Policy and governance

Geert is a social pedagogue by training and has been active in the development cooperation sector for more than 25 years. She is a consultant and director of ACE Europe, a study and consultancy firm for international cooperation (www.ace-europe.be). She guides social impact organisations in developing policies and strategies, supports project management and carries out evaluations of projects and programmes, policy advocacy and Education for Sustainable Development. Geert stands 100% behind Djapo's vision, mission and approach. As Djapo is active in an innovative way around ESD, she wanted to help support the organisation by including a commitment in the BoD. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ge...

Roger was active for many years as a community development consultant in the Netherlands and as a policy officer for democratic planning in municipalities in the Netherlands. Since his retirement, he has committed himself, among other things, as chairman of the Kringwinkels in Maasland and as chairman of the Municipal Advisory Council on Development Cooperation (GROS) in Maasmechelen. He is also a board member of primary education where his specialisation is pedagogical-didactic policy, a member of the daily board of the Maasmechelen Twinning Committee, a cadre member within the FNV trade union and, since the beginning of 2006, a board member of Djapo. With his wealth of experience, Roger has valuable input in everything related to management capacity and capacity building.

Bert studied remedial education at KU Leuven and was a lecturer for about 30 years at UCLLimburg in Diepenbeek for the programme 'Professional Bachelor of Primary Education'. From that position, she was involved in education development in Rwanda. She is currently enjoying a filled retirement.

40 years ago, she was involved as a volunteer in the establishment of the game library for long-term sick and disabled children in Leuven, to which she is still committed. Most of her time goes to engagements as a coach, supervisor and teacher within Samana.

Bert strongly believes in the power of connected living with care for all. She believes it is important that children and young people can experience this at school but also that they learn how to realise this in their own lives now and in the future. With these experiences and vision, she supports the operation of Djapo.

Dirk coordinates ALiCE, a European Erasmus+ project on citizenship and education. He studied Moral Philosophy and Educational Management and is the author of several educational publications, including an international publication for UNESCO on heritage, remembrance and education. Dirk was active in Flemish education for many years, first as a teacher and then as advisor and coordinator of various educational projects both in urban, Flemish and international contexts. He strongly believes in the importance of active citizenship, because learning to live for the future is learning to live in today's world. He brings this vision and his practical experience to the BoD of Djapo.

Jan works at Avansa Kempen where, as deputy coordinator, he monitors the business side and helps set policy lines. Accountancy, non-profit legislation and numerical analyses are familiar territory for him, although his passion lies rather in socio-cultural work, that magical connection between citizens, policy and civil society where social transitions can take shape.

From there, it is a small step to Djapo, where he has been active as a board member for more than 25 years.

Marc is an accountant at Samenpunt vzw and also a freelance social-profit accounting consultant. As such, he is involved with the Africa Film Festival and formerly with Wereldwerkplaats, one of the non-profit organisations from which Djapo grew. By training, he is a political scientist with a keen interest in the South.

Laureen holds master's degrees in educational pedagogy and pedagogy from the Free University of Brussels. Already as a student, she was closely involved in the departmental work and was a voice for the students to push for strong educational quality in the courses. Throughout her studies, she worked as an intern at Djapo and was only too happy to continue this collaboration in a thesis research project.

After her studies, Laureen joined the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to support professors in online and hybrid teaching. Currently, Laureen works as an educator at the pedagogical guidance service of the Community Education Department. There, she focuses on qualitative cooperation with partners and strengthening internal operations. Quality education for all is her priority.