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 range from recruitment and training to budgets and administration.

Wilma Dijkhuizen-Korving
Administrative Assistant
Responsible for phase-out grants and closure of projects.

Michael J. Feigelson
Programme Director
Michael is a native of New York City and worked in Chiapas for child protection NGO Melel Xojobal before completing a Masters in Public Affairs at Princeton and joining the foundation initially as a Programme Officer in 2007. He has worked with various international organizations including UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee and was the recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship through which he worked with street children in Mexico, Ghana and Romania.

Alicia Fernández
Programme Administrator
Alicia has a degree in psychology, specialising in learning difficulties, and started her career with ten years of experience as school psychologist for disdvantaged children in Madrid. She has been with the foundation as a programme assistant since 2003, initially focusing on the Latin American region.

Vera van der Grift-Wanyoto
Information Management Officer
Vera studied journalism in Moscow and worked in both media and development in Uganda before joining the foundation in 2002. She recently completed a postgraduate diploma in electronic information management.

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 and Carribbean and most recently Europe and Asia.

Inge Hanny
Travel & Events Officer
Organises and prepares all travel activities and coordinates visitor’s services for BvLF staff and network representatives. 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, where she came to live in 1974, 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
Steffan has been responsible since 2001 (as an employee, having started in 2000 as a consultant) for keeping the foundation’s computing environment in optimal working condition.

Selim Iltus
Studies and Research Officer
Turkish-American Selim initially trained as an architect before taking a PhD in Psychology, and worked with the New York’s City University and UNICEF before joining the foundation in 2008. He is responsible for guiding the foundation’s research efforts and keeping on top of the findings of external studies.

Essie Karting
Support Officer
Essie moved to Holland from Bombay and has worked at the foundation since 1981, supporting the grantmaking programme principally through quality control on project proposals and reports.

Jeanet van de Korput
Programme Officer
A masters graduate in medical anthropology, Jeanet joined the foundation from the University of Amsterdam in 2002 following a 14 year career in international development that included work in Nepal, Pakistan, China, Ethiopia and Peru. Her programme responsibilities are shifting from Thailand and India to the Netherlands, and she is currently studying for a PhD in young migrant children’s socialistation.

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.

Marian Meyer
Receptionist
Marian’s administrative duties include managing office supplies, administrative tasks, telephone calls and dealing with visitors and office repair workers.

Jane Moerland
Financial Officer

Teresa Moreno
Acting Head of Publishing
An economics graduate who recently completed a masters in publishing, Teresa joined the foundation as Spanish language editor in 1999, going on to take charge of the foundation’s biannual journal Early Childhood Matters. As acting head of publishing she is currently responsible also for all the foundation’s other publications.

Leontien Peeters
Communications Director
Leontien has a masters in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam and over 10 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
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

Nyambura Rugoiyo
Programme Officer
Responsible for Tanzania and Uganda.

Huub Schreurs
Senior Programme Officer
Huub Schreurs is a cultural anthropologist by education. During his studies he developed an interest in the economy of developing countries, community development and cultural psychology. Besides the Netherlands, Mr Schreurs has lived and worked in Africa (Senegal and Malawi) where as a UNESCO staff member he served, among other things, in literacy and rural development programmes. He has been working with the Foundation as a senior programme officer for 25 years in different contexts, from developing countries to industrialised countries, in most continents. He is an avid cycle-racer.

Rutger Wijnands
Support Services Manager
Since 2001 Rutger has been in charge of managing support services for the foundation, including finance, ICT, travel, HR and office management.

Margriet Wolters-Buisman
Human Resources Manager
A foundation employee since 1993, Margriet is responsible for developing and implementing the foundation’s human resources strategy and policies.

J. Leonardo Yánez
Programme Officer
Leonardo worked in academia, ngo and government in Venezuala on primary and preschool care and education before joining the foundation in 2000, initially coordinating the “Effectiveness Initiative” before moving onto developing and managing programmes in the Latin America region. He has a degree in psychology from Venezuela and a MA in Education from Canada’s University of Victoria.