Szandra Gonzalez, new member of the Agency

Hi Szandra, could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit more about your background?
My name is Szandra (the z is silent!), I'm 40 years old and have 4 children. I've been living in Mouscron for 4 years and I love discovering my region. I've had quite an unusual career, having lived in nine different countries and holding both French and Belgian nationalities. I've worked in various sectors, including energy and IT in project management for over ten years, and then in sustainable food and the circular economy for the last nine years as a freelancer.

What will your tasks be and what are you most looking forward to in this job?
I'm really looking forward to discovering a local world that I don't know, being out in the field and seeing the impact of my missions, as well as getting to know this super-dynamic Eurometropolis team. My main task will be to support Catherine Christiaens with the BlueWalks projects and everything to do with the Carré Bleu.

What inspires you about cross-border work?
With my Hungarian, French and Chilean roots, I think I'm an ambassador for multiculturalism. It's this triple cross-border multiculturality that inspires me enormously, because as a resident of Mouscron, I regularly travel to Picardy Wallonia, Flanders and the north of France. Whether on foot or by train, you don't even notice the borders, but you can see that in our region, the cultures are all mixed together. And I love that!

On a more personal note, what are your passions?
My children take up a lot of my time and energy, but apart from work and family, I have several passions. The main one is cooking (whether it's the organisation around cooking or the recipes themselves), Crossfit (a sport I discovered 5 years ago and which nourishes me enormously) and more recently embroidery.