Following a vote at its Annual Assembly last week, the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) is proud to announce that it has a new president in the form of Anna Maria Rugarli, who will start her new role with immediate effect.
With the imminent departure of John Jansen, Managing Director and Head of KEEN EMEA to become the new president of the European Outdoor Group (EOG), Anna Maria, who has been on the EOCA board for the last 3 years was proposed by her peers to be the next to lead the rapidly growing organisation. This was subsequently ratified at the Annual Assembly which took place at OutDoor in Friedrichahafen.
Anna Maria is currently Director of Sustainibility and Corporate Social Responsibility for VF Corporation in EMEA and has been with the company since 2010. Prior to that, she worked at Nike for 11 years, working within the Sustainable Innovation team where she successfully created several Sustainibility and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes for the company.
She said, “I am honoured by this appointment and I want to thank the Association and John Jansen, the former president, for the wonderful work carried out over the last few years. He fully represented the Association, guiding it with clear vision, strong leadership and a genuine passion for the outdoors. His work was fundamental in defining the strategies of the Association and increasing its importance and influence within the industry and relevant stakeholders. I am fully committed to continuing along this path, focusing my efforts on further increasing the relevance of the Association as we support vital environmental conservation projects. I am also delighted to be working with the EOCA team, which is passionate and expert people with a great commitment to the causes of the Association.”
The terms of everyone on the EOCA board also came to an end at the Friedrichshafen meeting, and, other than John Jansen, who has stepped back from his work with the Association, every other board member put themselves forward to stand for another term. In addition, two new members were voted onto the board: Eduardo Uribesalgo, founder and Innovation Director of Ternua, and Perry Laukens, Director of Marketing for KEEN EMEA. The re-elected members of the board consist of Nick Brown (Vice President and Strategic Adviser) Owner and CEO of Nikwax, Jan Lorch (Treasurer) Chief Sales Officer and CSR Manager at Vaude, Andrea Tomasini, MD of Patagonia Italia and Head of Retail Europe, Sarah Seeger, PR & Communications Manager of Marmot and Mark Held (Director) General Secretary of the EOG.
INFO: EOCA
