Monthly Archives: March 2021

Christiane Schloderer is our newly appointed IDN Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates.

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Christiane Schloderer. I am IDP-C 16 and very happy and honoured to join the IDN Ambassador group.

Originally from Germany, I have been based in the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh) since 2008. I am a non-executive director to Rolaco Group in Saudi Arabia, a mid-cap family business. In December 2020, I was “promoted” to being the chairwomen of GISAD, the German International School Abu Dhabi. The transition from board member to chair is challenging but comes with great learning opportunities.

Since 2016 I run Growth Partners, consulting mid-sized & family businesses and larger startups in building scalable businesses, particularly financially – often in interim CFO roles. Governance is a large topic for most of them. Prior to that, I was CFO for Nokia’s Joint Venture in Saudi Arabia and have worked in various corporate finance roles in Nokia Networks. I hold a doctoral degree from the German Armed Forces University in innovation and change management.

Pre-kids, I enjoyed hiking, horse riding, scuba diving and travelling. These days, I spend my leisure time with my two daughters (3 and 5) on playgrounds, the pool and the beach, enjoying the wonderful winter climate in Abu Dhabi.

What are you planning to do to engage with members in your location?

I had the pleasure to connect already with a few UAE IDN members and look forward to (re-) connecting the IDN members with each other and identifying subjects of interest. I hope we can build a small group of active members to jointly organize activities.

Leveraging on the INSEAD Abu Dhabi campus would be a great opportunity to organize faculty engagements and get-togethers (Covid permitting, of course).

Family governance, startup-governance and financial service governance are certainly high up on the list of topics.

Where will you fly to when you get on a plane next (and why)?

With currently 10 days quarantine requirements when re-entering Abu Dhabi, spontaneous trips have not been possible for the last year. All business trips have been replaced largely by online meetings. So, the first trip will be to see my parents in Germany and next, a proper vacation to a sunny island with my husband and our daughters.

If you are an IDN member in the UAE, please do reach out to Christiane.

Domingo Armengol is our newly appointed IDN Ambassador in Spain.

Tell us about yourself.

I am 55 years old, married, have two children aged 22 and 19, and am working and living in Madrid, Spain.

As a corporate lawyer, I’ve developed the last 20 years of my professional career as secretary of the board and corporate secretary of different companies, always trying to create and promote good corporate governance of the companies and the market.

In my professional career and personal life, I’ve always wanted to be linked to the international environment, which has allowed me to meet new people and cultures and expand my experiences and skills (IDP was a great example).

I’m passionate about mountain sports, travelling and culture.

What are you planning to do to engage with members in your location?

First of all, I plan to get to know them and try to get to know each other, find out what their main interest and goals are, and try to form a community of IDPs.

For that purpose, and considering our current situation, I think we should set a virtual meeting to give the chance to talk and set our common goals and subsequent actions.

As a next step think it will be very positive to bring together the members with people of interest to open the possibility to share and learn about matters of interest for directors or new tendencies in governance (academics, directors, headhunters, etc.).

This interaction could also help that the IDP-C will be known in the market, put it in value in Spain, and open opportunities to the members for future positions in boards.

Where will you fly to when you get on a plane next (and why)?

I hope I’ll be able to fly to Glasgow, Scotland, where my daughter is studying for her university degree, to visit her and to travel together around Scotland (a plan that has I’ve delayed from early 2020).

If you are an IDN member in Spain, please do reach out to Domingo.

As told to Karen Loon IDP-C, IDN Board Member