My name is Léopold Gérard and I am a Business Analyst at Odoo. I have studied Economics and Management in Belgium at the Louvain School of Management.

During those years, I’ve handled some social projects with friends, which gave me the desire to find a job that made sense for me. After a lot of research, and a first journey in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I finally found a position for the Virunga Foundation - an NGO that runs the Virunga National Park through a public-private partnership. 

I have started as Financial and Administrative Manager on the worksite of a hydro-electric plant, next to the park in the Lubero district. The objective of this facility aims to provide 14 Mega Watts of electricity to rural areas, to avoid intrusions in the park, to cut trees, and to make Makala (charcoal).

After two years, the Virunga Foundation gave me the opportunity to change positions and become a manager directly in their headquarters of the organization in Rumangabo with transversal functions. At that time, I was mainly acting as chief of the agricultural department, waiting for the coming of the next department’s responsible, and I was in charge of the international inter-department procurement. 

After living three and a half years in Congo, I wanted to have another experience abroad before coming back to Belgium. I decided to live in Brazil for a six-month journey, and learned Portuguese in a language school. I returned to Belgium in 2020, and secured the position of Business Analyst at Odoo, where my unconventional working career was valued.