Guests
International Director Lion Marcel Daniëls
Lions Club of Kortenberg, Belgium
Marcel Daniëls from Kortenberg, Belgium, was elected to serve a two-year term as an international director of Lions Clubs International at the association's 105th International Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, July 7 through July 11, 2023.
Director Daniëls is retired after more than 40 years of professional experience in government affairs and policy, international relations, and corporate communications. He last served as vice president for international corporate affairs and policy for Merck Pharmaceutical KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany.
As a professional, he has been recognized for establishing international expert teams across Europe and in Canada in various companies and/or fields including petrochemicals, aluminium and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, he has successfully implemented "access to medicines" projects, developed business opportunities in Eastern Europe by opening doors for joint venture projects and achieved tariff reductions for aluminium imports from Canada into the EU. He also played an active role in a multi-disciplinary international team focusing on the fight against falsified medicines.
Looking to make a difference as part of an inspired team, he joined the Kortenberg Hertog Jan Lions Club in 1994 and serves with them to this day. He has held a number of offices within the association including multiple district marketing chairperson and multiple district public relations & Lions information chairperson. He has been a certified guiding Lion since 2017 and an LCIP certified instructor since 2019. Currently, he is serving as a board member for Lions Belgium Medico.
In recognition of his service to the association, he has received numerous awards including an International President's Award and an International President's Leadership Award. He is also a Progressive Melvin Jones Fellow.
In addition to his Lions activities, Director Daniëls (who speaks six languages) is active in numerous professional and community organizations. He is co-founder for the Boy Scouts unit in Sint-Joris-Weert, Belgium, as well as co-founder of the Canada-EU Round table for business. He has also served as a board member for "Medicines for Europe", as a board member for "Europabio" and other industry associations.
Director Daniëls and his wife of 44 years, Marie-Louise Vertongen, have two children and four grandchildren.