In the next instalment of our series featuring sustainability leaders at Kemin EMENA, we highlight Marleen Van Nijverseel, Vice President of Human Resources. With over a decade of experience at Kemin, Marleen integrates servant leadership into our company’s culture by fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this interview, she shares her journey from the hotel industry to her current role, where she works toward increasing employee morale, nurturing a sense of belonging, and encouraging community engagement. In this interview, Marleen explains how DEI and curiosity drive collaboration, innovation, and outreach at Kemin.
"I joined Kemin in 2010 as the Head of Human Resources (HR) for the EMENA region, following 18 years of experience in HR within the hospitality industry. From my first job interview at Kemin, the company’s commitment to servant leadership stood out and compelled me to want to work here. Being here for 14 years now, I’m pleased to say that this people-centred approach remains foundational, shaping our culture by empowering employees and creating a strong sense of belonging.
Our corporate values are called the ‘TIPSS’ values. These are ‘tips’ for living out our company values and align with the overall Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) philosophy. TIPSS stands for:
Those who know and work with Kemin know that we live by the phrase ‘Compelled by Curiosity.’ In fact, I believe that this curiosity is at the heart of our DEI approach, encouraging employees to learn from each other’s perspectives. This mindset also drives innovation — not just in our solutions but in how we collaborate with those who may be different from us. I’ve seen the great benefits of this approach, which enriches our solutions and strengthens our work environment.
Even though we’re at the beginning phases of defining our DEI strategy, we have always been committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued and building on our diversity to strengthen collaboration and innovation.
At present, we measure DEI performance through quantitative metrics like gender representation and qualitative feedback, which gives us a broad view of our progress. We’re also creating policies promoting DEI, such as our Equal Employment Policy, and actively engaging with our communities to ensure we hire the best candidates from all walks of life. We’ve also recently drafted our company’s DEI narrative to further build on how we discuss DEI with our employees, customers, and other stakeholder groups.
Companies globally are attempting to attract women qualified for leadership roles. At Kemin, we are working hard to do so equally. As such, we’re adjusting our succession planning to enhance gender balance and have begun setting CSRD targets for DEI and sustainability as a whole.
Having the principles of DEI central to our culture for many years already makes us unique as a company. Over the years, I’ve seen many touching examples of how our values resonate with Kemin employees, leaving a lasting impact on others, often outside of Kemin itself.
Something I’m particularly proud of is how our people foster their local communities. At a global level, we work with the World Food Program, which has quite a positive impact for some years already. Moreover, the local upliftment projects are also very inspiring for our people to get involved in. At the end of the year, we invite the charities we’ve worked with to our annual end-of-year celebration, as they are integral to our work and the impact we can make.
Looking back, when I joined Kemin 14 years ago, charity initiatives were still relatively new in our region and not as culturally ingrained as they are in the U.S. Over the years, this has changed significantly, and we now focus more on our commitment to servant leadership, which drives these efforts. Employees now proactively come forward with ideas and genuinely enjoy organising charitable activities as they can see the direct impact of their efforts and the lives that are changed.
I’m proud to help foster a culture at Kemin where everyone feels respected and empowered. DEI is more than just a policy; it reflects our ongoing commitment to improving lives and positively impacting the world. Building a workplace where every team member feels valued is integral to our growth, success, and mission. Having a clear DEI strategy is important. However, DEI should never be seen as just a corporate initiative or checkbox — it’s at the heart of our mission to improve lives globally, starting with our people and extending far beyond our doors.”
