b'its a living thing that people put in the soil, he says, adding that plant breeding isnt the only thing that you need to consider when creating a new tomato product. First, theres research, then development breeding, seed production, the operational aspects, seed cleaning and finally, all the downstream activities. It was fascinatingit also honestly took me a year or two to really understand how all the dots were connected.But, it wasnt just the complexity and beauty of the seed sector that made him want to stayit was the company culture of Rijk Zwaan as well. In thinking about Rijk Zwaan and its culture, van Leeuwen says the company is a rather flat organizationbecause of that, they consider themselves a group of like-minded entrepreneurs that work for and towards the same purpose. Its a comfortable and welcoming place to work.We give guidance on what we want to achieve, but then we put a lot of trust in people that we recruitedthat gives a lot of freedom for people to operate, he says. Thats what I discovered when I started working here, and its what made me want to stay.Getting Involved InternationallyThough Rijk Zwaan opened new doors to the seed sector for van Leeuwen, after getting to experience so many different Van Leeuwen credits his success to a wonderfully supportive family.areas within the company, a new door opened for him: collabo-ration. We always apply this idea that you need to collaborate if you want to maintain a healthy seed sector, van Leeuwen says. This is also why we foster our colleagues worldwide and we encourage them to participate in national associations as well as associations such as the International Seed Federation (ISF).And, as he progressed through his career, van Leeuwen learned that he enjoyed that collaborative aspect to the job, A REMINDER ON ISFS KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES whether it was in-house or at the association level. I like to build bridges, he says. I like to connect to people to In 2021, ISF updated their 5-year Key Strategic Objectivesget things done, and if you combine that with the fact that work-(KSOs). In case you need a reminder, the five major goalsing in the seed sector is a lot of fun, it was also logical for me to ISF has are: get involved internationally.Van Leeuwen started his journey by getting involved with 1To promote the benefits of quality seed as thePlantum, the national seed association in the Netherlands, and foundations of sustainable agriculture value chains. joining Euroseeds. From there, as he got more involved with the fight against illegal seed practices, amongst others as chair of 2To accelerate the delivery of innovation and enablethe Anti Infringement Bureau, and developed a passion for intel-seed to remain a contributor to solutions thatlectual property protection, he was offered a role on one of the address farmer and consumer needs. ISF committeesand the rest, he says, is history. Since then, he went on to become president of ISF in the summer of 2022. 3To promote more efficient movement of qualityWe agreed that some sections of our lives have no plans, seed to continue to deliver benefits. and I didnt have a plan to become ISF president, van Leeuwen 4To encourage policy environments that supportsays, adding that after participating on the vegetables and orna-fair and sustainable business models. mentals board, he joined the board of directors of ISF in 2017. When I was asked if I would be interested in the cycle of becom-5ISF will support its members by providing servicesing second vice president to first vice president to president, I and to be the global platform for exchange andtook some time to think about it. Its a great honor and a great collaboration within the seed sector.responsibility, and I wanted to make sure Id be able to deliver if I obtained the position.It took a lot of thought from different aspects of his life. Not only did he consult his colleagues at Rijk Zwaan, but he also looked 18/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023'