Our people

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Our team Supervisory board CvA Lecturers Volunteers

Management Team & Staff

Maria Westerbos

Director

Maria strategically paves the way for PSF and does so with humour. She founded the organisation in 2011 because she wants to make the world a bit more beautiful.

Jeroen Dagevos

Head of Programs

Jeroen focuses on tackling the negative effects of plastic pollution at its source. His ambition is to create a truly circular economy without leakage of plastics to the environment.

Robbert Meulenveld

Head of Marketing & Communications

Robbert is responsible for the right communication and tone of voice. To create, have and keep fans. To fight plastic pollution even more effectively and to make PSF even more relevant. From ‘cause’ to promise, movement, involvement and retention. Robbert likes to build, together with the team, towards a healthier world.

Campaigns

Evelien Davidson

Campaign Manager Microplastics & Health

Evelien is responsible for our campaigns around microplastics and health. By tackling the source of the (micro)plastic problem she wants to make as much impact as possible for healthy people and a healthy environment. She has a background in media, innovation, design, and as a campaigner.

Madhuri Prahbakar

Microplastics Campaigner

Madhuri manages the Beat the Microbead campaign & is responsible for our international social media channels. She also co-created the Plastic Diet along with Laura to help reduce plastic consumption in daily life.

Marja Hollander

Project Leader Plastic Waste

Communication & Public Engagement

Elles Tukker

Senior Press Officer

Elles believes in the power of language and hopes to make PSF an even stronger communicator in order to convince both industry, consumers and journalists of the need to fight the plastic tsunami.

Fleur Bosch

Communications Officer

Fleur has a background in (English) linguistics and is responsible for our national and international social media channels. She loves working with language and wants to use this to get PSF’s message across in the best possible way.

Kees-Jan van der Weijden

Digital Product Owner

Kees-Jan is responsible for the online ecosystem: the websites, apps and applications. After more than 10 years of working for all kinds of commercial companies, he wants to use his knowledge and experience in online communication and digital marketing for a better world.

Irene Dros

Senior Fundraiser & Partnerships

‘’The plastic crisis is so much bigger than the world realizes, however if we all accept the problem and see that innovative solutions and system change are needed, we can make so much big steps towards a world without single-use plastic. With cooperations, global knowledge sharing, good will and strong partnerships, we can and will make steps towards a cleaner, healthier planet where nature and humankind go hand in hand with respect for each other’’. Irene is keen to contribute as fundraiser in the btob field, and use her knowledge and expertise on international strategic partnerships.

Irene Dros

Senior Fundraiser

An awful lot of plastic is made without thinking in advance about what should be done with the waste. And this while the harmful effects of plastic on nature and our health are becoming increasingly clear. As a fundraiser, Simone wants to involve as many people as possible in the work of the Plastic Soup Foundation to work together towards a healthy future for people and the environment. Because without donors, the Plastic Soup Foundation cannot do its work.

Enora Regnier

SEA/SEO Specialist (freelance)

Enora manages our Google advertisements, she takes care of our websites’ visibility & makes sure our online presence is growing. She aims for a zero waste lifestyle or at least, a zero plastic waste one!

Woltera Niemeijer

Graphic designer (freelance)

Woltera has developed the corporate identity of the Plastic Soup Foundation and is responsible for the design of a large part of all communications.

Helen Verkaik

Eindredacteur Plastic Health Channel (freelance)

Is everything correct? Does it look good? As editor-in-chief, Helen puts her hawk eye to the broadcasts on our Plastic Health Channel.

Alex Pegler

Communications Advisor

On behalf of Higginson Strategy Alex works for Plastic Soup Foundation. Alex supports our campaigns and helps us in our mission to stop plastic pollution.

Education

Wendela van Asbeck

Education Manager

Wendela is responsible for all our educational programs & activities. Meanwhile, she’s always looking for fundraising opportunities and she tries to bring more people on board with a plastic-free lifestyle!

Pauline Salet

Education Officer

Pauline contributes to translating (scientific) knowledge about plastic to a young audience. In doing so, she aims to make young people aware of their impact on the world around them.

Research, Advocacy & Solutions

Anna van der Vliet

RAS Project Coordinator

Anna has a background in environmental law and anthropology and is doing research & development for Plastic Soup. She loves bouldering, learning, and the environment; she hates plastic pollution and late-stage capitalism.

Harmen Spek

Innovation & Solutions Lead

Harmen focuses on solutions & innovations for all PSF projects and campaigns. He loves common-sense solutions in our plastic environment.

Sophie Vonk

Scientific Researcher Plastics & Health

Sophie is a biologist with an academic background. She conducts and coordinates research into microplastics and chemical additives, in collaboration with universities. She also provides scientific support for the Plastic Health Channel and Plastic Health Summit.

Kiki Dethmers

Scientific Researcher Plastics & Health

Kiki coordinates international research focusing on the health effects of microplastics on humans and animals. She has an academic background in marine ecology. As an avid wilderness camper, she strives to find the connection between a healthy environment, healthy animals, and healthy people.

Michiel Roscam Abbing

Advocacy & Author

Michiel has been working for PSF since its foundation as a researcher. He is author of Plastic Soup Atlas of the World a book that has been published in a number of languages, including Japanese.

Operations

Janna Selier

Education Officer/ Office Manager

Janna facilitates donations and sponsorships of companies and individuals. She’s also responsible for our webshop and the administration of our educational kit.

Michelle de Graaf

Office Manager

Michelle manages the ins and outs of the office.

She makes sure everyone at Plastic Soup Foundation can do their good work.

Irene Vreeken

Financial Controller

Irene is taking care of all our financial activities and makes sure we run a tight ship. She’s one of our most active users of the Beat the Microbead app as she deeply cares about the issue of microplastics.

Anja van der Hoorn

Finance Officer

Anja makes sure that the financial operations are dealt with in a proper and orderly way, so that everyone at Plastic Soup Foundation is well informed.

Marjoleine Meijer

HR Officer (freelance)

Marjoleine has knowledge and experience in the field of Staff & Organization. She would like to use this knowledge and experience to help the Plastic Soup Foundation work together even better to increase their impact and to make the world a better place with solutions for the plastic soup problem.

Sander Böhm

ICT (extern)

Ere-voorzitter

Charles Moore

Honorary chairman

Charles Moore ontdekte de plasticsoep in 1997 tijdens een zeilrace op de Stille Oceaan. Vanaf dat moment gooide hij het roer om en hield zich alleen nog bezig met deze milieuramp. Charles is een inspiratiebron voor ons allemaal en veel mensen, waaronder het team van de Plastic Soup Foundation, zijn vervolgens in zijn voetsporen getreden.

Last but not least!

Pip

Joy & Happiness manager

Patroness

Committee of recommendations

Jack van Ham

In 1st phase professionalisation chairman of the board

Jack van Ham was chairman of the board in the first phase of professionalisation: ’Partly to ensure that funds could be raised to do even more in the fight against global plastic pollution and its use. I am currently retired. Previously, I was CEO of the Netherlands Red Cross and Chairman of the Board of Development Organisation ICCO.

Dieter Croese

Treasurer from 2014 to 2020, posthumously

‘Ik ben dankbaar dat ik vanaf 2014 structuur en financiële rust heb kunnen bieden als penningmeester. Mede door de CBF-accreditatie is de organisatie stevig gegroeid. De missie van Plastic Soup Foundation verdient het deze groei door te zetten, zodat komende generaties kunnen genieten van de natuurlijke pracht van onze planeet.’

Peter Keijzer

Member of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board from 2011 to 2019

‘Massaal en verkeerd gebruik van plastic is één van de bedreigingen van het welzijn op aarde. Gelukkig had Maria Westerbos dat al vroeg door. Met veel plezier kon ik haar en de PSF helpen om daar structureel iets aan te doen. Veel bereikt, geleerd en eeuwig dankbaar.’

Charles de Klerk

Member of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board from 2013 to 2022

‘I am proud of the development that PSF has gone through. From an idea in 2011 to one of the leading organizations in this field in the world. Let’s hope that the world will realize in time realize that we need to deal with the use of plastics in a different way.’

Freek Stoove

Valentina Bellomi

Intern Plastic Footprint

Valentina heeft een achtergrond in business management en is nu bezig met de afronding van haar studie environment & resource management. Ze werkt aan de Plastic Soup Footprint voor bedrijven en ze ondersteunt ook in andere projecten.