New Managing Director and New Board Members at the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum
Hajnalka Kovács-Czövek is appointed as the new managing director of Hungarian Business Leaders Forum. The General Assembly of HBLF in May also elected two new board members, Balázs Hajós (Schneider Electric Zrt.) and Nikolett Blaskó (ACG).
Hajnalka Kovács-Czövek is an experienced media executive. She began her career at ABN AMRO Bank in the Netherlands, as business analyst. From there she switched to the media industry, to the Swiss media company, Ringier AG. She worked in Zurich, in the international division, Ringier Publishing Europe, in the field of project management and business development (M&A transactions). Later she continued her career at the Hungarian subsidiary as publishing director of a daily newspaper, responsible for editorial-marketing- and sales activities. She implemented with her team successfully the "TOP magazines" publications on the Hungarian market (100 richest Hungarians, 50 most successful Hungarian young people, The 50 most successful Hungarian businesswomen, etc.). Soon she was dedicated to set up and run the magazines business unit in Hungary as head of the division, and she also became member of the Hungarian Management Board. After maternity leave she returned to the media and was Head of Magazines at Mediaworks, from where she switched to consulting, and gained experience with startups and SMEs.
Hajnalka Kovács-Czövek graduated from the Corvinus University of Budapest in1999. She studied and gained diploma also at Witrschaftsuniversiteat Passau (Germany), and also completed the CEMS program at Corvinus University of Budapest, where she studied international management at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
I am pleased to join the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum as managing director and proudly will represent this 30-year-old organization with such a long tradition. The mission, goals and engagements of HBLF are very inspiring and valuable for me. HBLF implemented many exciting projects already which supports and encourages business leaders to behave responsibly for a sustainable future. It is inspiring how the member companies of the organization, the excellence of the Hungarian business life, work together in HBLF's projects to achieve the common goals, whether it be the digital, communication or HR working group, the CEO Forum, the Financial Summits, the HBLF Women Leaders Forum, the EU Diversity Charta, the Romaster Foundation, the HBLF's Oscar-winning International XMentor program, just to mention a few of them without the need for completeness." - Hajnalka Kovács-Czövek
The General Assembly of HBLF in May 2022 has also elected two new board members, and Balázs Hajós (Schnneider Electric) and Nikolett Blaskó (ACG).
Nikolett Blaskó is one of the most well-known businesswoman in the Hungarian communication industry. Chairman of the Association of Communication Agencies in Hungary, member of the supervisory board of the Self-Regulatory Advertising Board. The ACG Advertising Agency is one of the leading agencies on the Hungarian market. Both as a private person and as a businesswoman, she is an active social roleholder. An important component of success is the value system according to which an organization works. In this spirit, in addition to its commercial mandates, ACG is continuously developing value-creating projects affecting society on a charitable basis. As a curator, he helps Unicef's work in Hungary, patron of contemporary design and fashion in Hungary. She continuously performs and mentors (also in HBLF's Oscar-winning XMentor program), and is committed to supporting women's advancement in business. She was one of the first women on the cover of Forbes magazine and a permanent member of Forbes' list of the most influential Hungarian women.
Nikolett Blaskó graduated from the College of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism with a specialization in marketing advertising in 1998 after she finished her business studies at the Cambridge Busines Colleage hungarian’s institute.
"I have been a member of the HBLF CEO Forum and HBLF Women's Leaders Forum for many years. I consider the programs and efforts that the organization makes in the interest of society through the cooperation of hungarian top executives to be extremely valuable. I am proud of our latest Women's Day campaign with ACG, in which we drew attention to the fact that currently only 8% of the top 50 companies have female CEOs, which is far from enough. Women also have endless opportunities, which require a change of perspective. I am pleased to join the work of the Presidency to use my experience and contacts in the communication industry to help to implement further similarly forward-looking, value-creating initiatives." – Nikolett Blaskó.
Balázs Hajós is the sales director of Schneider Electric Zrt., who is responsible for the Digitalization Working Group within HBLF and considers it an important task to support the digital transition of the Hungarian economy and businesses. HBLF's newly formed Digital Working Group has identified a number of areas that can be strengthened to make significant progress in the digital transition. These areas of action include, among others, education, cooperation between market participants and support for innovation.
"We have acomplete digitalization process going on all over the world, and we need to create systems that connect the industrial-technological knowledge accumulated in recent decades with the latest digital solutions and the new digital culture. I am very pleased that we can work together and share the experience with other corporate leaders within the framework of a successful organization such as HBLF, with which I hope that we will be able to support the development of hungarian businesses and the economy" - Balázs Hajós.