Annelies Schenk is the Marketing & Impact director of 98 Sparks. Her passion is to bring people and markets together to empower innovation and water sustainability. Annelies has a strong talent for building communities and building brand awareness. The longest part of her career Annelies has been working in the water industry catalyzing and activating water solutions through education, acceleration, events, networks and through capital – The Infrastructure of Water.
Annelies is a very active person who has a big passion for sports from her young age. After high school, Annelies received a tennis scholarship from Georgia Tech University in Atlanta USA.
This September, Annelies has found a meaningful way to combine her athletic passion with her social impact dedication by participating in the Swim To Fight Cancer event – a sport event to raise funds for cancer research! Besides, Annelies has a great aspiration to stimulate other people to do the same. Annelies wants to inpsire people to take action and to be a vehicle of positive change.
The inspiration for joining Swim To Fight Cancer
“I really believe in the power of sport to connect people and make a change”. Swim to Fight Cancer is doing exactly that. Swim to Fight Cancer was founded in 2014 by several enthusiastic and driven people with a great idea. The event allowed people to swim in a city, in the canals, where participants and teams collect as many donations as possible for cancer research.
“A beautiful and rebellious initiative that in recent years has grown into a successful event that is being organized throughout the Netherlands. It is beautiful and moving to see how many people swim every year, all with personal motivation to jump into the water” – Annelies said.
The atmosphere of the event was very relaxed but at the same time, every swimmer was a bit tense for the swim. Music was filled in the air, and things were very well-organized. Participants of the event received fruits, drinks, and swim head. Annelies was impressed by the safety and supportiveness of the event. Her highlight was the finish. “I knew I could do it, but I managed to swim 2KM in only 45 minutes and I felt like I could do so much more, I was in a trance and I always like that part of a race”. Another highlight for her was the moment that Nic Pannekeet – the co-founder of 98 Sparks- doubled her donation money. She said: “It was such a great stimulation and it shows the values of the company I work for. Empower people and to do good for others”.
Empower People – 98 Sparks employees
98 Sparks wants to empower and challenge people & communities to reach new heights. Therefore they support several social impact initiatives. Climb to Change a life was one of the first projects 98 Sparks supported through one 98 Sparks partners, Nic Pannekeet. We want to stimulate our 650+ employees to also take action and create impact within their boundaries. The action of Annelies is a great example and we hope it will boost other employees of 98 Sparks to choose an event, initiative or foundation to be part of. Be it, participant, volunteer or organizer to make an impact. When it is in line with our core values and impact strategy (ICE), 98 Sparks will dedicate time, resources and money” – Nic Pannekeet Said.
An inspiring message for readers from Annelies
Lastly, with the hope to inspire people to proactively take impactful and meaningful actions like her, Annelies shared her inspiration: “If you want to create impact it is important to stay close to your heart and use your strength. So find an initiative that you really want to fight for and make sure you are in a role that you are good at. This can be sharing knowledge, being part of the organization or helping with online marketing or by being a participant in the event like me”.
