Meet the Bernard van Leer Foundation team

Lisa Jordan
Executive Director
Lisa joined the foundation in July 2009, having previously worked with the Ford Foundation for nine years. She is a senior executive in the field of philanthropy with over twenty years of experience in NGOs, foundations and governments. She has degrees from the University of Michigan and the Institute for Social Studies, and has multiple publications on the topics of globalization, global civil society and NGO accountability.

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	Agnes Buis Human Resources Officer With the foundation since 1996, Agnes’s responsibilities at the HR department range from recruitment and training to budgets and administration.
	Hoon Cho Online Communications Consultant A painter and social media guru, Hoon has worked in the field of children's rights and digital media for over a decade and is interested in topics on innovative educational strategies and participatory rights for children and youth. She holds MA in Children's Rights & Childhood Studies from Freie Universität Berlin and in Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently supports the foundation from Singapore.
	Michael J. Feigelson Programme Director Michael is originally from New York City. He has experience working with children and youth in grassroots and international organizations, has served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and has degrees from Princeton and Wesleyan University. In his current role, he oversees programming in all countries where the foundation is active.
	Alicia Fernández Programme Administrator Alicia has a degree in psychology, specialising in learning difficulties, and started her career with ten years of experience as a school psychologist for disadvantaged children in Madrid. She joined the foundation in 2003 as a Programme Administrator for the portfolios of North and South America, Israel and Global.
	Jolanda de Haan Programme Administrator Jolanda worked in Mozambique before joining the foundation in 1997, since when she has worked on programmes in the US, Carribbean, Europe, Asia and most recently in India and The Netherlands.
	Inge Hanny Travel and Events Officer Inge organises and prepares all travel activities and coordinates visitor’s services for the Bernard van Leer Foundation's staff and network representatives. She also co-organises conferences and workshops.
	Jane Hartman Secretary to the Executive Director Born in Madrid to Dutch parents, Jane studied at the Lycée Français to become a multi-lingual secretary and translator. After working in Madrid and The Hague, she joined the foundation in 1984 as departmental secretary of the Programme Development and Training department. Since 1989 she has been Secretary to the Executive Director and Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
	Steffan Hoeke ICT Officer As an ICT Officer, Steffan has been responsible for keeping the foundation’s computing environment in optimal working condition since 2001 (after first having started at the foundation as a consultant in the year 2000).
	Selim Iltus Research and Evaluation Officer Turkish-American Selim initially trained as an architect before taking a PhD in Psychology, and worked at the City University of New York and as a consultant for UNICEF before joining the foundation in 2008. He is responsible for guiding the foundation’s research and evaluation efforts and keeping on top of the findings of external studies.
	Reem Judeh Programme Officer Reem joined the foundation after nine years at Oxfam Novib (and previously at Save the Children and UNDP), where she covered different countries in the Balkans, Central Asia and the Middle East and led Oxfam's gender work in the MENA region. She has degrees in Development Studies and International Relations and an undergraduate degree in Economics. Within the foundation Reem is responsible for the Roma programme.
	Jeanet van de Korput Programme Officer As a masters graduate in medical anthropology and applied research, Jeanet joined the foundation from the University of Amsterdam in 2002 following a 14 year career in international development. She lived and worked for various development programmes and projects in Nepal, Pakistan, China, Ethiopia and Peru. Her programme responsibilities within the foundation have shifted from India and Thailand to the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands she addresses knowledge development, policy influence and advocacy in the field of early learning and the reduction of violence in the life of young children.
	Marc Mataheru Programme Officer Marc joined the foundation in 1986, and since April 2009 has been responsible for programme development and the activities of the foundation in Israel; in early 2010 he also assumed responsibility for the foundation's programme development in Turkey. Previously he managed the foundation’s projects in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Suriname, Netherlands Antilles, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica, Argentina, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia.
	Jane Moerland Financial Officer Jane joined the foundation in 1992 and is responsible for financial administration.
	Teresa Moreno Communications and Publishing Officer An economics graduate with a master's degree in publishing, Teresa joined the foundation as a Spanish language editor in 1999. Currently she is in charge of the foundation’s publications, in English ad Spanish, including the Annual Report and its outreach.
	Dharitri Patnaik India Representative Dharitri has been associated with international development and the non-profit sector for more than sixteen years. Her areas of expertise are human rights, governance and non-profit management. She has a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA and a master's degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.
	Leontien Peeters Communications Director Leontien has a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam and over 15 years of experience in network building, public–private partnerships, and strategic positioning. Before joining the foundation in April 2010 she worked for the Business in Development Network and founded the international project Youth Employment Spark. Leontien was the Dutch youth representative to the UN in 2002 and is a member of the worldconnectors, a Dutch roundtable on international issues. She has lived in Australia, Brunei, USA, Ecuador and Spain.
	Teresa Pegge-Custodio Administrative Assistant Communications Employed by the foundation since 1996, Teresa provides administrative and logistic support to the communications department by coordinating the printing and distribution of publications, managing the photo database, and handling contracts and invoices.
	Jackie Ratsma Programme Administrator Jackie joined the foundation in 1984, after fourteen years of experience with Social Services in Belfast, Northern Ireland (adoptions, childcare and deaf children). Within the foundation Jackie is supporting the Research & Evaluation Officer on global projects, the Programme Officers Tanzania and Uganda, the Roma programme in EU countries and the Turkey programme.
	Melissa van Well-Dijkshoorn Communications Administrator Melissa joined the communications department of the foundation in 2012, after gaining several years of experience in PR, communications and online marketing within different companies. She has a bachelor's degree in International Business and Languages, after which she specialized in (cross media) Communications.
	Margriet Wolters-Buisman Human Resources Manager Margriet is responsible for the planning, direction and coordination of HR activities to maximize the strategic use of human resources and the well-being of the staff. Margriet has a master’s degree in social and organisational psychology from the Leiden University. She specialized in HR and has extensive experience within different organisations.
	J. Leonardo Yánez Programme Officer Leonardo worked for several universities, NGO’s and the government in Venezuala on primary and preschool care and education before joining the foundation in 2000. He has a degree in psychology (Venezuela) and a MA in Education (Canada). He develops and manages programmes in the Latin America region.