Speakers²⁸

For say, it is rather turbulent in the world. It feels like we are stumbling from crisis to crisis. That’s because our systems and institutions are dated and no longer doing what they were designed to do. There has never been a better time in our history to redesign and reshape our future.

Where are the opportunities that we don’t see now, let alone take advantage of? How should we connect with the emerging future and what role and responsibility is there for governments and for the business community? Not to mention for ourselves? How do we create together the world everyone longs for?

Make your event an unforgettable experience and go with Ruud on an exiting expedition to the unleashed future. Maximum impact with lots of interaction and examples of best practices.

Daphne Laan is a creative impact entrepreneur; the common thread in her story is pioneering and impact. Daphne has over 20 years of experience at the nexus of business, technology, creativity, and impact. As Head of Technology & Ecosystems at Google, she took on the experiment: In business, what happens when you follow your heart and do only the things you love? Then doors open unexpectedly….

Her mission is to create space for freedom of thinking, doing & feeling. House of Wonder is her umbrella for creative collaborations and impactful entrepreneurship. In doing so, she stretches the boundaries to create new possibilities.

She is co-founder of The Board Whisperers, who help founders, boards and executive teams with transitions and turn vision or strategy into inspiring action, by also looking what is swept under the carpet.

Daphne fuels the fire of change in CEOs, founders and leaders of the future and helps them make more impact through collaboration.

She is active in connecting people and traversing bubbles. As an ecosystem orchestrator, she brings networks together, transcending the importance of individual bubbles and always looks at the big picture.

“I create space for possibilities in thinking, from positivity and show that pigeonholes we like to think in can be stretched, so that something new emerges.”

Daphne’s lectures are characterized by a light-hearted and upbeat tone on important topics such as technology, leadership, and transition issues. She brings energy, passion, lightness, fun and hope; as she herself tackles her challenges.

Read more about Daphne Laan >>

“Take care of the place that takes care of you“, that’s really the essence. The reason biomimicry stayed on her mind when Saskia was introduced to it in 2009:

“We as humans want to take care of our children and grandchildren. But we can’t physically do that for our descendants seven generations from now. What we can do is create an environment that takes care of them.”

That realization touched her, as it did the many people she inspires with biomimicry. Audiences are sometimes moved to tears. So Saskia strives for a better, more beautiful, fairer and healthier world, and if you ask her, biomimicry plays a key role in her mission.

According to Saskia, the philosophy of biomimicry can be applied in all facets of our personal lives, but also in all areas within various organizations. It can provide new perspective and guidance for engineers and architects, economists, policy makers, educators and entrepreneurs, for example.

Saskia van den Muijsenberg therefore appeals to a broad audience with her lectures and workshops, which are interesting for anyone who wants practical tools and answers to the question: “How can I start making changes tomorrow in order to do better?”

Speaker, scientist, professor and world champion soccer-playing robots; Maarten Steinbuch simply cannot be pigeonholed. A brief summary of his career: he studied Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft, where he later obtained his PhD in Measurement and Control Technology. He worked for 12 years as a mechanical engineer (Philips) and at the age of 39 started working as a professor at TU Eindhoven.

Maarten takes his audience on a journey to the future and tells them about the speed of technological developments and their impact on our lives. When he speaks people are on the edge of their seat; young, old, scientist, director or engineer. And if not him, his faithful companion will make sure of that; a small, robotic dinosaur that even impressed the Dalai Lama in 2018.

If you ask Niek, we as a society are a collective burnout in the making. Climate change and high work pressure, these are the big issues of our time. How do we deal with them? How do we change and adapt? Last but not least; how do we become and stay happy? One word: Resilience.

If there is one person whose resilience has been put to the test, it is Niek van den Adel. His statements are anything but empty words, as he experienced firsthand that through resilience you can find a good portion of happiness, even in the deepest of valleys.

At age twenty-eight, he ended up in a wheelchair after a fatal incident. Although he could never have imagined this shortly after the accident, he works hard to see this event as a gift.

“Happiness is not in your legs but between your ears.”

Niek van den Adel is the resilience speaker of the moment. Book him for your event. Curious about Niek’s complete story? View his profile.

“We overconsume and buy products we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like.”

Minimalism is often explained as the opposite of materialism. But personally, Jelle perceives minimalism as a much broader concept. One that relates to all aspects of life. It’s not just the things you buy, but also the way you organize your life, fill in your time and spend your energy.

You may even call Jelle’s way of life essentialism. Back to the essence, nothing more and nothing less. This not only benefits our (mental) health, but also the planet, because “taking action against climate change is incredibly urgent”.

Jelle’s message moves people because his story is personal, vulnerable and positive. He tells the painful truth, without pointing the finger. He explains how we can all do better, by giving practical tips. His audience goes home full of enthusiasm and inspiration.

“Why do people do what they do?” A very important question that everyone in society and in organizations should study if you ask Mark. Because understanding our mind plays a big role in tackling major societal challenges and issues.

According to Mark, a better world starts by taking into account the different ways people function, work and change. Among other things, he draws inspiration from nature, cultural and healthcare organizations – pioneers who fulfill a social role and are people-oriented rather than commercial-oriented.

The traditional way of dealing with a problem – such as high workload – for example is to work faster, harder and more efficiently. But efficiency can actually make us ineffective if we put processes instead of people first, says Mark.

With his lectures, Mark wants to make a difference for people and organizations, by reminding them what their purpose is, showing them how their beliefs play a role and how they determine their behavior.

Marga’s drive to have maximum impact to make business more sustainable is the common thread in all her roles. Initially as a CEO, then as the leader of networks ‘De Groene Zaak’ and ‘Het Groene Brein’, now as an international writer, speaker and Board Member. She is deeply convinced that entrepreneurs can and should help solve world problems. They can, because it offers a range of business opportunities, according to Marga. Therefore, there is no reason not to do it, so she wants to help companies see how they can do it. Ultimately, her wish is for sustainable business to become the norm, rather than the exception.

Purpose is therefore her keyword and she helps companies find that purpose, make it concrete and lead the company from that insight. This means that companies actually focus on world challenges and then consider how their business can contribute to them, while maintaining or even increasing profitability and growth. In doing so, she likes to use the Sustainable Development Goals, which also form the core of her gold-winning new book ‘The Trillion Dollar Shift’.

A grandfather who was a policeman in the resistance during World War II. That is Tom Kok’s personal inspiration. Because thanks to the choices his grandfather made back then, Tom is not only inspired. He lives!

Over 23 years ago, Tom Kok said goodbye to his corporate career and his chairmanship of D66. What for? He didn’t exactly know. He did have a list of everything he wanted to be: millionaire, celebrated statesman, captain of industry, inspirer, warm dad. That list quickly dwindled, with the last two options remaining. Tom decided he had to choose and finally realized he didn’t want to be someone who hadn’t really inspired anyone in his life. And so he chose inspiration. A line he has continued ever since, in everything he does. And that’s a lot.

Tom is a speaker and can be hired for small and large groups; from 1-on-1 coaching to small-scale workshops and lectures for 1,000 people. With his stories, which are based on his own experiences and combined with theory, he gets his audience thinking about leadership, Stephen Covey’s 8th trait, energy and fundamental questions such as ‘who am I?’.

Tom is a man of many words who also knows and appreciates the power of silence. After a meeting with Tom, you will have plenty of food for thought as a listener. To which Tom warns:

“You may come to the conclusion that you need to make big decisions in your personal or professional life.”

Rumbling in the margins

Once Harm saw Princess Irene speaking in front of a group of people about sustainability. An 88-year-old man in the audience exclaimed, “I’m doing it all for my grandchildren“. Irene – then also in her 80s – replied somewhat piqued “if you don’t think life is worth doing it for yourself, then it won’t be anything!”

“That’s the way I see it. If you only do it for your children or grandchildren, you don’t really feel it. You also have to want it for yourself, for nature, for everything on earth.”

And it’s desperately needed too. Ecosystems are on the verge of collapse, deforestation, freshwater and resource shortages, plastic soup. Or in Harm’s words, “It’s drama! The Earth Overshoot Day is at the end of July, which means 5 months of living at the expense of the future, every year.” His lectures are a plea to stop messing around on the margins, and get two feet in the new economy.

“Companies need to stop lying to us, young people need to demand a better future from those currently in power, and we need to dream and act bigger and more radically.“

“News and opinions about climate are often charged and negative. I want to change this to bold and positive.”

During the corona pandemic, Maartje Bregman – then a physical therapy student – decides to write a book; “The Power of Giving Back. Among other things, she researches veganism and its effect on health, climate, and animal welfare. The book is published but all this freshly acquired knowledge becomes a dilemma …

The realization that the situation is untenable grabs her by the throat.
Lagging behind and being despondent is not what she wants, ignoring this is also not an option either…. So, what then?

She decides to use her talent and large network for good. She founded an online platform for positive climate news, ‘happytimesmagazine.nl’, a physical magazine and gives lectures on sustainability with contagious enthusiasm, refreshing among all the heated climate debates.

“I want people to leave the room with their heads held high, realizing that they are part of the solution. I share the sincere concerns of my generation, but don’t point fingers. I show how things can be done differently in a fun way. With that positive approach, I get people on board.”

Read more about Maartje >>

A truly sustainable business model requires radical thinking, but it is possible, Ankie van Wersch knows. She is founder of Tika foundation, a foundation offering programmes for underprivileged children and young people in Nepal. She is also CEO of Powered by Enviu, an organisation that builds business models that create value for people and the environment.

Perhaps it is her grandfather’s words; ‘you must always do the right thing’, or perhaps it is her own experiences; ‘children are still dying of hunger’. Probably it is a combination of both that drive her to make the world a nicer place. And she successfully does so in various ways.

“We have reduced avocado waste by 95%, saved billions of litres of water, and prevented 25 million single-use plastics from ending up in the ocean. We also set up a pension fund in Ghana for people without formal jobs. They can now also build something for later.”

Although Ankie’s stories don’t leave you cold, a positive tone prevails in her lectures. She tells inspiringly that it can be done; as a company, making a positive impact on the environment and people’s lives. ‘Thinking big and starting small‘ is her motto.

Frank shows a new version of how the ‘the good life’ could look. Food is an important part of that, because this is where we can make a lot of impact together. Contributing to this is not just for vegetarians and vegans, says Frank:

“The idea still prevails to a large extent, that you are either convincingly carnivorous or vegan, otherwise you are a hypocrite. That is not true. There is room somewhere in between for everyone to make a better choice every day. In my book and lectures, I show people that the opportunity is there.”

In both his cookbook and lectures, he uses data to show which food choices have the most impact on our ecological footprint. And the great thing is, he makes even the biggest meat lover, sceptic or pessimist see that you don’t have to make a huge sacrifice to do so.

Frank’s mission against climate change began when, as a 15-year-old, he saw Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, which predicted the bleak future of his beloved glacier – the Aletsch Glacier. At the time, he was living in Switzerland with his parents, both pastors.  He could not have imagined then that he would later follow in their footsteps to some extent. But he now sees himself as a ‘sustainability preacher’, with an important message.

Read more about Frank Holleman >>

Michael Wilde believes that food is one of the big factors that everyone in the world has a say in.  We all eat and can decide what we want on our plate. Michael is concerned and finds organic farming crucial. We can decide what we care about, every day.

“Organic food has a huge impact on your own health, animal welfare, the environment and therefore on society. As a result, the organic farmer generally experiences more meaning and social appreciation.”

Michaël Wilde was director of BIONEXT and worked for EOSTA for 12 years as sustainability and communications manager. He knows the motivations and objections of farmers and companies regarding organic food like no other. He speaks from the heart, with infectious enthusiasm. Michaël outlines a positive future perspective for everyone who wants to participate in the food transition.

“We can only feed the growing world population if we work together with nature.”

Read more about Michaël Wilde >>

Inge used to be a flight attendant and flew around the world.

Now she is a sustainability consultant and green influencer. At the time of the corona pandemic, she began to delve into the world of fashion and sustainability and the dark side of the fashion industry.

She was shocked by the effect it had on the planet and how people were treated in production chains, not just in fashion, but in other industries as well. One problem many companies experience is that the barrier is unnecessarily high due to complex language and legislation. Also, sustainability is often unnecessarily seen as expensive. This is something she wants to change.

“I want to show the business community that sustainability does not have to be expensive or complicated, despite complex regulations.”

In her talks and workshops, Inge convinces companies the value of developing a sustainable business strategy. She is well prepared for the topics and challenges that concern the audience.

By telling her story, she wants to make it clear that everyone, every individual, can make a difference; by moving in a more sustainable direction or by making an impact in the workplace.

Read more about Inge Westerink >>

Iris van Asselt is an interior designer, tiny house builder, world traveler, ambassador for sustainable living and mayor for climate. She talks about following your heart and dreams.

Iris made her own choices as a child and still does. She traveled around the world twice, crossing countries such as Pakistan, Mongolia, and Iran.  She traveled the second time to Tokyo in a camper which she converted with her partner and two young daughters.

Back in the Netherlands, they built a biobased house with a tiny footprint together, amid an eco-community of others who like to live sustainably, minimalistic and in nature.

Iris’ lectures bridge her travels, her passion for interior design and living in and around her double tiny house with her family. Living with no more than you need – only what you love; is a common thread throughout her stories. She draws richly on personal experiences.

“I just for it, I start to shine when I get to talk about our tiny house and the way we live here in our eco-community.”

Read more about Iris van Asselt >>

Frank has been analyzing nature and environmental problems for decades; it could just as easily have been other social problems, such as those in healthcare or the housing market. What he finds particularly repulsive is “trying to justify what is wrong”. As far as he is concerned, knowledge is an important key to change.

“I always found it most interesting to work from an underdog position, as the challenger. You must be three times better prepared than your ‘opponent’; the one who defends the status quo from his established position. “

For solutions that work, Frank Dietz says we need to recognize the complexity of nature and environmental issues. More solar panels on rooftops are great, but are the power lines ‘thick’ enough to get the generated power to users? And who benefits from that green power and who bears extra burdens as a result? And will companies still be able to make steel and plastics if the fossil sources currently needed to do so are phased out? And will airline holidays still be possible? All these consequences and potentially clashing interests must be kept in mind to avoid suboptimal solutions as much as possible.

Read more about Frank Dietz >>

‘The sky is the limit’ is sometimes said, but as far as Ariane Roos is concerned, it could all be a bit less in our growth- and consumption-driven society.

“How bizarre is it that we find it normal to wear cheap jeans sewn together by Uighurs in ‘re-education camps’?”

Once a graduate in aerospace engineering, she founded a tech platform on the eve of the internet revolution and worked at a strategic level for major corporates such as KPN, Vodafone, Fokker, and Philips.

A tough time of chemo treatments only strengthened her vision. The vision that doing work that energizes you and gives meaning to your life not only strengthens your mindset but can also make the world a much more beautiful place.

Ariane speaks – full of powerful vulnerability – about ‘doing business for good’ and about how every company can become an impact organization.

Read more about Ariane Roos >>

As a speaker, Marnix walks with you into the world of change, leadership and sustainability. Resilience and hope are at the heart of his keynotes.

The audience will go home packed with inspiration and actions to start making a difference within the organization and in their daily life. Marnix believes that all of us, even if you are not a CEO or board member, can make a difference in the transition to a sustainable world.

‘It sometimes seems that people forget their sustainable ideas and views between nine and five. But we can change systems if we put our careers to work.’

If anyone knows how change works, both social change towards sustainability and profound changes in your personal life, it is Marnix. For Speakers for the World, he gives keynotes about giving meaning to your career, dignity as a solution to the climate crisis and realizing big change.

Read more about Marnix >>

The way and what children learn not only has a major impact on the inner world, but we also see it reflected in the outer world in the long term, for example, through the loss of biodiversity, toxic substances in food, air, soil and drinking water, and decline of animal species essential for children’s futures.

According to Juliëtte, we are not facing a climate crisis, but a generational crisis that we passed on created by culture and driven by endless economic growth. Because we have placed ourselves above nature, children grow up without connection to their inner and outer worlds.

Juliëtte says, “Education is still based on the principles from the industrial revolution. “Children are trained efficiently and standardized to become better consumers instead of better people. This is diametrically opposed to a holistic lifestyle, which has a focus on connecting with nature.”

This was the experience of Juliëtte, who has been contributing to a more beautiful world with creativity, entrepreneurship, and vision since childhood.

Juliëtte has founded several regenerative businesses with an impact mission, including NOWSCHOOL, a blueprint for holistic education worldwide. This initiative fosters a generation of holistic thinkers and doers by building a new ecosystem that increases impact and empowers each other. Not by kicking the system, but by rolling up our sleeves together and building a new ecosystem for the next 7 generations.

“What if happiness, health, freedom and collaboration were given a central role in education? What if we unlearned the self-imposed frameworks and formed a new model for the child and the future?”

Juliëtte talks about holistic education, holistic living and creating a holistic learning and living environment. She advocates a shift from a linear system to a learning ecosystem with a living curriculum, inspired by new science, ancient wisdom, and her own experiences.

Read more about Juliëtte >>

Tosca van der Wouden wants to show that when we truly feel ourselves part of nature again, when we connect with our home planet, we can have a positive impact on our environment.

From love, radical hope and a good dose of humor, she is committed to a livable planet for people, animals, plants and fungi. As an independent from her own company ‘From The Woods’, she is involved in The Pollinators, where she organizes campaigns, coordinates events and works on the development of The Pollinators Academy.

Tosca also daily with her feet in the mud and hands in the clay herself; as she is currently transforming her own acres of land into a food forest with vegetable garden and shares her first-hand observations. In addition, Tosca teaches yoga classes and she shares her mission and insights as a speaker or workshop facilitator.

“My mission is to add more life to the world and leave it better than how I found it.”

Tosca’s admiration of and wonder for all that lives is contagious and inspiring. She shows you how we can transform into an age where humans live together with nature; from the anthropocene to the symbiocene.

Read more about Tosca van der Wouden >>

Melle has built a fine career in the vibrant hospitality life, in all kinds of special places around the world. But both the birth of his daughter (with accompanying existential emotions) and the realization that the hospitality industry is hugely polluting made him take a completely different path.

He finds it hard to stomach the fact that a million trees a day are cut down for the production of paper, including toilet paper that is flushed down the toilet carelessly. He decided to change the toilet paper industry for good and founded The Good Roll in 2018, with 50% of profits going to building toilet facilities in Africa.

“How cool is it that you can build a system where a toilet visit contributes to a better world in many ways?”

Melle also founded the NOA Collective in 2022, which helps organizations (including startups) to make a more positive impact, by supporting them on brand strategy and concept.

As a speaker, Melle shares his stories and lessons on creative and sustainable entrepreneurship with anyone willing to make a difference in the world.

Read more about Melle Schellekens >>

Founded by Anoek Neele and a collective of theater makers, The Climate Theater presents the climate crisis in a unique and humorous way on the workplace. With interactive performances, this diverse group makes difficult subjects discussable and inspires sustainable behavioral change.

Each character embodies one of the five behavioral stages of change. The dialogues between these characters tell the story of the character and highlights the pain points; from “climate denier” to “climate advocate”. Even Mother Earth has a role.

“A theatrical ‘slap in the face’ works better than spouting facts about climate.”

In the performance ‘A Warm Welcome’, laughter and tears are not uncommon, but the real impact is often only visible later. It creates space to express and share concerns and connect with people who have the same or different opinions and ideas. This has a lasting effect.

Read more about The Climate Theater >>

Growing up among farms in Brabant, Chantal developed a passion for good food and sustainability at an early age. Her career switched from large food companies to setting up initiatives like Too Good to Waste and Kromkommer  which marked the beginning of her fight against food waste and the established order in the food industry.

Now, she travels the country with her project Peas Of Me in her camper, staying at the farms of food changers, and sharing the inspiring stories of these ‘Peasmakers’.

“So much good is already happening; that’s what I want to focus on, not on doomsday scenarios.”

Let yourself be inspired by Chantal’s unique life story, nomadic existence, and her tireless commitment to a better world.

Read more about Chantal Engelen >>

Nice Leng’ete is an inspiring human rights activist who has saved tens of thousands of girls in Kenya from female genital mutilation and child marriages. In collaboration with AMREF Health Africa and through her own Nice Place Foundation, she provides safe shelter, education, and hope for a better future. In addition, she changes cultures from within by engaging with community leaders and men from diverse communities. She was the first woman in history to be handed the ‘Black Talking Stick’ which demonstrated her success in this endeavor.

“I do not bear this mission alone, but together with all the beautiful girls we are educating to become leaders for change.”

Her work has gained worldwide recognition, and with her unwavering commitment and effective strategies, Nice Leng’ete continues to be a powerful voice in the fight for equality and justice for girls and women. By booking Nice as an inspiring speaker, you also contribute to her ambitious mission: a promising future for every child.

Read more about Nice Leng’ete >>

Meet Wim Schepens, a quirky speaker and author who sees storytelling as his personal form of activism. Wim knows how to build bridges between different worlds, with his versatile background as an editor-in-chief and program maker at VPRO and his sharp societal view.

In his book “Leven met een trui aan” and through lectures, he shares his personal sustainability dilemmas and his fascination with nature, ecosystems, and the environment in a humorous and recognizable way. By doing so, he invites you to join him in thinking about the great challenges now and in the future.

“You can’t control nature; you can’t say this animal can, but that one cannot. Everything is connected through ecosystems and us humans depend on that as well.”

Discover how Wim connects the personal and societal and why he is such a relevant speaker on sustainability dilemmas for your audience right now. His lectures have a personal and critical touch while staying humorous  and hopeful.

Read more about Wim >>

Mirjam from Brabant was also called ‘Mother Nature’ as a child. The fire to contribute to sustainability – especially the circular economy – was only kindled in her when she started working on circularity after studying mechanical engineering at Philips.

She now inspires and activates companies and organizations to sustainability and creates real impact together with their employees. She does this by planting seeds and helping companies with their sustainability strategy. She makes extra impact as a speaker herself!

“I bring a lot of energy, bad jokes and an honest story, even if it rubs someone the wrong way.”

Her directness creates instant action, partly due to her disarming cheerfulness, energy and unmistakable Brabant accent. This makes Mirjam the choice keynote speaker if you really want to get your organization moving. Her lectures and workshops are packed with interactive methods that will always keep you on the edge of your seat.

Read more about Mirjam van Laarhoven >>

In a candid manner, Peter Kapitein speaks and writes about his own diagnosis, his road to recovery and what he and his talents are working tirelessly for today.

He wrote the book “Ik heb kanker.. en ik leef een goed, gelukkig en gezond leven”(Translated: ‘I have cancer … and I live a good, happy and healthy life’) and – strongly driven by gratitude for life – he organizes the now famous Alpe d’HuZes with a friend.

Next to that he also founded Inspire2Live – an international movement working tirelessly for equality, autonomy and knowledge for cancer patients worldwide. Learn how Peter connects scientists, patients and policymakers with Inspire2Live to improve quality of life and accelerate breakthroughs in medicine.

“With Inspire2Live, we connect ALL stakeholders in the medical industry field and challenge them to do even better together.”

Read more about Peter Kapitein >>