IMAGINE Leaders – Ankie van Wersch
Ankie van Wersch
Enviu/ Powered by Enviu, CEO
I am an idealist with a strong business sense. I thrive in complex situations and (impossible) challenges, making positive change a reality.
With 20+ years of experience in FMCG, retail and strategy consulting, I joined Enviu’s management team in 2015, and served as its CEO until the end of 2022. Enviu is a for-purpose organization that believes the economy should be inclusive of people and planet, and wants the world to see that it actually is a possibility. Enviu builds companies that have a positive effect on both. Enviu operates across the globe with offices in the Netherlands, Kenya, India and Indonesia, and its ventures have been winning numerous awards. From the first watertaxi on hydrogen, to reducing food waste from 50% to 2% in Africa with Sokofresh or preventing millions of kilograms of plastics leaking into the ocean with Alner in Indonesia.
Since January 2023, I am serving as CEO of Powered By Enviu; connecting the for-impact world with the for-profit world by bringing Enviu’s lessons to scale at companies and venture capitals.
I hold an MSc. in International Business Studies from Maastricht University and started my career at a technical spin-off of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. I moved back to Europe to serve as a Supply Chain Manager at Procter & Gamble and later as Director at an international management consulting firm.
In my spare time I am eager to make a positive difference for children, and
I founded Tika Foundation in 2006. It works to improve the lives of ~1000 vulnerable children in Nepal. In addition I am the Chair of the Supervisory Board of Simavi, a foundation supporting women and girls across the globe.