Who I work for

My clients range from commercial companies with products to sell to public interest groups with a political agenda. Here are a few examples:

Fortis Foundation
Fortis Foundation’s annual report for 2007 was distributed with a CD of 12 interviews with Fortis staff and representatives from organisations which the Foundation supports. The purpose was to bring listeners into closer contact with two different worlds: inside and outside Fortis and reflecting both engagement with and passion for a cause. I enjoyed interviewing all of the speakers during three days in a studio in Utrecht.
Just to mention three examples. Gerjoke Wilmink, the director of Nibud, talked about the educational pack ‘Being responsible with money’ which Nibud has developed together with Fortis aimed at school students in their early teens. Nicole Verhoef, director of the IMC Weekend School, described the childrens’ sports day that she and Fortis had arranged as a reward for her pupils devoting their free time to improving their situation in life. The IMC Weekend School provides children from socially- and economically-deprived areas with expert tuition every Sunday for a period of three years. Melissa Marks-Salmon had lots to say about microfinancing and the mentor that the Fortis Foundation had provided for her and which led to her setting up Melissa Gift Baskets as a sole trader.

Get Foundation
Get Foundation works on behalf of small farmers in developing countries who are finding it hard to break into international markers to sell their produce.
I led a debate between staff from Get NV, its Foundation, farmers, traders, financiers and NGOs, on 1 April 2008, about the connections needing to be built between world markets and small farmers. The efresh internet portal – an online auction set up by the Foundation’s parent organisation Get NV – is one example of an important but as yet largely unknown means of bringing together producers and buyers. The debate explored in depth the advantages and disadvantages of online auctions. One of the final conclusions of the debate was that the various groups must strengthen their level of co-operation to help small farmers gain a place on the world stage as quickly as possible.

Delta Commission
The Delta Commission (Deltacommissie) is advising the Dutch Cabinet on how to respond to the impacts of climate change on coastal regions of the Netherlands over the coming 100 to 200 years. The Commission will recommend strategies for the long-term sustainable development of the Dutch coast and the hinterland. The key concern is to safeguard the future of competing interests such as housing, industry, recreation, nature protection, farming and energy supply. The Delta Commission is being led by Prof. Dr. Cees Veerman.
Until April 2008, I have been handling the communications activities of the Commission, which is expected to present its findings and recommendations to the Cabinet sometime this summer.

AFM – the Netherlands Financial Markets Authority
From September 2007 until March 2008, I acted as spokesperson for the AFM – the official body which functions as the watchdog on Dutch financial market activities.
I was also responsible for developing ideas for generating free publicity concerning the wide range of work conducted by the AFM. I represented the AFM in the media and provided communications advice across the organisation.

Delta Lloyd
During three so-called ‘strong coffee’ events at Delta Lloyd, in February 2008, I led internal discussions on the communications theme of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The purpose of the debates, held in Amsterdam, Arnhem and Zwolle, was to enliven the company’s internal dialogue about CSR.

Roland van der Hoek
I have been working to position and draw attention to the variety of inspiring projects developed by Roland van der Hoek, named by the Chamber of Commerce as CSR businessman of the year in 2007.
Van der Hoek is head of Thremen, a company which provides administrative services and is notable as a multicultural firm where over half of the employees come from a non-Dutch background: a reason for the company’s success in generating employment!

International Fund for Animal Welfare
Elephant numbers are dwindling in Africa, under pressure from illegal Poaching and trade in ivory. With The Netherlands hosting the June 2007 round of the UN CITES conference on trade in endangered species, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) asked me to organise three advance media events. They involved introducing the Dutch media to a delegation from seven African nations concerned about trade in ivory, an expert who is promoting a new solution for widening the territory available to elephant herds and a Kenyan park ranger with first-hand experience of what combating ivory poaching really involves. The events were designed to put pressure on the Dutch government, which IFAW saw as adopting a far too relaxed stance on elephant protection.

Rabobank
The largest bank in The Netherlands, with 9 million customers, has engaged me on a four-month project to boost the PR presence and effectiveness of the bank’s two research departments covering economic information & research and food & agriculture. The task, including analysis of internal and external communications and team-building and coaching, supports the Rabobank’s aim to be the world’s leading food & agriculture bank.

Prior to this, I was called in as interim spokesperson during the first two months of 2007. Working within the company’s Communications Directorate, I was responsible for generating ideas for free publicity covering the entire range of the bank’s products and services, for representing Rabobank in the media and providing advice on related matters.

Earlier, in July 2006, I was asked to lead a discussion session attended by 120 of the Rabobank’s human resources managers. Stimulus for the event was the publication of the book ‘De WERKelijkheid van morgen’ (‘Tomorrow’s Working Reality’) which deals with seven mega-trends affecting HR.

Delta Lloyd en FNV Bondgenoten
As part of a series of public discussions between large financial service companies and the leading Dutch trade union, FNV Bondgenoten, I led a debate on employment security and a longer working life between the CEO of Delta Lloyd and the chair of the FNV at the end of October 2006.

NWEA
To mark the opening of a wind farm in Biddinghuizen, the Dutch Wind Energy Association (NWEA) held a two-hour forum on wind energy in June, which I was delighted to have helped prepare and to chair.

Consumentenbond
Called in to work as interim Communications Manager for the Dutch consumer organisation during the first half of 2006, I managed and coached Consumentbond’s communications team, handled internal communications, acted as the organisation’s spokesperson particularly in the area of financial affairs and advised management on communication regarding Consumentenbond’s new positioning. I am continuing to play the role of coach with one of the organisation’s spokespeople.

Partos
The umbrella organisation for Dutch development organisations including groups such as Oxfam Novib and the Red Cross. Partos engaged me to lead three workshops and training sessions on crisis communications which were attended by staff from its member groups.

VBDO
The Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling (Association of Investors for Sustainable Development), an organisation established with the support of leading Dutch banks and the Netherlands Environment Ministry in 1995. The VBDO celebrated its first decade of work with a series of events. The association asked me to lead a session with keynote speaker Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute and world-renowned expert on sustainable development.

Nuon
Disconnecting customers’ gas and electricity supplies is a last resort for energy suppliers and a highly-charged issue for the public, welfare organisations, poverty groups and politicians. The power company Nuon called me in to lead a public debate between the opposing camps as a way to resolve problems affecting those hardest hit.

Le Tableau
In advance of the September 2005 launch of the first employment agency for lawyers, I advised the agency’s management on their media and communications strategy.

Recycling Network
An international network of organisations concerned about the environmental impacts of packaging. Their current goal is to promote the expansion of deposits and reuse of drinks containers. I headed a media offensive in the summer of 2004 which successfully placed the problem back on the Dutch political agenda, generating debates in the Dutch Parliament, in preparation for revision of the Netherlands’ national agreement on packaging during 2005.

Duurzame Energie Koepel
An umbrella organisation of Dutch companies active in the renewable energy sector. I am handling their media and communications work with the aim of developing and reinforcing political and public acceptance of clean energy.

ING Bank
The fourth largest bank in the Netherlands engaged me as interim head of public relations and public affairs to manage its communications operation and oversee the preparation and launch of a repositioning campaign for the bank. This ranged from maintaining contacts with a broad range of stakeholders to preparing senior bank figures for internal presentations and external media appearances.

Utz Kapeh Foundation
Utz Kapeh means “good coffee” in the Mayan language of Guatemala. I devised and managed an international communications and lobby plan for the market introduction of a worldwide standard and label for “responsibly-produced” coffee.

Hanneke Huisman Interieurs
I assisted Hanneke in the development of her media profile as an Italian-schooled interior designer by developing a communications and PR plan to strengthen her company’s image.

University of Maastricht
I advised the university in connection with a series of expert workshops concerning the future of farmed salmon.