Today, on the International Day of Women we would like to celebrate one of the coolest women we know – Celemi’s founder, Margareta Barchan.

The Celemi FoundersMargareta created Celemi around the pedagogic approach developed by co-founder Klas Mellander and the story-telling aspect of co-founder and film producer Krister Nathanaelsson. With her crystal clear business mind she gave the world the chance to taste programs like Decision Base, Tango, Livon and Apples & Oranges. During her many years as CEO of Celemi, she built up the network of Celemi Solution Providers, which today counts 150 members in 75 countries and includes some of the most prestigious business schools and training companies in the world.

Equally important, Margareta built up the Celemi culture of creativity and curiosity. When spreading “The Power of Learning” around the world, she managed to bring this culture to the subsidiaries in London, Brugge, Sydney and Chicago.

Margareta gave me the opportunity to join the greatest learning journey of my life by inviting me to be part of Celemi. Without Margareta, Celemi wouldn´t be what it is today. She created a really strong foundation for this company. We still operate with the same core principles set at the start, with a focus on the learner, learning through experiences and in learning with and through others.  Due to her courage starting the company, millions of learners around the world have developed themselves and their organizations to contribute to a better world. – Kjell Lindqvist, CEO of Celemi

Margareta was elected Business Woman of the Year in 1997. She joined the Oxford and HEC alumni network The Change Leaders (tCL) in 2004. She is the cofounder of New Angles in 2005 and launched The Brave Leaders Project 2015. Margareta is the mother of four daughters and has eight grandchildren. She lives in southern Spain with Klas Mellander. Read more about the amazing story of how Celemi was built here 

Today we say Tack, Gracias and Thank you Margareta! Without you, we would not be here and the world of corporate talent development would be a lot less fun.