People

Elaine Cruikshanks has over 27 years of agency experience with Hill & Knowlton (H&K) and now with Acumen. She grew H&K’s Brussels office from 1994-2010 to the largest in the PA/PR arena, and in addition had the role of global public affairs director. Assignments have ranged across various sectors with a focus on public affairs and communications, healthcare, food, consumer, trade, ICT, environmental issues and energy. Her background is public affairs (having worked for the UK Foreign Office). Elaine has worked with a range of blue chip companies as well as trade associations, ad hoc coalitions, governments, NGOs and international institutions. Over the years, she has run Brussels, EU- wide and international campaigns for a range of clients. Past and current clients include: AstraZeneca, ABPI, NICE, Baxter, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Boots, Bristol Myers Squibb, Coca-Cola, Daikin, Debswana/DeBeers, European Breakfast Cereal Association (CEEREAL), European Liver Patients Association (ELPA) European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), European Natural Soya Association (ENSA), European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Global Fund, government of Turkey, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, Merck, Sharpe & Dohme (MSD), Mitsubishi, Novartis, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Roche, Rosneft, Stop TB, Syngenta and  Wrigley’s.

Giles Keane has fifteen years’ experience in EU public affairs consultancy. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as a founding partner, he was a Director at Hill & Knowlton in Brussels. His first role in Brussels was as a trainee in the External Relations Director General of the European Commission. Giles’ strength lies in his ability to combine traditional public affairs with other communications disciplines to provide integrated communications counsel to his clients. He has worked across numerous sectors and policy areas including food & agriculture, environment & energy, healthcare and international trade.

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.

Agnès is an Account Director. She has over 6 years’ experience in EU public affairs and communication.

Prior to joining Acumen in August 2017, Agnès worked at gplus europe, where she’s been involved in a wide range of EU policy areas, including transport, energy and environment, European single market and its digital counterpart (DSM) as well as agriculture, fisheries and industrial policy. During her career, she managed pan-European campaigns, developed and implemented communication strategies and was always keen to develop strong client relations and tailored services. Over the years, she advised large multinationals, trade associations, NGOs and SMEs.

Her first role in Brussels was as a trainee in the European Commission’ Secretariat General overseeing the quality of Impact Assessments. She also had the opportunity to work on EU policy evaluation for the Sec. Gen.

Agnès is a French national. She holds a Master’s degree in “EU politics and government” from the London School of Economics (LSE, London) and a Master’s degree in “Public Administration” from Sciences Po (Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Rennes). In addition to her native French, Agnès speaks fluent English and Italian, as well as conversational German.

Journalist since 1968. Former German Correspondent, Industrial Editor and European Business Editor, The Guardian. Senior adviser CabinetDN 2009-17. Now: editor, Social Europe and sceptical.scot. Graduate of Oxford University (BA) and King's College London (MA); studied at Saarbrücken and Strasbourg Universities; fluent French and German.

Fabienne Zwagemakers is an Account Manager. Since joining Acumen in August 2015, she has been involved in various EU policy fields, including digital policy, healthcare, social, and environmental policy. For a wide range of Acumen’s clients, including DuPont, Mastercard, Novartis, MSD, European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), the European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO), and the International Bromine Council (BSEF).

Fabienne has been responsible for monitoring, stakeholder mapping and stakeholder outreach, EU policy research, drafting content, as well as supporting press relations, social media and event support. She joined the Acumen team after completing traineeships at the European Commission (Radio Spectrum Unit, DG Connect), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA). 

She is fluent in Dutch, English, French, Italian and German. She holds a PhD Degree in Political Theory.

Erik joined Acumen as an Account Manager in August 2018 with nine years European public policy experience. Prior to joining Acumen, Erik worked for the international trade body of amusement parks. Before that, he has worked as a consultant for over five years advising clients on all aspects of working and influencing the EU. Besides expertise in EU policy concerning counter-terrorism, security, consumer issues and EU’s external relations. 

He founded a non-profit event platform uniting the Slovak and Czech EU professionals in Brussels and managed events for several NGOs, political campaigns and causes. Besides his native Slovak, Czech and Hungarian, Erik speaks English and Norwegian.

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.

Misachi is now a Consultant at Acumen. Misachi finished his Master’s degree in EU Politics at the London School of Economics. He was previously a trainee at acumen, worked at a news agency and in interior lighting design in Germany and at a cultural magazine in the United States.

Since joining acumen, he has provided support for several clients in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. In addition to his native German, Misachi speaks fluent English and conversational Italian.

• Iveta Kazlauskaite is currently a trainee at Acumen. Prior to joining the team, Iveta 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.