Speakers

1. 

   Karen Donders

   Director of Public Value at VRT

   Karen Donders has been Director of Public Value at VRT since February 1, 2021. The departments reporting to her include Communications, Legal, Research, Public Value (culture, science, education, media literacy, language, music, diversity), Public Affairs and Public Policy, as well as Privacy and...

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   Karen Donders

   Director of Public Value at VRT

   Karen Donders has been Director of Public Value at VRT since February 1, 2021. The departments reporting to her include Communications, Legal, Research, Public Value (culture, science, education, media literacy, language, music, diversity), Public Affairs and Public Policy, as well as Privacy and Compliance. More recently, VRT Projects have also been added to her team. This team organizes projects involving both the Content and Information departments of VRT, usually around four per year. These projects have a clear focus on societal issues such as disinformation, poverty, loneliness or invisible health issues, as well as cultural heritage.

   Since October 28, 2021, Karen Donders has also been the responsible director for Talent and Organization at VRT. Her responsibilities include Talent and Organizational Development, Compensation and Employment Conditions, HR Business Partners, Well-being, Building Infrastructure, and Facility Services.

   Karen is a member of the VRT executive committee.

   Prior to her role at VRT, Karen was a professor of Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where she taught courses on media policy, media economics, and journalism. She also led the Media & Society research program within the imec-SMIT research group.

   Karen graduated in 2005 with a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences. In 2010, she obtained her PhD in the same field at the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her doctoral research and subsequent work mainly focus on public service media, the interaction between media policy and economics, and the platform economy. She has published extensively on these topics, including Zonder ons ook. Diversiteit en inclusie in de media (Make it happen: Diversity and inclusion in media, Pelckmans), Public Service Media and Policy in Europe (Palgrave), and Public Service Media in Europe: Theory, the law and practice. For the latter, she received the prestigious Karol Jakubowicz Media and Democracy Award in 2021.

2. 

   Naïma Lafrarchi

   Strategic Manager at Human Capital

   Naïma Lafrarchi has conducted research over the past 15 years on dealing with diversity, with a specific focus on the development of professional competencies. She is the co-author, together with Karen Donders, of the book “Zo kan het ook! Diversiteit en inclusie in de media.” S...

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   Naïma Lafrarchi

   Strategic Manager at Human Capital

   Naïma Lafrarchi has conducted research over the past 15 years on dealing with diversity, with a specific focus on the development of professional competencies. She is the co-author, together with Karen Donders, of the book “Zo kan het ook! Diversiteit en inclusie in de media.”

   She shares her more than 20 years of experience in diversity and inclusion through keynotes, inclusion programs, and seminars on inclusive HR and organizational policies, as well as strategic policy.