About

Career

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands on January 6th, 1980, Wassila is the daughter of first-generation Moroccan immigrants.

After graduating in Business Administration at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, she chose to work at the Royal Dutch Navy as a military officer where she has learned that your leadership is defined and exists by the grace of those you lead.

After taking off her uniform she worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, and she received the award Young Government Official of the Year 2007 for outstanding performance in public service. 

In 2010 Wassila was sworn in as Member of the Dutch Parliament. After almost 6 years, she resigned and joined the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton where she gained valuable insights into American politics and the 2016 presidential election. Both her years as Dutch MP as well as one year learning about politics in the United States of America, have elevated Wassila’s understanding of power and how power systems work.

Passion

Wassila’s passion for dialogue is born during her time in politics. At TEDx Amsterdam Women she shared her story and led a successful crowd funding campaign.

After a career in the public sector and as a social entrepreneur having coached 600+ people by given countless personal development trainings for Mindvalley, the School of Life and other companies, Wassila has developed an unique professional profile at the intersection of leadership, performance and public sector transformation. With over 23 years of professional work experience, she is a senior advisor and executive coach in her own right.

Wassila is intently motivated to back up her statements about dialogue scientifically, by contributing to the field of sociology and psychology with a PhD research - entirely in her own time and at her own pace as an external PhD candidate.

If you connect to spirituality, Wassila (وَسِيلَة) is derived from Islam and is an Arabic word to refer to the means to connect with the divine. There are many heartfelt reasons for Wassila believing in Islam (surrender to achieve peace of mind, heart and soul) and its timeless message of love, mercy, peace, freedom, justice and unity. Islam is Wassila’s main source of inspiration in the search for understanding dialogue, authentic leadership, and anything else in life for that matter.