Our people

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Our team Supervisory board Founders 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.

Sharon Becker

Head of Campaigns & Public Engagement

Sharon leads the strategic development of the campaigns, communications and building our community. Her goal is to ensure that the big plastic polluters are held accountable and their polluting behavior is curbed as much as possible.

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.

Annemarie Nederhoed

Head of Operations

Annemarie is on top of every aspect of our projects, ensuring PSF delivers the best for its mission. She is also responsible for fundraising.

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.

Microplastics & Health Campaign

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.

Laura Diaz Sanchez

Microfibers Campaigner

Laura is responsible for the Ocean Clean Wash Campaign and manages all online content for it. She is also behind the new version of My Little Plastic Footprint app which helps reduce plastic in daily life.

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.

Fleur van der Laan

Data entry Officer

Stratos Kladis

Data entry Officer

Plastic Waste Campaign

Jurjen de Waal

Campaign Manager Plastic Waste

Jurjen is responsible for our Plastic Waste campaign. He has been committed to a clean, livable and healthy earth all his life. As a campaigner, he wants to build a big Plastic Waste movement and inspire as many people and organizations as possible to tackle plastic pollution at its source.

Marja Hollander

Project Leader Plastic Waste

Anne Stolk

Project leader Clean Rivers

Anne has a background in chemistry and previous experience in international diplomacy. As project leader Clean Rivers she brings people together to create or push for solutions for a plastic free delta.

Communication & Public Engagement

Elles Tukker

Communications Manager & 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.

Carina van Uffelen

Communications

Carina is our Webmanager and coordinates development on the PSF website. She produces digital content and she’s one of the initiators of the P for Plastic movement!

Janne Biersma

Public Engagement Officer

Janne manages our social media and is our community manager. She also supports us in other online communications.

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.

Ingrid Piet

Media planner (freelance)

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!

Elfie de Jong

Education Officer

Elfie takes care of the communication within the education projects and helps to optimize our online communication.

Hanny Brands

Consultant Branded Products (freelance)

Hanny has years of experience within licensing and merchandising and helps in the area of responsible product development and branding.

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.

Bentelise Kraaijeveld

Advocacy Officer

Bentelise is our political advocate. Her mission is to get the plastic problem on the political agenda, both nationally and internationally. As a sailor, she is passionately committed to fight plastic pollution at the source.

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

Researcher Plastic & 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

Researcher Plastic & 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.

Valentina Bellomi

Intern Plastic Footprint

Valentina has a background in business management and she is now completing her studies in environment and resource management. She is working on the Plastic Soup Footprint for companies and she also supports in other projects.

Operations

Milou de Ruig

Fundraising officer

Milou is our fundraiser for individuals and companies and is responsible for raising donations. Milou is also the contact person for our Business Angels & Ambassadors and tries to get the most out of every collaboration.

Martje Rozmus

Office manager

Martje lives very consciously and cycles through all kinds of weather from Amsterdam North to the office. She does our bookkeeping and arranges all sorts of things in the office, including a delicious lunch.

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.

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

Jacqueline Cramer

Voorzitter

Expertise: Politiek-Bestuurlijk, (Neven-)functies: zie bijlage foto

Charles de Klerk

Vice-voorzitter

Expertise: Ondernemerschap / afvalverwerking
Functie: ondernemer, investeerder en high performance coach
Nevenfunctie: Executive Director voor Presidents Institute

Betteke de Gaay Fortman

Lid

Expertise: Filantropie
Functie: Oprichter en directeur Tunafasi
Nevenfunctie: Bestuurslid Action Aid Nederland

Jacco Maan

Lid

Expertise: Finance

Patrick Klink

Lid

Expertise: (Online) media and communication

Anne Bekema

Lid

Expertise: Juridisch
Functie: Advocaat media & intellectueel eigendomsrecht bij Le Poole Bekema

Founding Fathers

Jack van Ham

In 1ste fase professionalisering voorzitter van het bestuur

Jack van Ham was in de 1e fase van professionalisering voorzitter van het bestuur: ‘Mede om ervoor te zorgen dat er ook middelen konden worden geworven om nog meer te kunnen betekenen in de strijd tegen wereldwijde plastic vervuiling en het gebruik ervan. Momenteel ben ik gepensioneerd. Eerder was ik CEO van het Nederlandse Rode Kruis en Voorzitter van de Raad van Bestuur van ontwikkelingsorganisatie ICCO.’

Dieter Croese

Treasurer van 2014 tot 2020, postuum

‘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

Lid van de Raad van Bestuur en Raad van Toezicht van 2011 tot 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.’