Els Van der Helm

Dr. Els Van der Helm is a neuroscientist, and adjunct professor at IE Business School, has been named one of the top 5 sleep experts in the world* and now advises corporations around sleep, performance, and wellbeing. She supports CEOs and decision-makers worldwide to help them get the best out of themselves, their team members, and their organization.

“The sleep session had more impact than any other workshop I’ve done. One year later, I still think of it at least 2-3 times a week. In my work, having enough sleep is crucial. I walked away with very practical tips that have become part of my daily routine.”

She hosts keynotes, workshops, webinars, Sleep & Wellbeing Months, in combination with science-based assessments. Separately she also supports players in the sleep and wellbeing space as a boardroom advisor, educating their workforce on sleep and assisting in the creation of science-based sleep content for product and marketing purposes.

“A good night of sleep is the most critical element in maintaining a healthy mind and positive energy. Els and her team conducted a very insightful session around this topic with my senior leadership team. This session provided us valuable insights and gave effective tools that helped us understand and improve our sleep cycle. I believe this had a very positive effect on the team energy during the very testing times of pandemic.”

Els began her career in sleep during her Masters in Neurosciences (VU Amsterdam) studying the effect of sleep on cognitive performance at the Netherlands Institute of Neurosciences and Harvard Medical School. She also holds a summa cum laude Masters in Clinical Neuropsychology (University of Amsterdam).

Els then went on to study the effect of sleep on the brain and performance as a Fulbright scholar during her PhD in Psychology at UC Berkeley before working at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant.

“The sleep program has changed my mindset to prioritize sleep and implement the tips on the evening routine which has made me feel a lot better during the day and lowered my stress levels. The recommendations led to drastic changes in my evening habits allowing me to disconnect from work in the evening and I can tell it’s positively affecting my decisions running my business. I can highly recommend this program to any business leader!”

Her work on has been featured in HBR, the McKinsey Quarterly, The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, The Atlantic, Forbes, BBC, and many others. She regularly appears in the media: talk shows, news & radio shows. She hosted a Max Masterclass on prime time tv and online videos for the Huffington Post with millions of viewers.

Els is a mother of 2, a strong advocate of taking care of yourself (not just through sleep, but also exercise, nutrition, meditation, retreats, therapy, silence, whatever works for you). She is currently based in Lucerne Switzerland but works with companies across the globe.

*selected as one of the top 5 sleep experts in the world by Arianna Huffington’s company Thrive Global.

Theme: 

• Sleep in leadership, performance, mental health & productivity