Last month, Matti van Hecke, was nominated as the newest member of the Board of Directors at PACE, the Public Affairs Community of Europe, replacing Stefaan Fiers in representing Belgian member Bepact, the Belgian Public Affairs Community.

Bepact was founded to organise, promote, represent, and provide support to Public Affairs professionals in Belgium and abroad. Bepact is a longstanding member of PACE, collaborating with other thirteen European national associations active in the sector. PACE is a European association which aims to provide support, networking, and intelligence to EU and country-based public affairs professionals and to set up the grounds for a European identity for the profession. PACE was established in 2011 as a common platform of national associations of European public affairs professionals and lobbyists and currently counts fourteen member associations.

The PACE Board of Directors is composed of six members, an honorary president, and a secretary with a three year mandate. The current Board’s mandate will end in 2024. About his new role representing Bepact in the PACE Board, Matti Van Hecke said: “I’m delighted to take on this new opportunity. I’m a firm believer that transparency is of the essence in the public affairs sector and I am proud to be able to represent Bepact at international level. I am looking forward to contributing to the important work of PACE by coordinating with the other member organisations. I am confident that we will do great work together to the benefit of all European public affairs professionals”.

In addition to his newest role at PACE, Matti Van Hecke has a PhD in Political Science and is a known name in the public affairs sector, working as a Manager in the Brussels-based public affairs and communications consultancy Political Intelligence and being the Head of Secretariat at EPACA, the European Public Affairs Consultancies’ Association.