In October, BECI welcomed Lisa Isnard as its new Secretary-General, taking over from Jan De Brabanter As former director of the Brussels cabinet for the economy, she is committed to listening to businesses so that she can better represent their voice. The Brusseler at heart talks about her new role.
Lisa Isnard, a
Brusseler by adoption since 2008 (and she stays), has developed a
sincere connection with the capital that ‘adopted’ her, as she says herself,
and to which she is fiercely attached. She is now Secretary-General of BECI,
succeeding Jan De Brabanter.
As the daughter of a self-employed mother, Lisa grew up in an entrepreneurial environment. Seeing someone put their heart and soul into what they do has had an impact on my imagination,' she admits, having been inspired since childhood by the commitment of entrepreneurs. This passion translates into a deep commitment to companies, which she sees as key players in today's societal challenges. For the Schaerbeek resident, ‘companies have an enormous societal role; they are not just a third party in society’. She is delighted to support these ‘companies and entrepreneurs who dare to do business’.
With a degree in history and political science from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Lisa quickly felt the need to link these two disciplines in order to better understand how major historical movements influence contemporary institutions. This naturally led her to Belgium, where she pursued further studies in European Studies at UCLouvain.
Her attachment to Brussels goes well beyond her professional life: she finds the city's cultural offering exceptional, with a particular penchant for its museums. ‘Mont des Arts, Fine Arts, Horta Museum... We have an incredible heritage here,’ she says enthusiastically.
With a background full
of curiosity and a sincere desire to make Brussels shine, and to defend the
interests of Brussels businesses in close collaboration with the sectoral
federations, Lisa Isnard is ready to bring new energy to BECI.
What is your feeling about joining BECI as Secretary-General, in contact with members and federations?
Enthusiastic. I'm making a seamless transition, and that's going to be a great challenge. I'm looking forward to working with the businesses and the federations and meeting them as soon as possible, to try and work on these priorities in this electoral context. We have a lot to do in the coming months and weeks, and that's very exciting!
You seem ready to take on these challenges. Has your career path naturally led you to this new role?
Yes, it was an easy choice. In the course of my career, I've worked in two major areas. Firstly, the professionalisation of the Brussels economic ecosystem. In other words, ensuring that there is a diversified and complementary offer between the public and private sectors in terms of support, financing and accommodation for businesses. Then I worked on the social and environmental impact of businesses. These two major projects have been with me for the last fifteen years, and they were completely in line with BECI's values, and with what I want to bring to the organisation.
In the previous issue of our magazine, Jan De Brabanter, former Secretary-General of BECI, said he was very confident about you taking up this position. Has he given you any advice for this new phase?
Before accepting the position of Secretary-General, I met Jan and Thierry – Geerts, CEO of BECI, several times. It was important for me to know what their priorities were and how they felt about things. Over the last five years, I've seen Jan on a very regular basis, because in my previous role, we organised task forces with the social partners. Every fortnight, I had the representatives of the employers' organisations and trade unions around the table. So I was able to see Jan at work in the social dialogue in Brussels. I know that I have a lot to learn, and that he will continue to teach me a little more. And then... he reminded me that I also need to improve my Dutch [laughs]!
As Secretary-General of BECI, what are your priorities for supporting Brussels businesses?
My first priority will be to listen to them and find out what their priorities are. I'm going to try to do what I've done for the last ten years, namely a lot of consultation and co-construction. I'll start with a tour of the businesses in Brussels, and I'll go listen to them on the spot and see what they need to improve their daily operations. I will also be doing this with the sectoral federations.
What do you intend to highlight?
Firstly, there is the attractiveness of Brussels. As Thierry Geerts often said, we should be proud to be Brussels entrepreneurs. Then there's the question of funding, whether for the self-employed, very small businesses or start-ups and scale-ups. In Brussels, we also need to do some real work on simplifying the administrative side of things and establishing a relationship between the administration and entrepreneurs that is friendly and based on trust. Finally, the issues of social and environmental impact are essential, not only because they concern the people of Brussels, but also because they directly affect businesses. With new European and international regulations on the way, we need to stay at the forefront of these issues.
With the elections behind us and political changes in the works, what role should BECI play in defending the interests of businesses in dealings with the future government?
I believe that these elections are the real momentum that BECI must seize, whether in the communal elections or in the regional elections, which are still being organised. We have a real role to play as a spokesperson for businesses, and we must also have a strong propositional role, as this would enable us to have an even greater influence. Our proposals must be concrete and clear in order to advance priorities for entrepreneurs at all levels: municipal, regional and even federal by working with our partners.
What is your vision of Brussels and its entrepreneurial ecosystem, and what assets should be highlighted?
Brussels has incredible territorial strength. Our capital is rich in universities, colleges, training centres, university hospitals, cultural venues, restaurants and green parks. There’s real added value in living in Brussels. We also have economic profiles that are a reflection of the area, in other words, very varied and of high quality. One of the key challenges for the Brussels ecosystem will be to maintain this diversity.
On the other hand, what needs to change in Brussels?
The Region must continue to develop the canal and its port activities. Tomorrow's logistics also mean being able to connect rail, road and canal. Brussels also faces real challenges in terms of environmental impact. Businesses are the solution, and we can't do without them. We need to build solutions together to ensure that Brussels can meet these major challenges
Read the interview with Jan De Brabanter, a man of federations and diplomacy !