Meet Our programme committee

Experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. Skilled in Congress management, Marketing Strategy, Finance, and Hospitality Industry. Strong professional graduated from Hogeschool voor Economische Studies Amsterdam (HES).

Finola is an association professional, with over 25 years’ experience with not-for-profit associations and conferences. She has been the Manager of AC Forum since April 2020. She had previously served on the Board of AC Forum and had been involved with the association over many years.

Frances van Klaveren joined ICCA as the Community Engagement Manager in January 2021, focussing on developing and engaging with the ICCA Association Community. 

Frances became a Certified Association Executive through the ASAE in 2020 and has 15+ years’ experience in international programme management, membership engagement and volunteer management, working for non-profit associations including the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Biochemical Society in London, UK. Frances is passionate about working with association professionals and other stakeholders within the meetings industry. 

She also has a keen interest in regenerative and sustainable leadership and young professional engagement, and currently works on projects within ICCA including the Future Leaders Council and Net Zero Carbon Events.

Nicole Kaijser serves as a member of the AC Forum Board in the capacity of Education Officer, organising all educational activities, workshops and the Annual Meeting programme as Chair of the Education Group. 

Nicole has worked in various event and programme capacities for higher education institutions in the UK. She currently works at the European Association for International Education (EAIE) in Amsterdam overseeing and designing all online and in-person learning activities for the association, with member and non-member virtual engagements reaching the high thousands in 2020/1. 

Passionate about learning design, she trains and provides instructional design support for all contributors to the training programmes, webinars and Annual Conferences and is always on the hunt for the newest participant engagement methods.

A native of Vienna, Austria, Thomas (Tom) Reiser has been serving as the Executive Director of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) since May 2011. In this role as the chief staff person for ISTH, he is responsible for working closely with the ISTH Council to set the Society’s strategy, organizational development, professional execution of ISTH’s program and initiatives and corporate relations. 

With business and hospitality management degrees as background and throughout his 20+ year career in Austria, Belgium and the USA, Tom has led over 10 international scientific-medical professional organizations with ultimate responsibility for strategy, fundraising, programs and meetings around the world. The medical/scientific specialties of the organizations led by Tom include nephrology, osteoporosis, hematology, liver cancer, psychiatry, orthopedics, prosthetics and orthotics and psychiatry. 

Tom is a long-time member of and contributor to the leading US, European and international organizations in the field of association and not-for-profit management and writes and speaks regularly on topics related to professional association and conference management. 

Leslie is a globally certified meeting professional responsible for managing annual international conventions and meetings for up to 5,000 delegates. She has planned meetings in over 30 countries in almost every continent with a strong focus on the healthcare and non-profit association sector. 

For over 12 years, she has served as the Director of Meetings for the International Association for Dental Research with more than 8,000 members worldwide. Leslie is actively involved in several global meeting industry associations and is an avid learner of new languages. 

Alessandro Jacques Cortese is since 2009 the Chief Executive Officer of ESTRO, the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology and the Chairman of the ESTRO Cancer Foundation. 

Alessandro is a member of several Advisory Boards and is regularly invited to give talks to industry events and congresses, focusing on strategy for International Associations.