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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Theresa is an Account Manager with five years’ experience in Brussels. Prior to joining Acumen, she worked as legislation coordinator at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the EU, where she oversaw interinstitutional negotiations in preparation for and during the Austrian presidency of the Council. Before this, she was a public policy consultant at a Brussels-based consultancy where she advised clients on healthcare, technology and foreign policy. She started her career in Brussels as a trainee at the European Commission’s Secretariat-General, followed by gaining experience in a law firm. She also worked at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva.

She holds an LLM in European Law from Leiden University and an LLB in International and European Law from the University of Groningen. Aside from her native German, she speaks English and French fluently, with a good understanding of Spanish, Dutch and Mandarin.

Laura Pascual is a Consultant at Acumen. Previously, Laura worked as a Consultant at a Public Affairs company in Madrid, Spain, where she provided support for clients of the pharmaceutical, digital and food sectors. She has also experience in strategic communications consultancy.

Laura holds a BA in International Relations and a BA in Translation and Interpreting by the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas. She is a native Spanish and Catalan speaker, fluent in English and German and has a basic knowledge of French.

Alexandra is a Consultant 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.

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. 

Miriam joined Acumen in December 2018. She is a Consultant working mainly on global health clients building on her institutional knowledge as well as her press relations and campaigning social media experience. She brings to the Acumen team experience gained working for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Laos focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. During her time at UNFPA, her responsibilities included the development and implementation of a large-scale mixed-method research project, its subsequent analysis and report writing, as well as organizing advocacy events, and liaising with the Lao government and other development partners. She also interned and volunteered at the AIDS Foundation in Hamburg where she worked in the adolescent and youth team.

Miriam holds a master’s degree in Global Development from the University of Copenhagen, and a Bachelors in sociology and history from the University of Hamburg. She is a German native speaker and fluent in English. She has an intermediate level of Danish, and basic knowledge of Spanish.

Scott joined acumen in February 2019 as a trainee consultant 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.

Prior to joining Acumen in April 2019, Ekaterina worked as Public Relations and Corporate Communications Specialist at a global PR agency in Moscow supporting clients in healthcare, education, tourism, finance, and high-tech sectors. Previously, she completed two internships developing an international educational project on air and environmental awareness in Marseille and assisting the Communications and Campaigns department of the International Federation of Journalists in Brussels. Apart from that, she has a background in radio hosting, organisation of cultural and humanitarian events, language teaching and interpreting.

Ekaterina holds a Master’s degree in Translation from Lomonosov Moscow State University and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Aix-Marseille University. She has also obtained a graduate diploma in Law from French University College in Moscow.

Ekaterina speaks English, French, Russian and German, and has a basic understanding of Spanish and Romanian.