Sophie Boucher has been overseeing all labor & employment matters in EMEA for Palo Alto Networks, the next-generation security company, leading a new era in cybersecurity by safely enabling applications and preventing cyber breaches for tens of thousands of organizations worldwide, since January 2017 with a special focus on driving inclusion & diversity. Sophie has specialized in legal support of HR functions since 2013. She is also the deputy employer representative on the Netherlands works council and employer representative (chairman) on the France Comité Social et Economique and previously led global legal strategy for two fiscal years.

I joined Baker McKenzie’s Global Compensation & Benefits tax practice in March 2023, after nearly three and a half years at a Big-Four firm’s Employment Tax practice.

As a tax advisor at Baker McKenzie, I specialize in global Compensation and Benefits, focusing on executive, equity-based, and expatriate compensation. I assist national and multinational corporations in various sectors, such as finance, tech, telecom, and pharmaceuticals, in crafting reward packages that align with their strategic objectives. My role ensures compliance with tax, legal, and corporate governance regulations, providing integrated, efficient, and practical solutions to complex matters with a client-centric approach.

My working style is driven and proactive, thriving on solving complex problems and delivering pragmatic solutions to stakeholders, allowing me to demonstrate my value effectively.

In addition to my role at Baker McKenzie, I am a freelance author for a Dutch publisher specializing in professional tax literature. I write commentaries on legal provisions for Dutch wage tax purposes, particularly focusing on employee stock options.

Furthermore, I am also passionate about contributing to the evolution of global equity and believe the Future Leaders program will provide a unique platform to do so.

Don-Tobias Jol is a partner within the Amsterdam Tax practice with over 20 years of experience. He focuses on global compensation and benefits advisory, with particular emphasis on the so-called “three E’s”: executive, equity and expatriate compensation. Don-Tobias is a frequent author and speaker on a variety of international remuneration issues, and served on the Board of Directors of the Global Equity Organization (GEO) from 2018 to 2023. He has been on international assignments to South Africa (in 2005 and 2006) and Saudi Arabia (in 2012 and 2013) to serve clients of his respective employers at the time. Don-Tobias is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Global Employment & Compensation Practice Group, and heads the Firm’s Dutch Compensation & Benefits advisory team. Don-Tobias’ key area of expertise is global compensation and benefits, and he focuses on the fields of executive, equity-based and expatriate compensation. Within executive compensation, he assists multinational corporations in creating strategically aligned reward packages that comply with the relevant tax, legal and corporate governance rules. In the field of equity compensation, he designs share-based remuneration plans, and also advises on remuneration in case of mergers, acquisitions, IPOs and private equity transactions. When consulting on expatriate compensation, Don-Tobias offers wage and income tax as well as social security advisory for globally mobile employees, including issues such as salary splits, severance payments, corresponding pension approvals, immigration law et cetera.

Dennis Paalman is currently serving as the Global Head of Reward, Performance Management, OD and International Mobility at Arcadis and he is the founder of Reward Works. His prior roles include (Executive) Senior Vice President Global Reward, at OCI, Bayer, Fertiglobe, Solvay, Signify (previously Philips Lighting), Royal AholdDelhaize and ING Bank. Senior Consultant in the Executive Compensation Practice at WTW in London and Amsterdam, various roles at IBM. 

Furthermore, Dennis served as the interim Executive Director of GEO in 2023 and 2024, Chairman of the GEO Board from 2019 to 2025. Chairman of the Jury for the GEO Awards from 2011 to 2019. GEO Board Member as well as a member of the GEO Executive Committee since 2010. Chairman of the Dutch Association for Compensation and Benefits Professionals since 2014. Dennis is a regular visiting lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from the Technical University of Twente. Completed the Advance Management Program at Insead, the Royal Ahold Leadership program at Harvard/Oxford and several executive programs at the University of Michigan. Dennis is married to Liz, has four kids and lives in The Netherlands.