WILLEM HAITINK

Advisor - Innovation Board, MAS Holdings

Willem Haitink's expertise lies in innovation strategy, with a specialisation in sports, lifestyle and consumer sectors. Currently, Willem is chairman of Vivobarefoot, a pioneer and leader in natural barefoot, sustainable footwear, and Thrudark, a fast growing performance apparel company from the UK. He has been an advisor of private equity working with L Catterton, and is involved with a number of companies in media, footwear, sports wearables, and analytics.

Willem is a seasoned business leader renowned for driving business growth and innovation across multiple industries. His career began at Unilever, where he gained invaluable brand management and finance experience. During 17 years at Nike, Willem held numerous leadership roles, including General Manager/Vice President for Greater China and GM for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa where he both significantly grew the business and built strong, diverse teams. As CEO of surf brand O'Neill, he led a significant business transformation and improvement in profitability. Later, at Tesla, he served as Vice President and head of EMEA and contributed to the company's fast growth in this region.

Born in Hilversum, near Amsterdam, Willem studied economics and earned an MBA from Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He' s a resident of the UK and lives in London.