Our Governance
Laudes Foundation’s governance bodies guide our strategy and grantmaking, acting as stewards in our journey toward a just transition.
Neither the board members nor any of the committee members are remunerated for their work in these roles.
Laudes Foundation Board
Our board comprises representatives from the Brenninkmeijer family business owners. Together, they have full and legal responsibility for Laudes Foundation, including management and results.
Members:
Eric Andrew Brenninkmeijer is a member of the Constanter Board and is the Chair of the Constanter Philanthropy Committee and Board of Laudes Foundation.
Eric has been active in and out of the COFRA Group in both retail and corporate investments. He worked primarily for C&A in Brazil and Europe, where he most recently was Chief Countries Officer and member of the Board of Management. He further has served in several governance positions principally in philanthropy.
Martin Rudolf Brenninkmeijer is a member of the Constanter Board and the Board of Laudes Foundation, where he also serves on the Investment Committee. He coordinates the Family Heritage Centre in Draiflessen.
Previously, Martin Rudolf held various positions at C&A across Europe, the USA and Brazil and, most recently, coordinated the family leadership and development programme. He has also held several governance positions in charitable institutions, focusing on philanthropy.
Edward Brenninkmeijer is the Chairman of the Constanter Board and a member of the Philanthropy Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Laudes Foundation.
Edward spent his entire career working for C&A, where he was most recently CEO of C&A Europe, a position he held until December 2020. Prior to that, Edward led the C&A operations in Brazil, Mexico and China and chaired the Board of C&A Foundation.
Laudes Investment Committee
The Investment Committee (IC) helps to shape Laudes Foundation’s strategy by co-creating it and actively identifying new opportunities and innovations to advance our mission alongside our team. Additionally, the IC approves grants above a threshold of EUR 500,000, serving as both a sounding board and a challenger, ensuring that grant proposals are meticulously aligned with our strategy and possess the utmost potential for transformational impact.
The IC comprises four Brenninkmeijer family shareholders and two external experts. Its members’ terms are three years, with up to two additional years’ renewal.
Committee Members:
Donald Brenninkmeijer chairs Laudes Foundation’s Investment Committee and serves as Chairman of Built by Nature.
Donald is a passionate advocate for more sustainable food systems. Donald is a special adviser to COFRA’s Sustainable Food Group, which comprises of Dalsem, a leading high-tech greenhouse developer, and Ontario Plants Propagation, a leading propagator in North America.
In addition to these roles, Donald is a special adviser to C&A Mexico which builds on his extensive retail experience across Europe, Asia and the Americas, including as C&A’s Chief Brand, Customer and Sustainability Officer and Chief Innovation Officer. He also oversees the training & development programme for the next generation of family entrepreneurs and is a member of the Brenninkmeijer family office’s supervisory board.
Donald received a Licentiate in International Management from University of St Gallen, Switzerland.
Charlotte has been CEO of the Anthos Family Office since April 2020. Anthos provides trustworthy advice and tailored services to the Brenninkmeijer family in the areas of private wealth management, tax, legal and estate planning.
Prior to joining Anthos, Charlotte enjoyed a career at C&A in various operational and leadership functions across the European organisation. She spent her first years working as a Buyer in Brussels and then became District Manager in Germany. Her journey took her to Austria where she became Head of Region for Austria and Slovenia and her final stop was as Head of Store Operations for Spain and Portugal. She was also part of the management teams of both CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) and Iberia (Spain and Portugal).
Christian Brenninkmeijer is Head of Global Finance at Redevco B.V. in Amsterdam. Christian started his career at ABN AMRO Bank before joining the family business in 2009 at Ibi Bank in Mexico. After a few years Christian moved to C&A, where he held various positions including Head of Region, North Mexico, Head of Finance, IT, Logistics and Integrity at C&A Sourcing in Hong Kong and CFO Central & Eastern Europe. Before joining Redevco, Christian led the real estate transformation at C&A Europe as Director of Real Estate. Christian holds a MEng in Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Oxford.
Martijn Brenninkmeijer is Chairman of the Board of COFRA Holding AG, a position he has held since 2018. Martijn has previously held the positions of CEO of COFRA Holding AG, CEO of C&A Europe and CEO of Anthos.
Martijn holds a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Georgetown University in Washington DC and an MBA (with Honours) from IMD Business School in Lausanne, where he also received the 1999 MBA Class Award.
Riikka is Chief Sustainability Officer for Halton Group (global technology company for demanding indoor air solutions), responsible for Halton’s sustainability strategy and sustainable business development.
Riikka joined Halton in March 2024 from EY-Parthenon where she was Partner and lead for the Nordic ESG team in Strategy and Transactions.
Prior to EY-Parthenon, Riikka spent 4 years at Stora Enso as SVP, Sustainability and Director for Circular Economy, and 5 years with Deloitte as Director for Sustainability services. Before that, she worked as Head of Sustainability at Alma Media.
Riikka has a MSc in Sustainable Enterprising and systems theory from the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. She is also a PhD candidate at Aalto University, focusing on commercialisation of sustainable innovation. Riikka is an Advisory Board member at the Aalto University Biomaterials Innovation Centre.
Stephanie is a founding global steering committee member of Climate Action 100+ and co-chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) Corporate Programme. Stephanie is also a Board Trustee and Investment Committee Chair for the Friends Provident Foundation, and a Board Director at Aldersgate Group.
As Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investment at GAM Investments, an asset management group headquartered in Zurich, Stephanie is responsible for leading GAM’s sustainable and ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy.
Stephanie joined GAM Investments in January 2021 from HSBC Global Asset Management, where she was Director for Responsible Investment. Prior to that, she spent seven years at Aviva Investors, latterly as Head of Responsible Investment Strategy and Research, and was formerly Head of Research for EIRIS, an ESG research and consultancy firm.
Stephanie holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, a BA in Biological Sciences from Oxford University and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).
Laudes Foundation Management Team
The Management Team leads our day-to-day decision-making to ensure we deliver results in line with our strategy.
Management Team Members:
As its founding CEO, Leslie Johnston leads the development and execution of Laudes Foundation’s strategy to deliver on its mission to accelerate the transition to a green, fair and inclusive economy.
Leslie currently serves on the boards of Impact Europe (formerly the European Venture Philanthropy Association) as Chair, Fashion for Good BV, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), Built by Nature Stichting (as Vice Chair), Climate Resilience for All as well as University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose Advisory Board.
Leslie has over 25 years of management experience across business, entrepreneurship, development, and philanthropy. Previously, she headed C&A Foundation as its first Executive Director, repositioning it as a global catalyst to make fashion a force for good. She served as Executive Director of the Argidius Foundation, Deputy Director for TechnoServe in Africa and a management consultant for McKinsey & Company.
Leslie lives in Zug, Switzerland with her husband and two teenage sons.
Amol Mehra leads Laudes Foundation’s bold and strategic efforts to transform industry practices, specifically through our Built Environment and Fashion programmes.
Amol serves as a Founding Member of Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy ("FORGE"); as a Council Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Human Rights; as a Board Member of EarthRights International; on the Advisory Council for the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern and as a Commissioner on the United Nations Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking ("Liechtenstein Initiative").
Amol is a human rights lawyer and previously he was the Managing Director of the Freedom Fund and served as Executive Director of ICAR.
Katy is the Director of Strategy, Innovation and Narratives and is a member of the management team. In the last 25 years, Katy has worked in the fields of strategy, concept creation, partnership building. The responsibilities for the Strategy, Innovation and Narratives team cover strategy and planning, innovation and futuring, and narratives grantmaking.
Her strategy experience started in 2009 in Royal Philips, with the creation of The Philips Center for Health and Well-being which set up global think tanks and an annual health and well-being index. Secondly, the Philips Foundation was founded, which then had a focus on bringing the power of corporate innovation to the humanitarian sector. After moving to work for the Brenninkmeijer family philanthropies in 2016, Katy worked for both Porticus and COFRA (the holding company) and was a part of a cross-entity team exploring how all the philanthropic entities could respond to climate breakdown. This project culminated in the concept for Laudes Foundation. Katy holds board positions with The Partnering Initiative, and the Fashion for Good museum.
Lee Risby steers the organisation in measuring, evaluating, and learning from results and long-term impact. In his role, he also leads the foundation’s efforts to build partners capacities and integrate gender, equity and inclusion across the programmes. Lee serves on the Global Advisory Group of The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Previously, Lee led EP and Impact & Communications teams at C&A Foundation. Prior to that, he worked in various evaluation positions at The World Bank Group, African Development Bank Group and led his own evaluation consulting company.