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Annemieke van der Werff

Annemieke van der Werff is a strategic human resources and business executive with deep global experience in the financial services industry. With over 30 years of HR experience she developed a leadership style with a strong drive to create a professional, customer oriented, inclusive, and energizing environment for people to deliver outstanding performance and grow beyond their expectations. Annemieke ensured a lasting impact on the organizations she worked for through establishing a strong culture with a focus on leadership impact, talent and ethics as well as delivering to the bottom line. In this stage of her life and career, Annemieke is inspired to bring her knowledge, experience, and drive to add value to public and private boards, in addition to her HR consulting practice.

She is currently engaged in a number of projects related to Compassionate Leadership. She co-developed and facilitated the Compassionate Leadership in Finance Program (CLiF). Since May 2022 she is a consultant for the Garrison Institute International and active as the Program Director for the Compassionate Leadership in Finance Program for the Americas.

Until March 2017, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Americas for MUFG Union Bank (MUB). She joined the bank in July 2012 to assume responsibility for the development and implementation of the People Strategy to attract, retain and motivate talent to achieve business objectives and to ensure a smooth integration between BTMU Americas on the East Coast and Union Bank on the West Coast. During her tenure, she has challenged leaders to take an active role in building an inclusive, high-performance culture and managed transformational change in an increasingly stringent regulatory environment.

As a member of the bank’s Executive Committee for the Americas, she was co-located in New York and San Francisco, reporting to the President/CEO and the Regional Executive for the Americas. She was the executive sponsor of the LGBT Employee Resource Group and, together with the CEO, co-chaired the Leadership Council for Inclusion and Diversity. Annemieke was a catalyst and the executive sponsor for the bank’s Mindfulness movement and served as internal spokesperson for the Go-Red for Women’s Movement in partnership with the American Heart Association. She was a member of MUFG’s Global HR Leadership Team; and in addition to her Americas role, she was the Head of Global Talent Management and Global Talent Acquisition for the Tokyo headquartered MUFG.

As the executive sponsor of the MUB Board’s Human Capital Committee she took ownership to change the traditional executive compensation and benefits focused Board Agenda to include succession planning, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement. She established a strong focus on presenting human capital data to underscore progress and development. Throughout her tenure she was charged with numerous initiatives related to address and enhance the bank’s culture and ethics.

Prior to MUFG, Annemieke was a Global Head of HR at the London-based HSBC Holdings Plc., leading the HR function for the Global Retail Bank and the Global Corporate Functions, such as Finance, IT, Operations, Audit, Compliance, Risk Management and Human Resources.

Annemieke started her career with ABNAMRO Bank, where she was the Executive Vice President and CHRO for ABN AMRO North America and LaSalle Bank Corporation, based in Chicago. She was recognized as a global change agent for the ABN AMRO Group, implementing new Human Capital strategies, tools, and processes to ensure consistency throughout the global organization.

She founded “van der Werff Consulting LLC in 2010” and currently shares her experience as an independent consultant and delivered human capital strategies and solutions to U.S. based, international and global organizations. As an executive coach her focus is on improving personal and team leadership effectiveness as well as business performance. She has lived and worked in The Netherlands, The Caribbean, South America, and the UK. Annemieke and her husband have been U.S. residents since 2002.

She obtained her BS in Human Resources and Labor Market Policies in 1994 at the Amsterdam/Haarlem Business School and Post HBO/BS in Organizational Development and Change Management at the SIOO Institute in Utrecht, The Netherlands. In 2000, she attended the Advanced Human Resources Executive Program at University of Michigan Business School.

Annemieke has been a member of the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) CHRO Roundtable and served on the Executive Committee of the Wharton Financial Services Group (University of Pennsylvania). She was active in the San Francisco community, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of LINES Ballet, under the artistic direction of Alonzo King. During her tenure in Chicago, she was a board member of the HR Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC).

In her spare time, Annemieke and her husband manage their farm in Minnesota, and is a certified artisanal cheesemaker. When not on land, they enjoy sailing their yacht “Vela” on the East Coast.