About us
'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.' — Marcel Proust
Our vision for the future
We envision a world where businesses operate successfully and within planetary boundaries.
As executives, we have lived in a world that favours financial growth over impact for too long. But a shift is taking place. It’s time to reconsider the way we do business for the survival of our planet and the human race.
Fundamental changes to business models are required leading to systemic transformation. No matter where your business sits on the spectrum, change is inevitable.
We see a world where caring for the planet and local communities goes hand in hand with running a business.
How did GoAct start?
Message from Karen Dumery, GoAct Founder:
I spent my youth in France, a regular witness to the beauty of the Jura and Alps mountains. With a particular fondness for the ocean and wild swimming, I love spending time in and on the water, which later developed into a desire to protect it.
The GoAct experts share a love for nature, travel and culture, and we feel our experiences have enhanced our abilities to communicate across diverse groups of people.
Through our work and personal lives, we all have become acutely aware of the personal, business and societal changes that need to happen in order to provide a more sustainable world for future generations.
The 2021 floods in South Belgium, decreasing precipitation and increasing heat into 2022 are stark reminders of how close to home in Belgium the impacts of climate change are and the urgency with which we must act. So I started GoAct, combining my corporate knowhow and passion for helping businesses make a difference in the world.
We are now committing the skills we’ve learnt over the years to changing business for the better. We’re committing to providing a more sustainable world for our children.
We know business and are substainability experts
We have each 30+ years of executive-level business experience and know how to implement complex strategies and reporting processes.
We believe sustainability transformation is best led from the top of an organisation. With our team’s CEO, CFO, policy, consulting and environmental experience, we are uniquely positioned to plan, implement and report on progress. We are able to communicate at board level in multinational organisations as well bring all members of the team into the conversation when necessary.
Our specialist team understands that each business has its unique set of challenges and that there is no one size fits all solution. We work with a large network of highly experienced specialists in sustainability, engineering, technology, resilience, risk, compliance and non-financial reporting.
Meet our team
Karen Dumery
Karen is an Executive leader focused on helping organisations rethink how they do business for the planet's future. She uses her expertise in leadership and corporate sustainability to work closely with executives and board directors, guiding them through strategic decision-making, identifying business opportunities and tackling their sustainability challenges effectively.
Karen started her career as an external auditor with Ernst and Young. She has since taken on roles of increasing responsibility within both financial and general management at American Standard, Sara Lee, Pont and Victaulic, a producer and seller of mechanical joining solutions for the construction industry, where she was CFO EMEAI, prior to founding GoAct.
Karen has accompanied companies on transformational journeys to profitability in an efficient and engaging manner. Her holistic view of business means she is not afraid to dig into complex issues, enjoys engaging people with the wider goals and communicating with language that motivates and inspires action.
Karen is Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Compagnie du Bois Sauvage and a board member Wervel, a non-for-profit that advocates for a sustainable, socially honest and ecologically viable food system and agriculture in Belgium. Karen is Leader of the GUBERNA Sounding Board Committee for Sustainability. Having attended the r3.0 Transformation Journey Program in July 2022, Karen gained an understanding of sustainability, transformation pathways and step-by-step processes for creating system value. Karen is a GUBERNA Certified Director, the Belgian Institute of Directors and completed the Chapter Zero Climate Journey.
Now, Karen’s mission is to help businesses drive positive change and see sustainability as a necessity and opportunity.
Jeremy Boomer
From architect and contractor to real estate developer and serial entrepreneur, Jeremy has amassed extensive expertise in construction materials. As the founder of Natura Mater, he has spent the past five years advising construction professionals on optimizing the selection, procurement and implementation of sustainable building materials.
Well-connected across the value chain, Jeremy collaborates with architects, developers, contractors and material producers. His deep understanding of their needs has positioned him as a key figure in Belgium for innovative building materials.
With an entrepreneurial mindset and creative approach, Jeremy identifies and leverages opportunities within sustainability strategies. His comprehensive grasp of cost structures and technical requirements in the construction industry strengthens the reliability and impact of his advice.
Gilda B. Neiman
Gilda Neiman is an advisor focused on the latest approaches to sustainability governance. She accompanies, guides and challenges executives and board directors to engage their institutions in strategic action on sustainability challenges and opportunities for their businesses.
Gilda holds several Independent Non-Executive Director mandates including Sustainability Lead and Chair of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee of European Depositary Bank/APEX Group, and Chair of the board of Greenomy, an ESG-Reporting RegTech that helps corporates and banks measure, disclose and improve their sustainability.
Gilda developed strong leadership, commercial and crisis management skills from her 35 year career in international corporate banking, including as country CEO at Citigroup Belgium, as well as earlier roles at JP Morgan/Euroclear.
Gilda is a Board Member of Chapter Zero Brussels, supported by the World Economic Forum. She is also on the Board of AmCham Belgium, where she founded the Sustainability & Innovation Committee. She is an influential diversity & inclusion leader, active in leadership development and the future of work culture through her work with WoMen in Finance Belgium and as Board member of Fulbright Belgium.
Gilda is a GUBERNA Certified Director, and has a joint Certification in Sustainable Directorship from GUBERNA and the Chapter Zero Director Climate Journey. She has a Masters Degree in Economics from Université Catholique de Louvain, and a Bachelors' Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Mercedes Sánchez Varela
Mercedes Sánchez Varela is an international and EU climate policy advisor, with a long experience in translating policy challenges into future-proof sustainable strategies for private and public sector clients. As sustainability leads the way to revise a company's strategic vision, Mercedes’ understanding on how to anticipate and navigate policy changes is a true asset in the path towards a sustainable presence in the market of the future.
Mercedes has a strong record in Brussels as public speaker and event moderator, and she is currently a Board Member of Chapter Zero Brussels, a World Economic Forum spin off, that deals with climate governance issues
at Board level. Mercedes is also Board Member of the Institute for European Environmental policy. She leads high level discussions with the EU and business leaders on the challenges of climate change, sustainable finance, carbon taxation, and widely on biodiversity, clean tech and energy renewables, as well as climate reporting.
Mercedes was the KPMG head of the EU office in Brussels and partner responsible for EU relationships and pan European funded contracts and led key EU policy discussions with clients on structural reforms, infrastructure, transportation, climate and sustainability. Along with her GoAct role, Mercedes is Senior Advisor, specializing in ESG, Climate Reporting, and EU Green Deal policy developments at FIPRA Public Affairs.