Pride Amsterdam

Karen de Lathouder (she/her)

”TOGETHER IS BETTER THAN ALONE”

Text: Paul Hofman
Picture: Leon Hendrickx
Video: Paradox Productions

Ambassador Karen de Lathouder: ‘Together is better than alone’ It is the first time in the history of Pride Amsterdam that a top woman from the business community has become an ambassador. Chief Operating Officer Assets at Eneco Karen de Lathouder (46) is looking forward to her ambassadorship. “Super cool”. Also special that Karen, born and raised in the smoke of Rotterdam, is now one of this year’s Pride Amsterdam figureheads.

FREE
‘Funny actually,’ she says at the beginning of the conversation. The tone for the conversation is immediately set. She talks candidly about her childhood. My parents were both general practitioners and had a busy home practice. I grew up together with my younger brother.’ There was always something to do. Her parents instilled a work ethic and independence in her. For example, in practice she ‘helped’ the assistants put cards in alphabetical order and, at the age of fourteen, she was circulating bills. “We were a very socially-minded, active and energetic family. Continued: ‘I was raised very free. I was allowed to become whatever I wanted. Dan: Also, I played a lot of sports. Do you know that I played handball at the top level?’ She looks modest.

COOL
As a young girl, she has dreams for later. What she wants to be? Pilot, doctor or gym teacher flash through her mind. Her paternal grandfather becomes her great role model. He was an aircraft engineer and tinkered and carpentered a lot. In high school, chemistry holds her immense interest. After graduating, she did not have to think long about what she was going to do. It will be studying Chemistry Technology at the Technical University in Delft. After her doctorate, business beckons. She starts her career at Shell and then ends up in management positions at NAM, AkzoNobel and BP. ‘A real man’s world but as a woman I’ve never been bothered by that. I So she stands as a tough woman on an offshore platform. At Eneco last November, Karen was appointed COO Assets. A big challenge where her position makes her responsible for all gas turbines, wind turbines, solar farms and bio power plants. ‘Just say everything that ensures that energy can be produced.’

ENERGY
She goes for it more than a hundred percent. In her youth, she discovered that she falls for girls. For her parents, it is no problem at all. Has her ‘being different’ ever limited her development? ‘No. Never have I run into any bumps in my career.’ She has been reasonably lucky. That she herself is a role model for the LGBTQIA+ community, she only realized later in life. ‘I am myself. Female and lesbian. I am it for companies, younger workers and women and allies (allies, PH).’ She lives with Anna, her partner. Currently, 1% of top management identifies as LGBTQIA+ persons. That doesn’t shoot up. So there is still a lot of work to do. The role of allies is critical to closing that gap. If you can be yourself, you bring out the best for yourself and the company you work for.’ Because: ‘It takes an enormous amount of energy to achieve something if you are not yourself, are not comfortable in your skin or feel that you don’t ‘belong’. That energy is better spent exploring other perspectives and listening to each other.’ Karen does that with heart and soul. Among other things, she is in women’s and LGBTQIA+ networks and the Foundation GEO (Gay Executive Officer). The latter, as a foundation, is committed to being a platform where senior LGBTQIA+ executives can meet and have conversations with allies.

ALLIES
What else she wants to accomplish? ‘To continue working on visibility and acceptance in the business community and actively engage with allies within companies, because we too see that they need dialogue and have questions.’ Looking back, we see an inspired woman committed to networking and visibility and ally communities in a man’s world. With heart and soul, Karen will work to increase visibility in the business world. ‘I think that just yet everyone dares to be themselves at work. After all, this is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Not in society but also not in business. So there is still some work to do.’ This is where she can make a difference as a person, top woman and ambassador.

DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE
What does the theme TOGETHER mean to you? She doesn’t have to think for a second before answering, “Not us and them, but together. I think diversity is a strength and at the same time an opportunity to bring out the best in each other and to learn something from each other. And also to be able to look beyond judgments. So don’t focus on the differences but on the similarities. To see how you can complement each other. Visibility and being yourself are right up her alley. She is bursting with energy to get her message out. ‘Only if you are diverse and inclusive as a company can you shine,’ she says.

Pride ambassador since 2024