I grew up in an agricultural community and began working on a farm at a young age. My passion for organizing activities and facilitating exchanges started early, during my high school years. Just three days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I traveled to Berlin, where my love for international cooperation truly began. In 1991, 34 years ago, I organized my first exchange program. Together with a group of Dutch finance and economics students, we embarked on a study tour to East Germany. The following year, I coordinated a reciprocal study trip for German students to the Netherlands.
In 1994, I served in the Dutch military and was stationed in Germany. As the representative of my platoon, I organized a second trip to Berlin, this time for my fellow soldiers. I am particularly proud that my youngest son is now serving in the military! He is in the Dutch Air Force and is training to become a pilot in the USA.
In 1994, I joined the board of my local political party, where I was responsible for training, learning, and development programs for city councilors in our region. In 1998, I became a councilor in my hometown, Heemskerk in North-Holland, a role I took immense pride in, partly because my great-grandfather had also served as a counselor in the same council shortly after World War I.
During my time as a counselor I achieved some good improvements on the rural planning bylaw for my constituents and was able to reduce some harsh environmental measures for our local businesses. It was a tough job because we were part of the opposition in the council that time.
Fast forward to two years ago, when I proudly watched my eldest son, Corné, become a councilor in Heemskerk. His full-time job is as a committee clerk for the Province of North Holland—who would have thought!
I am happily married to Zenath, and we live in Voorburg, near The Hague, in the Netherlands. She is a teacher of Business and Economics at an international school in the Netherlands and has enjoyed a highly international career that has taken her around the world. Zenath is originally from Leeds in the United Kingdom, which I consider my second home.
