Complex challenges.
Shared ambition. Action.
I work with ambitious organisations and coalitions on complex challenges that no organisation can solve alone.
Bringing together data, strategy and people to understand the system,
shape a common direction and make change happen.
Ingrid Willems · World of Futures
Some challenges are too big for one organisation
Accelerating the food transition
Shaping the future of a city or region.
Creating an innovation ecosystem.
Developing greener and smarter logistics
The challenges that interest me most sit between organisations, sectors and disciplines.
No single organisation has all the answers, resources or influence needed to make change happen. Progress requires different perspectives, interests and capabilities to come together.
That is where I like to work.
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See. Imagine. Align. Act.
See
Understand the system. Data, perspectives, interests, tensions and opportunities.
Imagine
Explore possible futures and shape an ambition worth working towards.
Align
Bring together the people and organisations needed to create change.
Act
Turn shared ambition into priorities, ownership and momentum.
Strategy. Entrepreneurship. Ecosystems. Action.
I've spent more than 25 years moving between entrepreneurship, innovation, technology and economic development, inside corporations, startups, European programmes, ecosystems and boardrooms.
Different worlds, but the work I enjoy most has always had something in common: understanding complexity, connecting people and ideas, creating structure and making ambitious things happen.
I can move from a conversation about what a city might become in twenty years to what needs to happen in the room next Tuesday.
Today, I bring those experiences together in World of Futures.
Work I'm proud of
DataScouts
From an idea to a technology company
Founded and built DataScouts from the ground up, turning an idea around data and market intelligence into a technology company serving international organisations.
Foodleap
Changing a food system together
Building collaboration around a systemic challenge that no individual company can solve alone, using data, shared ambition and collective action to create change.
Open Creatives
Building collaboration across CCIs
Bringing creative and innovation ecosystems together around a shared vision, creating connections between cities, organisations and creative communities.
Social Map ZHE-BAR
Health System Transformation
Bringing fragmented information and stakeholders together to create a clearer view of the social landscape, making it easier to understand the system and connect people with the support around them.
ChristchurchNZ
Rethinking economic development
Exploring how data, long-term ambition and industry clusters can help a city move beyond traditional economic development towards prosperity and wellbeing.
Silver Fern Farms
Nature Positive Farming
Supporting the transformation towards regenerative agriculture, putting biodiversity, soil health and animal welfare at the heart of the system.
BE Startup Ecosystem
Startups.be / NOA
Bringing entrepreneurs, corporates, government, investors and knowledge institutions together around a stronger environment for innovation and growth.
Smarter Road Transport
Teleroute / Wolters Kluwer
Rethinking road transport by reducing empty kilometres using data and collaboration to improve efficiency while lowering the environmental impact of logistics.
Different sectors. Different challenges.
The same question: how can we make the system work better?
Ways we can work together
Explore & shape
Understand the system, explore possible futures and turn a broad ambition into strategic direction.
Build & align
Bring together organisations and people around a shared mission, with clear priorities, roles and structure.
Orchestrate & move
Provide independent leadership for complex initiatives, creating momentum, challenging assumptions and keeping people moving towards action.
Sometimes it's a focused strategic project. Sometimes it's a longer-term mandate. Sometimes you simply need an experienced, independent person at the table.
What people say about working with me
“I like working with Ingrid because she gets involved. She brings passion and energy, thinks like an entrepreneur and takes ownership. She doesn’t just advise from the sidelines — she challenges us, helps find a way forward and drives things until they actually happen.”
Karen Boers
“I’ve always admired Ingrid as a female entrepreneur in the data and AI world. She is curious, passionate and incredibly persistent. Things don’t always go according to plan when you build a company, but she has this ability to learn, get back up and keep going. That resilience, combined with her passion for what she does, is what makes her stand out.”
Annie Vereecken
“Ingrid brings an entrepreneurial and innovation mindset to the board. She challenges us to look beyond the obvious, questioning the status quo, spotting new opportunities and exploring where collaboration or expansion could take us. In a sector facing significant challenges, she helps us keep looking forward."
Peter Van Hoye
Have something ambitious in mind?
If you're working on a challenge that matters, the answer isn't obvious and it requires people to work across boundaries, I'd love to hear about it.