About
Daphne Laan
Change-maker in head & heart with 20 years of experience in leadership & business development in Technology, Media & Social Impact. At Google, as Head of Technology, Dealmaking, Ecosystem development and lead for Women@Google NL, I undertook an experiment: What happens if you follow your heart in business and fully embrace the things you enjoy? Then the doors will open unexpectedly...
A door opened to The Down to Earth Collective, a social impact enterprise, which I joined as the MD. Down to Earth started with a documentary that premiered at the UN Climate Conference in Paris before negotiators came together and has become a true movement. In 2021, when cinemas were closed, I brought together an expert team to launch DOWN to EARTH film globally by building our own tech back-end to enable a pay as you like model.
My mission is to bring freedom in thinking and doing, creating space for positive change. I love to get to the essence in the most complex situations and bring clarity in direction. I have extensively worked with multinationals and multidisciplinary international teams, stakeholder management and bringing people together around a vision is my forte. I dare to shake up in a respectful & playful manner while keeping relations strong.
The cultural influences in my life from living in NL, from my Eurasian parents and from travel have enabled me to connect with all sorts of people and bring out the creativity in my work and the work of others.
I hold a Master degree in Business Administration, specialization in Management of Information Technology, a PGO in Executive Coaching at Ashridge Business School and a PGO Team Coaching at VU University.
When I grew up, I wanted to be an artist, now I found my way to let creativity run through everything I do. Outside of work, I like to spend time in or near water, swimming in the dunes or spending time at the beach. I also love to read and travel, just 3 months after meeting my husband we set off on a round the world trip!