Board members
Els Martens
Els has a strong relation with Africa, as she was born and raised in Africa and went back after her Ecology studies to undertake projects with the Kenya Marine Institute and Kenya Wildlife Service. She worked at the Agency for Nature and Forests of the government of Flanders as coordinator for European and international nature and biodiversity processes. Through her wealth of experience, she is a strong advocate for succeeding nature conservation through the involvement of local communities and land owners and by educating the youth. An admirer of Dr Jane Goodall for her continuous commitment to nature conservation, Els appreciates the approach of JGI Belgium of combining forest planting projects in Belgium with reforestation actions in Africa. Honoured and excited she joined the multidisciplinary team in 2020 to keep supporting the understanding and commitment that is needed to preserve nature! She also represents JGI Belgium in the Belgian Biodiversity Alliance (a forum for voluntary actions for biodiversity), Biodiversa+ (European Biodiversity Partnership supporting excellent research on biodiversity with an impact for society and policy), and Grootouders voor klimaat (‘Grand parents for climate Belgium of which dr. Jane is ambassador since 2020).
Personal quote: “Nature is our life insurance: if you protect nature, nature will take care for you”.
Hege Hellstrom
Hege is coming from Norway and have been living in Belgium since 1993. She has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for more than 35 years and is currently Chief Commercial Officer in a French pharmaceutical company. She is also a Board member in 4 publicly listed pharmaceutical companies.
She started working as a volunteer in JGI Belgium in 2018 and has been on the Board since 2020. She is an animal lover, and it was her love for animals and primates which made her read all the books Jane Goodall wrote about her research in Gombe. After joining JGI Belgium, she has also been more and more engaged in the holistic view of how the care for people, animals and the environment needs to be aligned to shape a sustainable future. This knowledge she also brings into her daily work both as a professional and a volunteer.
Balazs Nagy
Balazs is a Hungarian working in Brussels for almost 20 years and an avid follower of Dr Jane Goodall. He has been an accounting and finance volunteer since 2018, later appointed as a member of the General Assembly between 2020 and 2021. Balazs became a Board member and the Treasurer of the organization in 2022.
His favorite quote is from Albert Einstein: "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
Tom Andries
Tom started his ’nature’ career very early by joining the Jeugdbond voor Natuur en Milieu (JNM - Youth for Nature and Environment) in 1989. Since then nature conservation became his passion.
As a youngster he was involved in organizing youth camps for nature, inventorying areas and helping with the management in several nature reserves around Mechelen like the Mechels Broek. He then became a Master in Science - Biology/Environmental sciences at the University of Antwerp. By implementing several nature restoration projects, he acquired a lot of knowledge and experience with all aspects how to restore ecosystems.
Nowadays his main interest focuses on how to put (EU) policy into practice and to identify appropriate funding, whether private or public funding.
Ellen Suetens
Ellen is a Belgian who worked in strategic Consulting in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical domains.
She has a clear interest in the broader environmental engagement. Through her network established over the years, her aim to join JGI is to help finding new partnerships and fundraising to help JGI Belgium to expand.
Her favourite quote: ‘Eager to translate vision into reality’
Julian Cortes
Julian is half Mexican and half French, he has a background in environmental and sustainability science with a focus on climate and ecology. He is the Co-Founder of BioFlux Earth, a Brussels-based biochar carbon removal consultancy firm and project development company that operate across East Africa, Latin America and Asia on integrating biochar carbon removal projects into agricultural value chains. Much of his work focuses on the aspect of community, farmer engagement, and soil restoration.
Katia Colitti
Katia is Ukrainian-American and has lived in Belgium since 2012. She is General Counsel of Landmark Global, the cross-border logistics business of Bnode (formerly bpostgroup), where she also sits on the group's ESG Steering Committee.
She holds an MSc in International Animal Welfare, Ethics, and Law from the University of Edinburgh and is a graduate of the Leading Sustainable Corporations programme at Oxford Business School. Through her professional work, she became involved in efforts to prevent illegal wildlife products from moving through transport and logistics networks, and represents Landmark Global on the Steering Committee of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, a Royal Foundation initiative. She is also a member of the Universal Postal Union's task force on illegal wildlife trade.
Katia joined the Board in 2026, drawn by Dr Goodall's belief in the interconnectedness of all living beings and by JGI Belgium's practical approach to combining conservation with community engagement.