Bercan Günel appointed Chair of the IFM Supervisory Board

The International Foundation Manifesta welcomes Bercan Günel as the new Chair of its Supervisory Board, beginning in September 2026. Her appointment comes as Manifesta begins its next chapter under the leadership of General Director Emilia van Lynden.

With a career spanning business, governance, social change and culture, Günel brings a broad perspective to the role. She is the founder and director of NGL International, where she works as a Boardroom advisor supporting C-suite leaders and Board members through identity threshold moments.

On joining Manifesta, Günel says:

“I am thrilled and honored to support Manifesta at this remarkable moment of transition. Nietzsche wrote that we have art in order not to die of the truth. Manifesta has spent thirty years proving exactly that, and I am deeply grateful to Hedwig Fijen for building something this rare and this necessary. I look forward to supporting Emilia van Lynden and her team as they carry this forward.”

Günel has held a number of C-suite positions throughout her career, including CFO of the internationally listed Brunel International. Alongside these roles, she has been a longstanding advocate for greater diversity in Dutch boardrooms. She founded Woman Capital and authored the Quota Manifest in 2009, contributing to the wider movement that led to quota legislation taking effect in the Netherlands in January 2022. Her 2017 book, We hebben al een vrouw, continues to be a reference on gender diversity at the highest levels of Dutch organisations.

Her supervisory board experience spans family-owned businesses as well as social and cultural institutions.

Manifesta also warmly thanks Niels de Ru, outgoing interim Chair of the Supervisory Board, for his commitment, stewardship and contribution to the organisation’s development.

As Chair, Günel will bring her wide-ranging experience to Manifesta as it continues to build on more than three decades of working across art, cities and communities.