Country desk officer for Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia and (P)SIDs at the Asia-Oceania Department, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Stichting Hirado-Noordwijk (Hirado-Noordwijk Foundation), is a foundation under the municipality of Noordwijk that maintains, coordinates and develops the historical relationship between the sister cities Noordwijk (NED) and Hirado (JPN). My personal activities are on a voluntary basis and consist of:- Receiving and coordinating official visits from- and to Japan,- Actively maintaining the relationship between Noordwijk, The Netherlands & Hirado, Japan ,- Negotiating the terms of the programs with all involved actors (schools, parents, students and local governments),- Organizing, coordinating & developing the sister city's high school exchange program,- Preparing Dutch students, both culturally and practically, for their stay in Hirado,- Representing the city of Noordwijk during official events, both in the Netherlands and Japan- Setting up- and coordinating remote programs for elementary school students in both countries- Mediating when students encounter problems,- Supporting the Japanese students and staff during their stay in Noordwijk.

As a teamleader, my core task consists of leading my team into a smooth process of store operations.

After my term in the board ended, I on request extended my membership of the board with a few months to temporarily take on the role as chairman of the board.

AFS Nederland is the Dutch branch of AFS Intercultural Programs, consisting of a network of 60+ countries. Starting as a voluntary ambulance service during the First- and Second World War, helping all wounded regardless of political orientation, it developed into the world's second biggest voluntary organization of today. AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The high school program, its core activity, aims at students between 15-18 years old. Participants stay with host families and enroll in the local high school, allowing them to experience the country and its culture from the inside out, while learning the language. The idea behind this is that it creates a deeper intercultural understanding.My activities were on a voluntarily basis and consisted of, among others:- Having a helicopter view of the local operations, consisting of hundreds of volunteers,- Overseeing the activities of the Dutch AFS office, consisting of +/- 5 paid staff members,- Being the ears for all volunteers in local chapters, and following up on their concerns, - Regular meetings with the board and with the national director and international parties,- Representing the organization during meetings with stakeholders- Overseeing the disastrous consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic- Researching the possibilities of economic survival during this pandemic- Leading (negotiations of) the complex merger between AFS Netherlands and AFS Belgium Flanders into the direction of success & economic- and organizational stability.

The Covid-19 pandemic kicked in during my term in the board of the Dutch Branch of AFS. The consequences (having to immediately return all students from abroad, cancel all programs, etc.) were disastrous for us as a volunteer-based organization. After considering several options with the survival of AFS in the Netherlands as absolute goal, our branch started orientating conversations with AFS Belgium Flanders. This lead to serious negotiations, maintaining mutual gain while executing the shared AFS-values. During the process of the merger, a transition period of one year, I simultaneously served in both the boards of AFS Netherlands and AFS Belgium Flanders, to advocate the interests of the Dutch organisation and its volunteers in the Belgian context. The process was complex, but the merger became a mutual success and thus a victory for the AFS values in both countries: help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

Advising the innovative start-up and TU Delft split-off VSParticle on the export possibilities of their products in Asia based on internal- and external research, market research, penetration strategies, marketing and logistical considerations. The main product I worked on was a complete and thorough export plan for VSParticle's aerosol nanoparticle generator (G1) to China.

For a period of +/- six months, I worked as an intern at the department of Public Diplomacy, Political- and Cultural Affairs (PPC) at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Japan in Tokyo. My personal assignments and responsibilities consisted of, among others:- Co-writing political reports following events and developments in the region for the Foreign Ministry (e.g. nuclear threats from North Korea)- Setting up projects to bring the UN's SDG's under the attention of local students- Setting up and executing a project going around several host towns of Dutch Olympic- and Paralympic athletes to inform and educate local officials and the larger public about the Netherlands in the run-up to the Olympic Games (Tokyo2020)- Interpretation (Japanese-Dutch, Dutch-Japanese, English-Japanese and Japanese-English) during official diners and receptions- Starting an executing a weekly rubric on elements of Dutch culture and/or society on the Embassy's social media channels in the Japanese language- Representing the Netherlands at the Japanese Cabinet Office- A daily dive into the Japanese news, sending out a report to the diplomatic network about what and how has been written about the Netherlands- Taking minutes during weekly diplomatic- and departmental meetings- Helping to develop a 'geo-tool', geographically displaying all 'bridges' between the Netherlands and Japan

Guiding groups/families through Tokyo on a freelance basis, giving them 'the ultimate' experience of Japan. The tours are tailor-made on basis of the customers' wishes. There is also attention for the historical and cultural background of everything we see during the tour. My personal goal was to not only entertain-, but especially also to leave the group with a deeper understanding of Japan.

2,5 Month-internship during my bachelor degree, officially assessed with a 10 out of 10 (excellent) by the Embassy. I Worked directly under two diplomats from two different sections:- Department of Communication, Protocol & Legal Affairs. Tasks: 1. Organizing & coordinating a visit of a member of the Thai royal family,2. (Social Media-) marketing for the Embassy's annual cultural festival (TGF)- Department of Economical and Political Affairs. My main contributions consisted of extensive research in order to rapport to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Topics:1. Policy Labs in Europe, especially in the Netherlands,2. Laws & policies for NGOs in the Netherlands,3. Social issues that go together with an increasing trend of consumer consciousness,Others:1. Personal driver for the Minister-Counselor during the Royal visit

SPCTY Ltd. was a starting import enterprise that aims at offering smart & innovative solutions for daily struggles of frequent users of public transportation. The company was set up as a part of the study program 'Trade Management for Asia'. For my role of CEO during this project, I received the study program's ''Manager of the Year'' award.