People

Abigail Jones has over 25 years experience in corporate communications and public affairs including consulting on corporate communications, positioning and identity; government and stakeholder relations; change management and internal communications. Abigail has worked with European and international blue chip companies, trade associations, think tanks and CEO advocacy groups. She has set up and ran industry coalitions that have engaged with NGOs and institutions such as the European Commission, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the UN. Her assignments have led her to work both with clients and the media around the world, including the majority of countries in the European Union, Switzerland, the United States, Nigeria, Ghana, Turkey and Japan. 

Current and former clients include - ACE (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment), Akzo Nobel, Cefic, European Roundtable of Industrialists, Heineken, Hewlett Packard, Interbrew (now ABInbev), International Centre for Alcohol Policies, Levi Strauss, Nigerian Breweries, Private Investors for Africa, Sabanci Holdings, SABMiller, Shell, Toyota, Tusiad, and Unilever.

Giles Keane has more than fifteen years’ experience in EU public affairs consultancy. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as a founding partner, he was a Director of International Corporate Communications at Hill & Knowlton in Brussels. He has worked across numerous sectors and policy areas including digital policy, healthcare, environment & energy, and food and agriculture. Giles has been supporting the GSK Consumer Health Government Affairs team since 2018 on issues relating pharmaceuticals in the environment

Current and recent clients of Giles since the creation of Acumen include Cargill Europe, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Heineken, LEO Pharma, PlasticsEurope, Procter & Gamble and Syngenta. Previous clients of relevance include the British Poultry Council and US national renderers association for whom he monitored and advised on EU veterinary legislation, the European Sugar Manufacturers Association, Kellogg’s, and the European Whey Producers Association. Giles is an Irish national and in addition to his native English, he speaks fluent French and Spanish, as well as conversational Italian.

Max has over 20 years of experience in EU public affairs, communications, interest representation and law at EU and national level. Max is a German qualified lawyer specialising in European and international law. From 2007 to 2019 he worked at Novartis where he held positions of increasing responsibility in corporate as well as business positions. He worked across different therapeutic areasc, public policy issues as well as crisis management, patient advocacy, pricing and reimbursement  (EU and in-market level), coalition building, competition issues, disease awareness, regulatory changes, patients’ rights, medical liability, intellectual property, EU litigations, pharmacovigilance, medical devices, OTC products, compliance and industry guidelines.  Most recently he was the Head of the Brussels Office of Novartis leading a team of experienced in-house lobbyists.

Max speaks English and French in addition to his native German

Maëlle Quintart is the acumen public affairs office manager. She has over 15 years administrative experience in the EU, Trade Association and Consultancy world. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as Office Manager in 2011, Maëlle was New Business and Marketing coordinator at Hill & Knowlton Brussels, where she had started as personal assistant to Elaine Cruikshanks. At Acumen, Maëlle is in charge of the day-to-day running of the office (accounting, HR, travel organisation, website, suppliers, translations…) and provides client support where her skills are needed. Maëlle is a native French speaker and holds a translation degree in English and Spanish.

Ana-Maria works on public affairs and communications for clients in the fields of public and global health.  She is involved in policy research and analysis, strategy development and advocacy, but also communication activities such as drafting press releases and blogs, or developing social media strategies for clients around policy milestones or disease awareness campaigns.

Prior to joining acumen, Ana-Maria worked for FleishmanHillard Paris, as well as with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Institute of Romania, where she helped national experts provide input to the Romanian Government on several key European policy areas. Ana-Maria holds a Master’s degree in European Affairs from Sciences Po Paris, and is fluent in Romanian, French, English, Greek and has a basic understanding of Spanish and Italian.

George is an Account Director. He joined the Acumen team in April 2016 and since then has worked on a range of clients including Uber, EuroCloud, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Mastercard. 

He previously worked as a Policy Advisor for EUROCITIES, the network of major cities in Europe, where he focused on issues such as citizen digital inclusion, open data and innovation policy. Prior to this he worked for a public affairs consultancy as a policy officer for EDiMA, the European Digital Media Association. Through this work George acquired in depth knowledge on issues such as innovation policy, digital transformation and data issues.

He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from University College Dublin. In addition to his native English George speaks Italian. 

Alex is an Account Manager at acumen public affairs. He joined Acumen in 2016, having previously been an intern in late 2015, a trainee and Consultant until 2018.

Since joining Acumen, Alex has worked on a broad range of projects for clients in the healthcare, transport, industrial and agriculture sectors. Alex has particular expertise on antimicrobial resistance, vaccines and Brexit, and also has a flair for creative work within the Acumen team. Alex has been recognised for his work at Acumen, winning the award for the public affairs industry’s Promising Newcomer at the 2017 EuroPAwards.

Outside of his work at Acumen, Alex is also a member of the Executive Committee of the young public affairs professionals organisation ECPA 2.0, and Alex is actively involved pro-EU movements in UK politics. Alex has previously worked at the central office of a major UK political party, including during a General Election, and has a background working on a variety of creative projects.

Alex holds a BSc in Government from the London School of Economics. He is a native English speaker and is proficient in Spanish.

Iveta Kazlauskaite is an Account Manager at Acumen. Iveta was previously a trainee at the company, and prior to that she completed a Blue Book traineeship at the European Commission, where she worked in the Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis for Health and Food Safety.

Iveta holds a Master’s Degree in Development Policy from KDI School in Public Policy and Management, in addition she holds MA in European Studies from KU Leuven and BA in International Relations from Lancaster University. Iveta is a native Lithuanian speaker, fluent in English and proficient in Russian.

Alexandra is an Account Manager at acumen public affairs. She currently provides support for clients with focus on the environment and healthcare. In addition she ensures the good conduct of the office in terms of accounting, human resources, travel organization, external visibility, and there where she can make the team’s job easier. 

She has previously worked as Project Assistant for an association focusing on sustainable resource management for more than a year. She is a native Romanian and speaks fluent English, Italian, and has an intermediate level of French.

Prior to joining Acumen in October 2018, Giorgos developed the outreach of a Washington-based NGO establishing its presence in US Congress, got an insider’s view on EU policymaking during his work at the European Commission, and helped to shape the advocacy strategy of a large multinational company on innovation. His policy experience includes working with trade associations, diplomatic missions, and NGOs in Europe and the United States. At Acumen, he supports clients on mobility, innovation and circular economy.

Giorgos has a Master’s in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, graduating at the top of his class with a Fulbright Fellowship. He speaks English, French, Greek, and Russian.

Scott is an Account Manager working on EU health policy and a range of other client portfolios. Prior to joining acumen, Scott spent time working on European affairs at the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) where he focused on insurance, digital policy and the impact of Brexit upon British and EU27 businesses.

Scott holds a BA in Politics from Newcastle University and an MSc in EU Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Originally from Northern Ireland, Scott is a native English speaker who holds both British and Irish citizenship.

Denise joined Acumen in 2018, having previously worked at a consultancy, focusing on advising small- and medium enterprises (SMEs) and gained experience in transport and employment policy during an internship at a small public affairs firm in Brussels. 

At Acumen, she works across various sectors and policy areas including environment, transport and social policy. 

Denise holds a BA in European Studies as well as a MA in European Public Affairs from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. She is a native Dutch speaker, fluent in English and has an intermediate level of German and French. 

Prior to joining Acumen, she worked in a consultancy firm where she was in charge of the administrative coordination of public tenders, translation, proofreading, travel coordination and meeting arrangements. She has also gained experience in law firms dealing with accounting, invoicing and credit control. Anne previously spent time working as a production and import-export assistant for a wholesale textile company. Additionally, she worked for seven years as an administrative assistant in the claims department of a shipowners’ mutual (P&I Club), and spent some of this time in the UK.

She graduated as Management Assistant from ECSEDI Brussels. Anne is a native French speaker and she is fluent in English.  She has a very good command of Dutch.

Pauline is a Consultant at Acumen supporting clients in various EU policy fields, including mobility, healthcare and environment. Prior to joining, Pauline completed a traineeship in DG Health and Food safety at the European Commission. Pauline started her career in Leuven as trainee at the Forest Stewardship Council where she advised politics on environmental policy.

Pauline holds a Master of Biology from the Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven as well as a Master of Sustainability Science and Policy from Maastricht University. Pauline is a Belgian national. In addition to her native French, she is fluent in English and Spanish, and has a professional knowledge of Dutch.

Anna is a Trainee Consultant. She joined acumen public affairs to support the EU Health team and the growing portfolio of clients focusing on the health sector. Prior to this, she completed a traineeship in DG Health and Safety at the European Commission where she gained experience in health systems and performance. Anna holds a MSc in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health and a BSc in European Public Health from Maastricht University. Anna is native in English and speaks intermediate German. She has a basic knowledge of Dutch and French. 

Laura is a Trainee supporting the daily running of the office. Prior to joining acumen, she completed a traineeship as a personal assistant of a MEP where she gained experience in EU public affairs, communication and administration. Laura holds a LLM in European and International law from Vrije University Amsterdam and a BS in International Relations with a minor in European Institutions from Milan University. Laura is native in Italian and speaks English and Spanish. She has a basic knowledge of German and French. 

Sara is an EU Health Trainee Consultant at acumen public affairs. Before this she completed a five-month internship at acumen, as part of her studies. During these months she undertook monitoring and research covering multiple complex issues while also supporting the office manager with administrative tasks. She is currently finalising her BSc in political science oriented towards organisation and management. Before moving to Brussels, Sara worked at Adecco in Sweden, recruiting and staffing for clients such as Tetra Pak, Orkla ASA and DHL. Sara is a native Swedish speaker, fluent in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

Daan is a Trainee Consultant supporting Acumen’s global health client portfolio. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, he participated as research assistant in several biomedical research projects in the fields of HIV, cardiology, multiple sclerosis and oncology. Daan holds both a MSc in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health and a MSc in Biomedical Sciences from Maastricht University as well as a BSc in Agriculture & Biotechnology from University College PXL.

Daan is a Belgian national. In addition to his native Dutch, he is fluent in English and has intermediate knowledge of Spanish, German and French.

Yae is an EU Health Trainee Consultant. Prior to joining Acumen she completed an internship in a European trade association where she worked on EU health-related issues.

Yae obtained a master’s degree in International and European Law at the Catholic University of Leuven, where she wrote her dissertation on the pricing of medicine under EU Law. During this period, she also completed an Erasmus Program at the University of Copenhagen and an exchange program at Venice International University. Being born and raised in Brussels, she speaks Dutch, French, English and has a basic knowledge of Japanese.