“By investing in diversity, we enhance our collective expertise”
Jeroen Kroes – CFO, Van Lanschot Kempen.
What does it actually take to build a diverse leadership pipeline inside a leading organisation? Jeroen Kroes, CFO at Van Lanschot Kempen, has been part of that answer — and in this interview, he shares what investing in diversity and building a partnership with Roots Inspire has looked like from the inside. We opened with the question at the heart of every senior leader’s agenda.
What value does Roots Inspire add to your talent strategy?
Roots Inspire directly supports Van Lanschot Kempen’s ambition to build an inclusive environment where diverse talent feels truly welcome. As a leadership development platform for ethnically diverse professionals, Roots Inspire strengthens our talent strategy by helping us better attract, retain, and empower minority talent in financial services – in line with our goal to increase diverse representation across all organisational levels. By investing in diversity, we enhance our collective expertise, enrich our culture, and ensure we remain competitive and relevant in a changing market.
How did you get started and what results are you already seeing?
We have an Inclusion and Diversity policy, and one of its key pillars is to continuously strengthen our inclusive employer practices. To achieve this, we actively collaborate with external partners and networks to set standards, share best practices, assess our performance, and provide expertise on how we can improve.
In this spirit of learning, we partnered with Roots Inspire, offering targeted participation for our talent in their tailor-made programmes for ethnically diverse professionals. Since joining, we’ve seen greater engagement from ethnically diverse talent and strong commitment from senior leadership to sponsor and develop this talent within our organisation.
What does this partnership mean to you personally?
This partnership reflects something fundamental: the responsibility—and privilege—of shaping an organisation where every talented colleague can thrive. After more than two decades at Van Lanschot Kempen, I have seen firsthand how much stronger we become when people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences feel genuinely included.
This partnership also challenges me personally. It encourages me to stay curious, to listen more actively to the experiences of colleagues, and to continue improving the way we create equal opportunities across the organisation. In that sense, it is not just an initiative we support—it is a catalyst for becoming a better, more conscious leadership team.
