Executives in Residence

Passionate about leader development projects, experienced HR director with over 20 years of professional experience. Member of the Management Board for over five years, Director of the People and Culture Division at Makro Cash & Carry Polska S.A., responsible for the personnel strategy, coordinating the social responsibility policy and activities in the field of customer satisfaction and business process efficiency research. Previously, she worked for the Kingfisher group in the Polish and British markets, including the position of market director, as well as for Carrefour in Poland, where, among others, for 7 years she was HR Director and member of the management team. She has experience in the following sectors: large distribution, B2C and B2B services, consulting and manufacturing.

In 2015 and 2016, she was member of the management board of POHID in Poland.

She has been working with passion in the large distribution industry for over 20 years. She participated in 4 mergers, where she had the opportunity to combine different organizational cultures and ensure the retention of the best talents. Her domain includes processes including employee relations, negotiations with social partners, talent management, motivational programs as well as communication and people management in change.

Sandra Subel (she/her) is a passionate change-maker who values growth, integrity, and curiosity. Her mission is to help people unleash their creative confidence and enable businesses to leverage the potential of their employees. She fulfils this aspiration in her work as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader relying heavily on her design thinking, facilitation, and change management skills. More privately, she engages in knowledge sharing, coaching, and mentoring.

She serves as the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Axel Springer (a global media and tech company headquartered in Berlin). In this role, she focuses on building and executing a holistic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy for the holding group. Previously she worked for Accenture in the fields of innovation, creative problem solving, and change management. Since 2018 she is a guest lecturer at the Poznań University of Economics and Business, where she teaches Design Thinking to the students of the

Executive MBA program. Recently, she has started training them how to navigate the pitfalls of unconscious biases in the workplace.

To advance her mission, Sandra engages in various knowledge sharing opportunities as a public speaker and as a writer. She spoke at several large conferences and she is a regular guest columnist in the Polish edition of the Forbes Women magazine. In 2021 she co-hosted the Impact Day Diversity & Inclusion conference organized by Ringier Axel Springer Poland. Since 2021 she has been part of the program committee of Changemakers, one of the largest D&I conferences in Europe and in 2022 she co-hosted the event. To support people on a person-to-person basis, Sandra mentors and coaches young generations of future leaders; some of them on a pro bono basis. Recently, her coaching abilities have been recognized by the International Coaching Federation on an Associate Certified Coach level.

Leszek Tasiemski is a VP of B2B Products at WithSecure (formerly F-Secure). Responsible for building Rapid Detection Center and the technology behind the business cyber security solutions portfolio of WithSecure. He has many years of experience in performing penetration tests and forensic analyses, mainly for the European financial sector. Enthusiast and implementer of advanced automation in preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber attacks. Graduated from Computer Science, Economics and MBA. Studied Psychology. Actively involved in NGO activity and a certified yoga teacher. Happy husband and father of two daughters, endurance cycling devotee.

Former CEO of KPMG Consulting CEE, Interim Dean at UPEI

Dr. Gary Evans was Senior Partner and CEO for KPMG Consulting for Central Eastern Europe and prior to that appointment was Partner in Charge of Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Energy for the London, U.K. office of KPMG for tax, audit and consulting. As a partner in a professional firm Dr. Evans spent substantial amount of time with corporate boards and the executive management of major international corporations.

After retiring from professional practice Gary Evans has dedicated his time to research and teaching at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and completed his PhD in Corporate Governance at Liverpool John Moores University. Dr. Evans holds the position of Interim Dean of the Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies and continues researching corporate boards globally.

An active international speaker, he has given presentations on technology, diversity and other key governance issues across Europe. In an effort to increase diversity within Prince Edward Island’s provincial Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABC’s) Dr. Evans was a member of the PEI Coalition for Women in Government Advisory Board. Dr. Evans is an active member of the indigenous community supporting a number of initiatives for reconciliation.

Former Executive Vice President, Head of Western Europe, in Carlsberg Group

Prior to moving into advisory and non-executive roles, Jacek Pastuszka served for six years on the Executive Committee of Carlsberg Group, heading the Western and Eastern Europe Region. He worked most of the time internationally, holding commercial, general management and market-cluster roles at Procter & Gamble, Danone, AIG and Carlsberg Group. Having apprenticed in Sales, he moved from commercial to general management roles at mid-career point, heading four large companies, in three markets, in two industries, over 16 years.

Albeit working predominantly in consumer goods, he had a four-year stint as CEO of AIG Life operations in Poland and a Member of Supervisory Board of AIG Bank.

Jacek Pastuszka received extensive mentoring training and exposure. Among others, he served as an internal mentor in Carlsberg Group, specializing in grooming talent for general management positions. He is currently semi-retired, running a diverse portfolio of non-executive board positions, speaking engagements, advisory and consulting projects, and mentoring for top teams. He serves as a Non-Executive Board Director for a Private Equity-backed business in Poland and is involved as freelance collaborator of reputable HR professionals in their bespoke Customer projects. He is a graduate of Foreign Trade Faculty at University of Economics in Katowice, completed extensive general management programs at London Business School and IMD.