Ilse Haest

Ilse has been involved in sport over the past 35 years as an athlete, coach, volunteer and is now an elected board member of the Belgian Hockey Federation.

Ilse is creative, ambitious and practically minded. She gets energy from the people and opportunities around her and simultaeneously inspires energy in others.

Ilse led a successful career in the banking sector, before moving away from the financial world to launch other ideas and plans, with a more human focus.

She started her own business as an organisational architect – designing internal cultures and structures within business to improve their operations. In addition, she only started playing hockey in her adult life, but has since founded a hockey club in her hometown. Through the hockey club and her position at the Hockey Federation, Ilse is driven to continually create sporting opportunities for her wider community.

Through her various roles, Ilse Haest has herself empowered many women to develop their own potential. Ilse will identify and challenge injustices without hesitation, and always in a practical and positive manner. Ilse is authentic and generous – she leads by example, is ready to take a stance and make the all-important decisions – which ultimately lead others to trust and rely on her.

Through the SWinG programme, Ilse hopes to develop her own skills further still – to reach her potential within the Hockey world. Ilse Haest will take many others with her on this journey, and we look forward to seeing what is next for hockey in Belgium – under her natural leadership.

For SWinG, Ilse is being mentored by Astrid Ventevogel from Ventevogel Mediaconcepten, Netherlands.

Favorite quote

“Do what you love, love what you do.”