A Celebration of Women™

is elated to Celebrate the Life of this woman born equal to all women, married into royalty, mother of three that devotes her energy through her efforts in micro finance through Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), helping Ethnic Minority Women’s for the betterment of all women.

 
 

 

 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 

 

Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti

 

 
Bill Harwood will open by stating: ” Maxima is a wonder of the world. She learned Nederlands, one of the most complex languages in the world, in 3 weeks, produced an heir in 9 months and a spare a year later. She is so smart that they changed the laws of the Kingdom of Nederland to allow her to be Queen, something never done before in history. She is much more remarkable than you know. I belong to a unique group of Women in Amsterdam who were formed after a conference where she spoke.

She had a very simple proposition. “Men have succeeded by having an “old boy’s network” thru which they helped each other, wrote laws, made business arrangements, etc. We need a “new girls network that works just like the old boys network except for us.”

From that Newt Women of Amsterdam was born and a change in consciousness for all women in Nederland evolved. She is a figure who will be compared with Gorbachev. She is not exactly a commoner, incidently, being absolute elite with a father who was Agricultural Commissioner.”
 

Princess Máxima of the Netherlands (née Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; born 17 May 1971) is the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands. On 30 April 2013, upon Queen Beatrix’s abdication and her husband’s accession to the throne as King Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima will become queen consort of the Netherlands and will be styled HM Queen Máxima, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau.

Born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 May 1971, Princess Máxima is the daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta (born 1928) and his second wife, María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart (born 1944).

She has two brothers, a sister and three half-sisters by her father’s first wife, Marta López Gil.

She studied at Northlands School in Argentina and worked as an investment banker before graduating with a degree in Economics from the Universidad Católica Argentina in 1995. She subsequently worked for large international finance companies in Argentina, New York and Brussels.

A Fairy tale romance:

In May 1999, Willem and Máxima met in Seville (Spain) during a party in the Andalusian capital. She introduced herself and Willem could not hide how much he liked the Argentinean lady. Then the Prince asked her to dance, but his lack of rhythm made Máxima turn around and say (in Spanish) to one of her friends: “Es de Madera!”.

Immediately, Willem asked her what did she said and she told him the same phrase but in English: “That you are made of wood.”

They both laughed and immediately fell in love.

On March 30, 2001, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands confirmed that Máxima and his son are a couple.

Two years later, the royal family announced the official engagement. The news caused adverse reactions in some Dutch social sectors because of the political past of Maximas’s father, who used to be Minister in the regime of Jorge Rafael Videla during Argentina’s military dictatorship.

Jorge Zorreguieta was banned from going to the wedding of his daughter and finally had to watch it on television in London. Máxima cried during the ceremony when she heard “Adiós Nonino”, his father’s favorite tango that she had chosen to be played that day.

Through her father, she is a descendant of King Afonso III of Portugal and his son King Denis of Portugal and many noble families of the Iberian Peninsula. She is also a descendant of Túpac Huallpa, a puppet Inca Emperor. On request of the Dutch Parliament, Michiel Baud, a Dutch professor in Latin American studies, carried out an inquiry into the involvement of Zorreguieta in the Dirty War.

Although Zorreguieta claimed that, as a civilian, he was unaware of the Dirty War while he was a cabinet minister, Baud concluded that it would have been unlikely for a person in such a powerful position in the government to be unaware of it. However, Baud’s research determined that Máxima’s father had not been directly involved with the many deaths during that period. Even so, his possible presence at the royal wedding was debated for several months, and eventually, he did not attend the wedding.

Approval for the marriage was granted by the Dutch parliament (as necessary by law for the Prince of Orange to remain heir to the throne), but Máxima’s parents were not invited to attend the wedding.

The couple announced their engagement on 30 March 2001; Princess Máxima addressed the nation in fluent Dutch during the directly televised broadcast.

Máxima was granted Dutch citizenship by Royal Decree on 17 May 2001 and now has dual citizenship: Argentine and Dutch.

The wedding took place on February 2nd, 2002 at the Cathedral of Amsterdam.

She remained a Roman Catholic after her marriage.

Princess Máxima and Prince Willem-Alexander were married on 2 February 2002 in a civil ceremony in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, which was then followed by a religious ceremony at Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”).

The couple have three daughters:

• Princess Catharina-Amalia (born 7 December 2003)
• Princess Alexia (born 26 June 2005)
• Princess Ariane (born 10 April 2007)

Princess Máxima focuses on the issue of integration of immigrants into Dutch culture. She was a member of a special parliamentary commission which sought to recommend ways to increase the participation of female immigrants in the workforce. Princess Máxima stresses the importance for immigrants of learning the Dutch language (as she did) in order to fully participate in Dutch society. Dutch is actually the Princess’ third language; she also speaks Spanish (her native language) and English.

She participates in conferences around the world representing the Netherlands. The Princess was granted a seat in the Dutch Council of State on 20 October 2004, the highest advisory body and court of administration. She became a member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women’s Participation, has a seat on the board of governors of the Chair on the Management of Diversity and Integration at the Free University of Amsterdam, she (along with her husband) is a patron of the Orange Fund (established to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands), and she also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair of the University of Utrecht.

Princess Máxima of the Netherlands will be meeting ITC-ILO participants in the Boulder Microfinance Training Programme and faculty members.

Princess Máxima was a member of the Advisors Group for the United Nations International Year of Microcredit in 2005. She travelled all over the world, including Africa and South America, to promote microcredit. She also attended many UN conferences related to the International Year of Microcredit.

She is a member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women’s Participation, and has a seat on the board of governors of the Chair in the Management of Diversity and Integration at the Free University of Amsterdam.

In addition, along with her husband, she is a patron of the Orange Fund (established to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands) and also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair at the University of Utrecht. In September 2009, the princess was appointed by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, as his Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development because of her extensive knowledge and expertise on financial matters in developing countries.

She is one of the few royals in the world to be an open supporter of gay rights, and was the first royal to attend an LGBT rights conference on 5 March 2008.

The Princess currently serves as the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon designated her to this role in September 2009 in order to raise awareness on the importance of inclusive financial systems for achieving economic and development goals such as poverty alleviation, food security and education.

In her work as UNSGSA, Princess Máxima focuses on how formal financial services such as savings, insurance, credit and more can help put an end to 100 million per year falling into poverty due to expenditures on healthcare, or the 44 million people who are not able to protect themselves against rising food prices and poverty because they do not have access to basic savings accounts.

Today, the situation is urgent, with an estimated 2.5 billion adults outside of the formal financial system, and approximately 200 million SMEs in emerging markets unable to get the finance they need. The role of the UNSGSA is to foster action by governments, private sector, financial system standard setters, and others towards a more inclusive financial system that works for the poor.

Princess Máxima is also the Honorary Patron of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) since June 2011. In this role she works with governments and partners to advance the G20 Action Plan on Financial Inclusion, and the G20 Financial Inclusion Peer Learning Program.

Previously, Princess Máxima was a member of the Advisors Group for the United Nations’ International Year of Microcredit 2005. and until 2009, was a member of UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors.

Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg (2 February 2002 – present)

As wife of the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima does not carry the title “Princess of Orange” – the title of Prince or Princess of Orange is reserved for, and only used by, the heir apparent to the throne. When Prince Willem-Alexander ascends the throne, the current Hereditary Princess of Orange, Princess Catharina-Amalia, will become Princess of Orange.

By Royal Decree nr. 41 of 25 January 2002, upon the solemnization of marriage Máxima Zorreguieta was taken up into the Dutch nobility and the titles Princess of the Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau, and the predicate Royal Highness, were formally granted to her.

By Royal Decree nr. 42 of 25 January 2002, the Princess was granted her own personal coat of arms and a personal standard.

On 13 May 2011 the Dutch parliament confirmed that when the Prince of Orange ascends the throne, Princess Máxima will take the style and title of Her Majesty The Queen of the Netherlands.

On 28 January 2013, it was announced that Beatrix would abdicate on 30 April in favour of Willem-Alexander. Máxima will then become queen of the Netherlands. She will be the kingdom’s first queen consort since Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the second wife of William III.

She will also be the first Dutch queen consort to have been born as a commoner.

Executive Director Ertharin Cousin meets with HRH Princess Máxima of The Netherlands, UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) on Thursday, 21 March, 2013.

From left to right: Executive Director Ertharin Cousin; HRH Princess Máxima of The Netherlands and Her Excellency Gerda Verburg, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, The Netherlands. – Copyright: WFP/Rein Skullerud

In recent years, efforts to promote financial education have gained very strong momentum, both at the national and international levels. Within many countries, there are an increasing number of programs and initiatives, developed by different stakeholders. These include public entities, financial intermediaries, as well as educational and other non-governmental organizations. Given the diversity of stakeholders and the concomitant potential conflicts of interest, it is absolutely necessary to exercise proper coordination and guidance.

Recognizing this, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in concert with the International Network on Financial Education (INFE), have been working on the development of High Level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education. Such clearly-defined principles can be a powerful tool for countries working to develop national strategies. More importantly, the principles provide common ground for interested stakeholders, whose agendas may be similar, but not always identical.

In this regard, Mexico, in its capacity as President of the G20, is promoting the broad recognition of these High Level Principles on National Strategies on Financial Education that are currently being developed by the INFE and the OECD. READ MORE
 

Becoming crown princess of the Netherlands didn’t mean that Maxima, who has dual Argentine and Dutch citizenship, planned to lose her cultural identity.

She said: “I am Latin and I will continue being Latin. I dance, I sing and I will keep on dancing and singing.” Asked if Willem-Alexander joined in the fun, she replied: I keep trying to push him. His hips are a little rigid.”

Her prince said he hoped the down-to-earth woman with the winning smile wouldn’t change after she became part of the royal family.

“I fell in love with this Maxima: spontaneous, interesting, nice,” he said. “It wasn’t always, nor will it be easy, but I hope that she stays the same person as she is now.”

On 30 April 2013, upon Queen Beatrix’s abdication and her husband’s accession to the throne as King Willem-Alexander, Princess Maxima will become Queen of the Netherlands.

Princess Máxima is the daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta and his second wife, María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart .

She studied at Northlands School in Argentina and worked as an investment banker before graduating with a degree in Economics from the Universidad Católica Argentina in 1995.

She subsequently worked for large international finance companies in Argentina, New York and Europe.

 
Today, celebrated as an esteemed nominated member of the global Alumni of WOMEN of ACTION™ .
 
 
 
 

A Celebration of Women™

welcomes this visionary with heart into our Alumni with open arms, looking forward to future collaboration in the creation of better lives for all women on this planet.

 

 

Brava Maxima! (Soon to be Her Majesty!)