Rabobank brings its leadership talent to ABF

Using Amsterdam Business Forum as a leadership refreshment day: Learnings from Rabobank

Most large organizations have leadership programs - learning journeys designed for young leaders or future board members, helping them grow and prepare for their next step. These programs are often of very high quality, sometimes even in collaboration with top international business schools.

But once the journey is completed, a new challenge arises: how do you keep these leaders connected, inspired, and engaged?

The challenge of continuity

After a program ends, it’s difficult to bring alumni back together. Internal follow-up sessions often suffer from low registrations and high no-show rates. Yet, peer coaching, continued learning, and keeping the network alive are crucial for long-term impact.

Rabobank’s solution: ABF as a refresher

Rabobank faced this challenge head-on and cameup with a smart solution: use Amsterdam Business Forum as a leadershiprefreshment day.

Here’s how they do it:

• Invite all alumni of their leadership development program to ABF
• Let them attend the Main Stage program with world-class speakerso
• Host a private "Rabobank-only" side ebent for reconnection and peer dialogues

Why it works

The success of alumni networks depends on theability to sustain connections and knowledge sharing long after the initialtraining ends. ABF provides the perfect context for this:

• The high-profile speakers make it easy to justify clearing space in the calendar
• The inspirational environment sparks new energy and ideas
• The option to add a tailores side event keeps the experience aligned with the organization’s own culture and goals

In short: by embedding Amsterdam Business Forum into their leadership development cycle, Rabobank has turned the challenge of alumni engagement into an opportunity for renewed learning, connection, and inspiration.