Highlights of my Work
In my current role as Corporate Director of Communications and Marketing at Wageningen University and Research (wur.nl) together with my colleagues I lead the communications and marketing strategy. Working the organisational story. Engagement with a variety of publics plays a key role. The stories we share or not share, on often heated, societal topics. Dialogues, therefore, essential. WUR is all about climate, biodiversity, food (systems), health and circularity.
As Advisory Director for the EACD I worked with the association’s Board between 2017 and 2020. I guided transitions, whilst ensuring continuation of its vibrant network, meeting their mission to drive excellence in the communications profession. I facilitated and moderated many EACD’s panels. EACD previous President Hans Koeleman: said “The way Inge moderates and facilitates – in small or larger settings - allows a true conversation to take place on topics, even if they are viral and the subject of heated debates. As a speaker/presenter she masters to engage an audience deeply.”
I have worked with a very large, global multination on their sustainability communications strategy and implementation plan; multi stakeholder. I had the invitation to act as the critical change agent regarding their journey to truly become a sustainable company. My client stated afterwards: “I invited Inge to my team retreat and asked her to share her views about the future of the communications function. Inge did so in the context of potentially quite significant changes in society. She worked as a gentle disruptor, inviting us to think and debate ‘on our feet’ – Deep Democracy style.”
I enjoy facilitating retreats and debates. A highlight in 2019 was enabling an effective ‘coming together’ between an architect firm and their client regarding the design of a new building, with the aim to ensure that both the designers and ultimate users would converge. The results were very rewarding.
Acting as a Day Chair at the Dutch Annual Conference for Public Communication (PubCom), I aim to build community: bringing the audience together with the speakers and one another. Dr. Guido Rijnja/Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst put it this way: "Try and find a moderator who knows the ropes in terms of content and can deal with it with a sense of measure. In a modest and alert fashion, Inge Wallage created free space for the guests and speakers during the conference of Logeion, the professional Dutch association for communication. It felt really good."
In my work for Greenpeace International I was responsible for the creation and implementation of the ‘global communication strategy’, which served as an essential instrument for change. With success. My previous colleague Brian Fitzgerald (Director, Dancing Fox, B.V., former Head of Digital Activism at Greenpeace International) put it like this: "Inge knows the power of story. As communications director at Greenpeace International she made the space and resources available to do something that had never been done previously: the articulation of a single overarching organisational story. Not only did that narrative unite disparate campaigns and national offices, it became the platform on which we built an internal culture-change agenda and a ten-year strategy that continues to drive the organisation today. She's a woman of vision with a gift for getting things done."
