Born and bred in Belgium, Jacques’ education was primarily oriented toward public Health. With a master’s degree in Hospital Sciences from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, he started his career in Somalia working for the European Development Fund where he was detached to the General Hospital of Mogadishu. On his return to Belgium, he assumed a hospital manager position at a local University Clinic for six years and then accepted to lead the Human Resources department of a large industrial group in South Africa, preparing the organization for the political changes of the early 90’s. Thereafter, he founded his own business specialized in research, development and marketing of antiseptics.
During the 25 years of his stay in South Africa, Jacques was the Honorary Consul of Belgium for the Eastern Cape.
In 2007, he returned to Belgium for health reasons and became acquainted with the local food banks. He quickly took the helm of a local food bank in Tournai and was also requested to assume the vice-presidency of the Belgian Food Bank Federation. He took a decisive part in the development of an IT platform to streamline food banks, charities and beneficiaries management.
In 2015, he was selected to replace Jean-Marie Delmelle as member of the Board of Directors of the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA) and was requested to assume its presidency in October 2016, position that he assumes presently and until 2021. He participated in several European platforms such as the EU platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.
Father of two and grandfather of three, Jacques enjoys classic music, reading and writing when not requested to participate in food bank activities which take most of his available time.
