About Marlene
Within Ingram Micro I fulfill the role of Director & Senior Legal Counsel Benelux. Ingram Micro is a global leader in Technology Solutions and Services. With a focus on cloud, mobility, technology lifecycle, supply chain and technology solutions, Ingram Micro enables business partners to work more efficiently and successfully in the markets they serve. Ingram Micro manages a global network of sales, distribution, and operations centers spanning over 59 countries. After spending years as a lawyer working for a law firm, I jumped into an in-house role in order to be involved earlier in business decisions and assist the business going forward by transforming my legal knowledge into practical solutions.
Emphasize on Diversity & Equality
I am proud to work for a company that emphasizes the importance of Diversity and Equality within our fast-paced business and work environment.
Ingram Micro has programs in place to emphasize the importance of diversity and equality. We have ambassadors all over the world that give presentations on diversity topics on a regular basis. I was impressed by the internal documentary ‘Global Stories’ in which employees tell other employees of Ingram Micro about their experiences in relation to racism or injustice. The purpose is to really understand other people by listening to their stories and learning from their experiences. Within our company people are not only respected for what they do but also for who they are.
Working with an international diverse team
Working in an international environment makes you more flexible and enables you to experience cultural and background differences. Our EMEA In Country Counsel team is supported by a smart and pro-active team based in Sofia. Apart from the Netherlands, sometimes I am on a call with colleagues from the US and the next day with people from Sofia, India or Belgium. Legal is sometimes involved in a global conference by Teams to give input together with the business and finance, which is interesting and challenging. We can learn a lot from each other and I am convinced that a team with people from different backgrounds has more chance to be successful, because of the different points of view and approaches on issues that can be shared.
Gender Diversity: role models
Next to cultural differences, I think it is important that smart female professionals have enough examples of women in a more senior role and I am proud that Ingram Micro takes this topic very seriously. Within the EMEA Legal Team, we do create awareness of gender diversity by giving presentations about women in leadership.
I try on a day-to-day basis- within my role as Director Legal- to challenge colleagues to think with an open mind when I notice a bias. For example, young women will often be mothers. How can we make sure we retain talented mothers in the workspace just like we do with the fathers? I am having open conversations about it and I try to listen to and understand other people to make our world more balanced. It is of great importance to walk the talk and make the right decisions in order to create a more balanced and diverse environment.
Justice & Happiness
As we all know Lady Justice is considered the symbol of Justice. Her blindfold stands for justice without regard to persons, her scales for weighing facts and circumstances, and her sword for the verdict.
I believe that the world could be more balanced and beautiful if everyone would try to take small steps on a daily basis to fight against inequality. It’s a small task to make other persons feel respected and recognized so that they belong.
Since I was a young girl, I could not accept injustice. Also, within my family the question: ”What is justice?” was discussed often, also based on philosophers like Albert Camus, thus no wonder I have chosen to study Law and am trying within my current role to fight against injustice and make others a bit happier. It’s the small things that count.
