Upcomming CA4 Candidate as
International Director

Presentation of PDG Marcel Daniëls, MD112 Belgium

 

I was born in Sint-Joris-Weert (a small community in the vicinity of Belgium’s oldest university town, Leuven) in 1952. I am married to Marie-Louise (Wis) and we have two children and four grandchildren.

My Lions journey started in 1994 and I’ve since served three times as club president, have been zone and region chairperson, was marketing communications manager for our MD in 2017-2018, district governor in 2019-2020 (the ‘covid’ years) and again marketing communications manager for our MD in 2022-2023.

Giving our clubs’ projects and achievements the necessary visibility in their communities and beyond has always been a key priority in these various roles.

I’ve been actively supporting an organisation of visually impaired youngsters (International Camp on Computers and Communication) in Belgium since 2013 and they have since been able to set up projects with Lions in several other European countries. Seeing the progress they’ve made in their personal and professional lives over these last ten years is a true tribute to our motto ‘We Serve’.

During the Covid pandemic – where Belgium was particularly had hit - we managed with our Lions network to get much needed protective equipment for patients and health care workers in key care centers across the country in a timely fashion. From the early stages of the war in Ukraine, I’ve been involved in European projects supporting Ukrainian refugees – both through local Lions networks as well as through a number of international task forces.

My professional experience spans forty years of international senior management responsibilities in the headquarters of companies in different fields (high-tech, petrochemicals, aluminium, pharmaceuticals). My responsibilities included marketing communications, international relations and public affairs and I was working from offices in Brussels, London, Zurich, Utrecht and Darmstadt. Working in an international environment with people from many different countries has always felt like a ‘natural habitat’ for me – one that I continue to enjoy in our Lions organisation.

I speak fluent English, Dutch, French, German, Russian and I have an intermediate knowledge of Italian.

Since 2019, I’m an LCIP certified instructor and I have enjoyed teaching ALLI and FDI courses in Europe. The opportunity these courses provide to see motivated and engaged Lions grow into future leadership positions is very fulfilling. As a candidate for the position of International Director 2023-2025, I am looking forward to serve on the LCI Board of Directors and help to continue to grow our association and its causes.