dss+ Establishes Impact Advisory Board to Accelerate and Amplify Impact

Published on Oct 26, 2023
The external group, operating in an advisory capacity, will help dss+ to accelerate, scale and sustain shared value creation in its work with clients, partners and stakeholders

GENEVA, Switzerland, 26 October 2023 – Global sustainable operations consulting firm dss+ announces the creation of an external Impact Advisory Board (IAB) to bring their insights and expertise from a diverse range of industries and geographies to guide dss+ on macro and industry trends, business model development, innovation and impact maximisation.

"Our clients and partners are adopting more sustainable business models and embracing emerging technologies in their quest to stay relevant in a dynamic market," says Melissa Barrett, Managing Director, Practices and Impact at dss+. "We at dss+ understand how to drive such transformations as a specialist sustainable operations consultancy that takes a human-centred approach. Now, with the support and counsel of the IAB, we will be able to apply additional industry and innovation insights in our work with clients to help them evolve and deliver impact well into the future."

The advisory board members include

  • Xavier Bontemps (Chair) – Board Chair of Noven Group Infra SAS
  • Betül Susamis Unaran – Chief Commercial Officer and an Executive Board Member of Unilabs
  • Juan Gabriel Aguiriano Nalda – Group Head of Sustainability and Technology Ventures, Kerry Group
  • Alexa Dembek – Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, DuPont
  • Seema Arora – Deputy Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry
  • Alex Kuilman – Co-founder and Retired Partner, Mobius Executive Leadership
  • Rafael Chaves Santos – Professor of Economics at FGV Brazil

The IAB operates in an advisory capacity and does not hold fiduciary responsibility.


About dss+

dss+ is a leading provider of sustainable operations consulting services with the purpose of saving lives and creating a sustainable future. dss+ enables companies to build organisational and human capabilities, manage risk, improve operations, achieve sustainability goals and operate more responsibly. Additional information is available at www.consultdss.com.


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Xavier Bontemps is an international manufacturing, business and HSE leader with over 35 years of experience in the Oil, Gas, Petrochemicals and new energies industries. He currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Noven Group Infra SAS, as an Executive HSE Consultant for dss+ and Safer.Ways. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of HSE for Total Energies, Refining Manufacturing Manager at Ineos and Works General Manager Refining & Chemicals for BP.

Betül Susamis Unaran is a business transformationalist with decades of experience and a proven track record of driving successful commercial and digital transformations in the Healthcare industry for companies such as Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Novartis and DocMorris. She is the Chief Commercial Officer and an Executive Board Member of Unilabs, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed AG headqueartered in Switzerland and Brain+ in Denmark, and Advisory Board Member of Lumanity, an Arsenal Capital Partners company in the US, and formerly of Native Design in the UK. Betül was listed in the 2022 Global Top CDO 100 by HotTopics.ht in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and named as one of the “Top 10 Future Shapers” by Handelszeitung in Switzerland.

Juan Gabriel Aguiriano Nalda is an executive with over 25 years of experience leading businesses and driving strategic and sustainability transformations at some of the world’s largest food, chemicals and fibre companies. He specialises in business turnaround, organisational leadership and development, change management and new business model development. He is currently the Group Head of Sustainability and Technology Ventures at Kerry Group, as well as a Board Advisor for Rice in Action.

Alexa Dembek is an experienced strategic leader who specialises in driving science-based innovations and embedding sustainability into corporate strategy, thereby generating significant growth and value. She is currently the Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer at DuPont. She serves on the Board of Directors of CoorsTek, and is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for Penn State’s Eberly College of Science and the Board of Directors of the Delaware Innovation Space.

Seema Arora is a leading expert on environmental management and sustainable development in India. She currently serves as the Deputy Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry. She works with industry, government and community-based organisations to develop policy instruments and curate collaborative initiatives across sector and stakeholders. She also acts as an Advisor to the government of India on low carbon growth strategies, measurement frameworks for sustainability performance and sustainable development action plans.

Rafael Chaves Santos is a leader, engineer and finance specialist with extensive experience leading organisations in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Petroleum and Gas Institute and as Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Petrobras. Previously, he has also held leading positions at the Central Bank of Brazil, at Vale, and at the investment fund board of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI). Currently, he is working as a Professor of Economics at FGV (since 2014) and will shortly begin a new executive position.

Alex Kuilman is Co-Founder and retired partner of the global professional services firm Mobius Executive Leadership. He built the global top team practice serving CEO clients and their respective top teams. He remains active by continuing to support many CEO’s and their teams as they navigate the complexities of culture change initiatives. He is an executive coach, facilitator of transformation, mediator and culture change consultant across a broad range of industries.