Christel is a designer and facilitator of group processes and educational programs focused on sustainable development.
Christel has been a change agent for sustainability working for many years from within the system. Prior to joining Reos she was one of the managers of the Sustainable Development Department of Banco Real in Brazil, now part of the Santander Group. She was with Banco Real for five years after working at ABN AMRO’s head office in the Netherlands in Leadership in Sustainability. At ABN AMRO and Banco Real, she was responsible for integrating sustainable development into various aspects of the organisation, from strategy and governance to policies, processes and educational programs. Much of her work was around designing and delivering educational programs on sustainability initially for employees and eventually for clients and other stakeholders.
One of the major educational programs Christel was involved in designing and delivering was the in-company training program, Developing Leaders for Sustainability, for 350 of the bank’s senior managers. The program was cascaded to 2500 employees and was awarded the best practice in-company training on corporate responsibility at the EABIS Annual Colloquium in 2007.
Christel is Canadian and has lived in several other countries including Mexico, India, The Netherlands and Bangladesh where she hosted a Learning Journey on Microfinance and worked in the area with organisations such as the Grameen Bank and BRAC. In Brazil she hosted a Learning Journey on Sustainable Development and Art of Hosting workshops.
Christel has a strong connection to nature and is passionate about the power of nature to support us individually and collectively on our path. She participated in a Sacred Passage program with John Milton in 2006, and aims to deepen her work linking leadership and nature.
Christel has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and a Master of Science in Responsibility and Business Practice from the University of Bath, UK. Her master thesis was on her Journey as a Change Agent for Sustainability. She was a Director of AIESEC International, a global youth organisation, was an active member of Pioneers of Change and serves on the board of The Shire, a learning centre in Canada for the study and practice of how to build a sustainable human future.
Christel is author of a chapter in the book Management Models for the Future and co-author of a chapter in the book Finance for a Better World: The Shift Toward Sustainability. She lives in São Paulo with her husband Marcus and son Mikan.