Kristel Van der Elst
- Co-Founder and CEO, The Global Foresight Group
- Visiting Professor, College of Europe
- Member of multiple global advisory and expert committees
- Former Senior Director, Head of Strategic Foresight,
- Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
Having spent 17 years in policy advisory and forward-looking strategy roles, Kristel now works closely with CEOs, senior executives and policy makers which include political heads of states, ministers, heads of international organizations and think-tanks. With her deep and rich experiences, she provides the much needed mental training, foresight, and thought processes to help leaders and their organizations transform long-term strategic thinking into impactful actions.
Kristel is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Strategic Foresight Community, the OECD Governmental Foresight Community, the Strategic Foresight for Research & Innovation Policy in Horizon 2020 (SFRI) European Commission Expert Group, and the Independent Advisory Committee to the Global Burden of Disease initiative.
An established speaker, moderator and facilitator at high-level events including Davos, OECD, European Commission and Oxford, she is the author of numerous reports, articles, and a Huffington Post blogger. She is also visiting professor at the College of Europe
Kristel holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Masters in Development Cooperation from the University of Ghent, and a Masters in Commercial Engineering from the Free University of Brussels. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, a Global Leadership Fellow and a Certified Professional Facilitator.