From left: Rasmus Juul Nyholm, Annabel Short, Maya Færch, Nicole Maarsen, Allan Polack,

Gustaf Lilliehöök, Rasmus Nørgaard

Home.Earth is proud to announce a diverse international board with members bringing leadership experience from real estate, finance, sustainability, and human rights in business. The board will play an important role in Home.Earth’s journey as a pathfinder towards a more sustainable and inclusive paradigm in real estate.

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The real estate sector continues to be at the heart of some of the grandest challenges our society is facing – from climate change to housing shortage in our largest cities. Home.Earth has been founded as a pathfinder towards a new real estate paradigm where the sector can be turned around to become part of the solution to these challenges.

Home.Earth is now strengthening its capacity for impact by appointing an international board who brings diverse experience from the sector. Allan Polack, previous Chief Executive of the major Danish pension fund, PFA, has been elected chair of the board:

“The challenges our cities are facing require us to think in new ways and raise the bar for social and planetary impact. Home.Earth has set out to do exactly that and furthermore gathered a highly experienced team to lead this transition. I look very much forward to contributing as the Chair of the newly appointed board”, Polack says.

Polack, who brings more than 40 years of experience from finance and real estate, served as the CEO of Nordea Asset Management before being appointed the CEO of PFA, a role he held until the spring of 2022. Today, he serves as an independent board member at Danske Bank and as the Chairman of the Human Practice Foundation alongside his new role as the chair of the supervisory board of Home.Earth K/S.

“A more sustainable and inclusive real estate sector that works for all is urgently needed. Home.Earth is a unique example of combining a distinct purpose with a strong business model, thus demonstrating the direction we need to go in. I look forward to work with the rest of the board to contribute to the strategic direction of the company while supporting the task of attracting aligned capital to scale the impact of Home.Earth”, Polack continues.

Diverse and international experience

Alongside Polack, Home.Earth has appointed Dutch real estate leader Nicole Maarsen, who brings 25 years of real estate experience and currently serves as the Chair of the Dutch Urban Land Institute, British/American national Annabel Short who serves as a Research Fellow with the Institute of Human Rights in Business with focus on social impact in the built environment, Swedish national Gustaf Lilliehöök, a partner at NREP with focus on sustainability, ESG and investorrelations, and Maya Færch, who brings deep expertise within sustainability, circularity and systems change in the built environment from Laudes Foundation and Lendager. On the choice of board members, Home.Earth Founder Rasmus Nørgaard says:

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‍“To succeed in creating a real estate sector that works for all stakeholders in the ecosystem – from tenants to investors, local communities, and our planet – we need diverse experience represented. We are proud to announce aboard with such varied experience representing four nationalities, who are all considered leaders within their respective fields.”

Overview of board members

Allan Polack (Chair, independent)

Danish national,born 1959, male

40 years of experience from institutional finance with executive management positionsincluding Group CEO of PFA Pension, one of Europe’s largest pension funds, 7years as CEO of Nordea Asset Management and 6 years as CEO of Nordea Life and Pensions. Holds an MSc Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School and executive education from INSEAD.

Nicole Maarsen (independent)

Dutch national, born 1971, female

25 years of real estate experience across the value chain. Previous Executive at Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance, prior to that the Co-CEO of Maarsen Groep for 7years and real estate professional at ING for 7 years. Currently serving as the Chair of the Dutch Urban Land Institute and as a board member of the Association of Institutional Property Investors (IVBN). Holds an MSc Real Estate and an MSc Marketing from the University of Amsterdam and a BSc Economics from the University of Groningen.

Gustaf Lilliehöök (independent)

Swedish national, born 1977, male

Partner at NREP, where he focuses on supporting the firm´s ESG agenda and strategic partnerships. Prior, he spent 7 years at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group and worked as a consultant with Oliver Wyman in Singapore. Holds an MA in Democratic Development from Uppsala University, a Graduate Program in Applied  Journalist hogskolan in Stockholm and a BSc in Finance and Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Annabel Short (independent)

British/American national, born 1977, female

Expert on human rights and business with focus areas including housing, participation, workers, and human rights due diligence. Serving as a Research Fellow, Built Environment at the Institute of Human Rights and Business and as a Principal with It’s Material. Prior to that, she served as a Deputy Director with ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New Yorkand as Deputy Director of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.Holds a MA in  International Development Studies from Birkbeck, University of London and an MA Joint Honors, Spanish & French from the University of Edinburgh.

Maya Færch (independent)

Danish national, born 1987, female

Strong experience with sustainability and systems change in the built environment. Previous Senior Programme Manager at the Laudes Foundation and prior to that Chief Consultant at Lendager – The Circular Way, where she focused on circularity, resource innovation and systems change. Experience from PwC, SDG lead and Danish Red Cross, where she has held roles within CSR, business development and impact investing. Holds a combined BA and MA in Economics, Leadership and Business Administration from Roskilde University.

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