Born in Seine-Saint-Denis, she worked as a school administrator before her election in 2019. MEP Yenbou is one of only 24 eurodeputies who are people of color out of 705 (cf. ENAR). In conversation with MEP Yenbou, we discussed her commitment for representation in Europe, why she decided to become an elected official and her approach to foster equal opportun...

Meet Amal Tahir, a renowned feminist author, speaker, sexologist and advocate for women's health and empowerment. With a background in gynecology and obstetrics, she has dedicated her career to promoting a positive and inclusive dialogue surrounding topics such as mental health, body positivity, and sexuality. Through her writings and content shared to more than 100.000 followers, Amal seeks to ch...

Meet Daniela Ragni, the Director of the André Losch Foundation. The Foundation has independently supported projects dedicated to young people in Luxembourg, in the fields of education, social inclusion and health. Daniela leads the Foundation on strategic and operational development since 2019. During her career, Daniela has worked for around twenty years within non-governmental organisations acti...

Meet Mina Saidze from Germany, the Author of FairTech, Founder of Inclusive Tech and a Forbes 30 Under 30. She is the daughter of political activists from Afghanistan that fled the country to offer their children a better life. Her family story inspired her throughout her whole life and she is the first woman in her family to graduate university. Mina’s mission is to democratise Big Data and Artif...

Meet Adeola Naomi Aderemi from Greece, a multilingual, multilocal, AfroGreek, and multi-format artist, scholar, curator, and healer.  Adeola has been working as a curator, yoga therapist, and editor in chief of Distinguished Diva . Her debut documentary film “I am Afro-Greek” covers the lives and lived experiences of Greeks of African descent. She utilises the integration of holistic healing pract...

Meet Cecilia Said Vieira from Luxembourg, a Social Entrepreneur, Marketing & Communication Expert and Founder of the podcast 'Ceci, Do You Love Me?'.Cecilia is a Luxembourger with a Brazilian background and during her studies in Berlin she noticed that many Luxembourgers live in a "bubble" from which many don't dare to venture out. She wanted to change this through her successful podcast that...

Meet Sarah Zitouni from Sweden, the mind behind the 150k followers Instagram account “PowHer Ta Carriere”!Sarah spends 80% of her time working as a Director of Strategy in the automotive sector and 20% of her time coaching women to gain confidence and advance their careers. After years thriving to find her place in a male-dominant sector, today she shares her lessons learned with more than 150k wo...

Meet Salwa Rajaa from France, a Model with Moroccan backgrounds who advocates for inclusivity in the fashion industry. In the past few months, Salwa’s story was covered by several French media where she shared her experience as an Arab model. One day, she found herself having her name changed to “Sylvie” during a casting. For a long time Salwa felt ashamed of her identity, but today she is confide...

Meet Élisabeth Moreno, a French-Cape Verdean businesswoman and politician. Mrs Moreno served as Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities at the French Prime Minister's Office. Previous to that, Mrs Moreno worked for giant tech companies as Dell, France Telecom and she was the Managing Director for HP Africa before receiving a call from the French Prime Minister’s office that...

Meet Sawsan Chebli, a Palestinian-German Politician who worked in the highest spheres of power in Germany. Sawsan was born to Palestinian asylum seekers in Germany and grew up with her parents and twelve siblings in Berlin. Between 2010 and 2014, Chebli was the first spokesperson for intercultural affairs of Berlin's State Minister of the Interior and Sport. In 2014, she served as deputy spokesper...

Meet Nesrine Slaoui, a Franco-Moroccan independent journalist and author. After graduating from Sciences Po in 2018, she has worked for national TV channels such as reporter for ITélé (Canal+) and as host for France Télévisions. She was also the face of the online media Loopsider, carrying out several investigations on domestic violence, police violence and student precariousness. In January 2021,...

Meet YEИDRY, a Dominican-Italian singer and songwriter. Born in Santo Domingo, YEИDRY recalled her journey of migrating to Italy at age 4, after a year spent apart from her mother, and the tribute she paid to her in the song Nena. YEИDRY composes in Spanish, English and Italian and she collaborated with reggae legend Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Congolese-Belgian singer Lous and The Yakuza. For th...

Meet Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, a German Member of the European Parliament and one of the six elected female MEPs of African descent. In June 2020, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and as she was heading to the European Parliament for the adoption of the historical Anti-Racism Resolution, Dr. Pierrette denounced having been victim of police violence on the basis of discrimination. In...

Meet Samira Rafaela from the Netherlands, a Member of the European Parliament. Elected in 2019, she is not only one of the youngest elected euro-deputies, but she is also the first Dutch MEP with Afro-Caribbean roots. Rafaela ran on the promise to fight for a strong, social and secure Europe. She strongly believes that the EU is at its best when we work together to diminish inequality and celebrat...

Meet Elozi Lomponda from Belgium, a professional in foreign policy and founder of DLSP, a Charity enabling young people and women living in areas located near the Congo River to access quality education. Since 2013, Elozi has held a position at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2015, the news that nine school children had died when their canoe overturned on the Congo River spurred her to...

Meet Nadia Nadim, an Afghan-Danish professional footballer. Nadia is considered the most influential and greatest Afghan female football player of all time, particularly as she won the French league title in the 2020-21 season with Paris Saint-Germain. She was only 11 when her father was murdered by the Taliban, and she was forced to evacuate to find refuge in Denmark. There, she discovered a pass...

Meet Mariya Atanasova, an advocate from Bulgaria. As an activist, she was recognised Young European of the Year 2020 by the Schwarzkopf Foundation for her efforts to increase the visibility of young Roma people, and she also received the Woman in Youth Activism Award the same year. As a young Roma in Bulgaria, Mariya experienced discrimination at an early age. She then became a member of the Roma...

Meet Nuna, an artist from Portugal. As an intersectional activist, Nuna unpacks what it means to be a Black woman in her society. She is also a multidisciplinary artist and she defines herself as a revisionist: she challenges traditional narrations on colonialism and she reflects on how history shapes privilege and equality in our societies. In conversation with Nuna, we discussed her journey as a...

Meet the resilient and inspiring Kamilla Sultanova from Finland. Born in Uzbekistan, raised in Denmark and now living in Finland, Kamilla is an entrepreneur and powerful keynote speaker, running her own culturally responsive consulting company ConnectUz. Passionate about promoting tolerance in Europe, she hosts online and offline workshops on different topics from diversity and inclusion, to cultu...

Meet Dr. Margaret Amaka Ohia-Nowak from Poland, a linguist, a human rights activist and a cross-cultural training facilitator. As a critical discourse analyst, her research focuses on the manifestation of racism against black people in language and discourse. Committed to contribute to a more inclusive society, she is president of “Word Idea”, a training company for promoting diversity, cross-cult...