Caroline Gennez — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Currently serves as Vlaams minister of Welfare, Culture, Poverty Reduction, and Equal Opportunities.
Served as Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy in the De Croo Government from December 2022 until October 2024.
Treasurer of the Party of European Socialists (PES) since October 2022.
Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors for the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) since 2022.
Former chairwoman of the Socialist Party – Different (SP.A) in Flanders.
Holds a Master in Political and Sociological Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Biography

Caroline Gennez, born on August 21, 1975, in Sint-Truiden, is a Belgian socialist politician. She earned a Master in Political and Sociological Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven. Before her political career, she was a talented tennis player from age 5 to 14, a path that ended due to a hernia.

Gennez began her political journey by joining the Young Socialists, becoming their chairperson in 1998. She served as a city councillor (2001–2003) and alderman (2003) in Sint-Truiden.