Dr. Ilham Kadri

Dr. Ilham Kadri is Syensqo’s Chief Executive Officer. She also serves as Chair of the Executive Leadership Team and is a member of Syensqo’s Board of Directors. Dr. Kadri has held these three positions since Syensqo was established in December 2023.

Prior to taking up her positions at Syensqo, Dr. Kadri served as CEO and Chair of the Executive Leadership Team at Solvay, from 2019 to 2023. She was responsible for successfully leading Solvay’s turnaround, delivering double-digit EBITDA growth and 18 consecutive quarters of positive free cash flow, deleveraging the Group’s balance sheet and promoting strong employee engagement. She also successfully led the demerger of Solvay into two independent and publicly-listed companies, Solvay and Syensqo.

Dr. Kadri’s extensive leadership experience spans a variety of industries across four continents, with experience at leading industrial multinationals such as Shell, UCB, Huntsman, Dow and Sealed Air. She has consistently delivered purpose-led transformations that have led to sustainable and profitable businesses. Prior to becoming CEO of Solvay, she was CEO and President of Diversey, where she led the company’s return to profitability and resulting spinoff and divestiture to Bain Capital.

Dr. Kadri is an Independent Board member at A.O. Smith and L’Oréal. She is also active in non-profit organizations, serving as Chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), President of CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council, Chair of the European Round Table for Industry's (ERT) Committee on Competitiveness & Innovation. As President of CEFIC, Dr. Kadri also took on the role of President of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) at the beginning of 2025, and will hold this role during CEFIC’s two-year mandate.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Kadri has founded two non-profit foundations. She established the Solvay Solidarity Fund, now named the Syensqo Fund, in Belgium in 2020, which has supported more than 7,000 families affected by Covid-19 and natural disasters, and in 2015 she set up the ISSA Hygieia Network in the US, which supports women in the cleaning industry. She is a chemical engineer and holds a doctorate in Polymer Reactive Extrusion from Strasbourg University, as well as two Doctor Honoris Causa from EWHA University in Korea and the Université de Namur in Belgium.

Dr. Kadri is the host of the AND is the future podcast, which brings together great minds to address the opportunities and challenges of making businesses both sustainable AND profitable.