Lara in a recognised thought-leader and experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and environment industry. She is a pioneer in waste to value, with expertise in the circular economy, innovation and resource recovery. Her experience spans the private and public sector; the corporate and start-up world; governance roles and entrepreneurship. She is also a Board Member of a Dutch Waste Company, the Water Company and brand ambassador for the National Science Musuem of the Netherlands. The cornerstones of her success are an active network, strong commercial track record, solid operational capabilities, sharp analytic skills and an independent spirit. She thrives in professional environments where tenacity, entrepreneurial spirit, teamwork and integrity are key values.

 

Lara is founder and CEO of The Waste Transformers, an award-winning project developer, IP owner and operator of small-scale installations that create circular economies, on site, around low-value residual waste streams, by transforming them into new products, green energy and recovering the natural resources in the waste, with a healthy business case. No transport. No CO2. The company is active in the Netherlands, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Chili and Colombia. In this role, Lara has led the strategic and operational development of the organisation and has created innovative financing constructions that include banks, international finance development agencies, lease and private equity. For her achievements at The Waste Transformers, Lara was selected as ‘Role model in International Entrepreneurship’ by the Dutch Enterprise Agency. The Waste Transformers was nominated by Morgan Stanley as one of the Top 3, global impact investment proposals of 2016. The company is also the 2017 winner of the Share Award for the best Circular Company, was a 2017 nominee for the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge and winner of the 2018 West African Forum Clean Energy prize for the best business proposal, sponsored by the African Development Bank and UNIDO, and winner of the 'What Design Can Do Energy Challenge' (sponsored by IKEA Foundation).