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EurActiv reinforces Senior Leadership, Laurent Ledoux starts as new CEO

Date

01 Jul 2016

Sections

Innovation & Enterprise

[ ENGLISH ] Laurent Ledoux has taken the helm from Rick Zedník as CEO of EurActiv.com PLC, who moves onto a non-executive position in the board. EurActiv Founder Christophe Leclercq is to become the Chairman of EurActiv.com PLC later this month. Several other media experts already joined the board earlier this year.

Laurent Ledoux : Welcome (back) & ready to boost EurActiv!

Laurent Ledoux already served in the board in the early days of EurActiv, and joined it again earlier this year. Today, 1 July 2016, Laurent starts as its new CEO with a clear mandate to grow it into a new era.

Laurent Ledoux provided change leadership to several large organisations, in the fields of EU policy, banking, consulting, NGOs and Belgian policy. He was until recently President (equivalent of Director General in an EU context) of Belgium’s Ministry of Mobility and Transport, dealing with transport and more. Speaking seven languages, Laurent has an economics and business background, is Belgian, 49, living in Brussels with his wife and three sons.  

Christophe Leclercq, Founder of EurActiv said about Laurent Ledoux, “I have followed Laurent’s career with admiration, since the early days when we were both ‘reformers’ at the European Commission. NGOs, enlargement, strategy consulting, banking through the crisis, politics, leading a ministry: he has seen it all! He will now lead a multi-country media, with strong support from the whole board. Laurent’s language skills are also strongly in tune with EurActiv’s identity.”

Laurent Ledoux responded, “My challenge is clear: to boost EurActiv. This is about stronger growth in sales, thanks to innovative solutions, and greater readership, thanks to editorial teams, and also national media partners and technology. I stand by the values behind the brand: media independence and transparency seem well established, while EurActiv could support ‘EU Actors’ even better for efficiency and languages.

Frédéric Simon, Publisher and Editor of EurActiv, commented on Ledoux, saying “We’re excited to see someone like Laurent Ledoux joining the team. Laurent brings with him a wealth of experience in transforming organisations large and small, and we are confident he can bring EurActiv to new heights when it comes to seizing business opportunities and boosting the company’s revenue. Most importantly, Laurent shares EurActiv’s values and I look forward to working with him to carry these even higher.”

Rick Zedník remains close to EurActiv

Rick Zedník has been EuActiv’s CEO from mid-2008 to the end of June 2016 and is now moving into a non-executive position in the board of EurActiv.com plc.

He declared "I'm very proud of the progress EurActiv has made over the past eight years. Among those achievements are the expansion of our network to several countries, including Germany, Italy, and Spain; the addition of content sharing relationships with national media such as The Guardian, La Tribune, Der Tagesspiegel; the extension into video and infographics; the launch and rapid growth of our social media presence; and the near-doubling of both our audience and our revenues."

He continued to say, "While I am stepping down as CEO to take a similar role at a very different organisation -- a young, dynamic international foundation outside of media -- I am pleased to remain on EurActiv's Board as a Non-Executive Director and shareholder. I look forward to staying close to the company and assisting its further growth in that capacity. EurActiv's future is very bright and I want to continue to contribute to it."

Christophe Leclercq thanked Rick Zedník, saying, “Rick has brought our media much further, doubling the sales and readership, and deepening our network in 12 countries and 12 languages. Both team and clients will miss him, and welcome our next leader. We also have strong management teams, at the core and in 12 capitals.” ■

Background

The EurActiv board - all people in personal capacity - is composed of Angela Mills (UK, European Publishers Council), Julian Oliver (Irish, former Secretary General Fondation EurActiv), Suresh Sainanee (Indian and French, IT & logistic entrepreneur), Georges Eric Becquart (French, governance expert and retail entrepreneur), Sharon Spooner (UK, also Fondation EurActiv and consultant), its outgoing Chairman Christian Braun (German, web entrepreneur) and incoming Chairman Christophe Leclercq (French, media founder and entrepreneur). The EurActiv.com PLC board was joined on April 28 by both Laurent Ledoux and also Joachim Schmalz, former international executive with Thomson Reuters and Handelsblatt, based in London, currently helping video start-up WochIt boost its presence in Asia.

The Fondation EurActiv board also gathers a number of media experts and stakeholders: Sharon Spooner (consultant), Caroline Jenner (Canadian/Norwegian, Junior Achievement Europe), Max von Abendroth (EMMA and Future Media Lab), Julian Oliver (Irish), Diogo Pinto (Portuguese, Secretary General, Fondation EurActiv), Frédéric Simon, (French, Publisher & Editor, EurActiv.com), David Mekkaoui (Belgian, Media Innovation Director), and Caroline Pauwels (Belgian, newly elected Rector of VUB, also iMinds media innovation) and Bart Becks (Belgian, media entrepreneur and former chairman of iMinds, leader of Angel.me and European Crowfunding Federation).

For media inquiries, contact :

Dominique Ostyn, Director of Communications, Tel. + 32(0)2 788 36 88, communication@euractiv.com

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