Owner & Chief Executive Officer
annemarie@better-future.com
LinkedIn

Annemarie de Jong brings 25 years of experience as a strategic adviser, impact consultant, and executive coach. Together with her international team, she’s on a mission to reduce social and economic inequalities by turning every business into a force for good. With a focus on sustainability, diversity and social goals.

Her social entrepreneurial adventure started in 2010, when she joined Better Future as a partner. In 2014, she moved to NYC to start Better Future U.S. Moving back to the Netherlands in 2019, she became the CEO and owner of Better Future. She’s the chair of the Board of Heilige Boontjes – a Rotterdam based program creating education and job opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals and dropouts.

Prior to Better Future, Annemarie worked at de Baak, a premier leadership institute in the Netherlands, for over a decade. She managed key corporate accounts, founded and led their Corporate Innovative Change consultancy, and served on its Board of Directors.

Having gained Masters’ in both Organisational Psychology and Business Administration, Annemarie is equipped to unite her sharp eye for people, group dynamics and societal issues to shift systems and transform organisations. Annemarie is an internationally published academic and speaker. Until 2012, she had a popular weekly column in the Dutch Financial Times and still blogs about  leadership, system change and corporate social responsibility.

#This is me
“My mission is about making people better. As a kid I always wanted to become a doctor. Instead I became a business activist: enabling people to be the best version of themselves; to commit to what really makes a difference. I believe that everyone wants that but doesn’t know where to begin. I’ve learnt that small changes can have a huge impact. So dream big, start small.”

Change Consultant & Process Facilitator
daria@better-future.com
LinkedIn

#ThisIsMe
"Driven by a deep sense of social justice, I support NGO’s, social businesses and their teams to become more economically sustainable and socially impactful.” 
 

#ThisIsAlsoMe
A ball of fire who will surprise you with her wit, trust and deep understanding of the world. Her home spans from India, Egypt and back to the Netherlands. Enabling her to move freely and elegantly through different contexts, languages and cultures. Daria sees straight through the bullshit and isn’t easily swayed from her mission to help others. Preferably on the ground, in the heat of it all. This woman is critical with the softest touch; she’ll leave you wanting more. Her approach to life is fun, and seriously playful. 

Medior Change Consultant & Process Facilitator
larissa@better-future.com
LinkedIn

Larissa is a creative and strategic change marker focused on empowering communities and organizations towards a more socially just and ecologically safe world. 

With 10 years of experience in project design and stakeholder management in the social, economic, and cultural sectors, she brings thoughtful and cross-disciplinary thinking to any transformation. She has a natural talent for communication and for building collaboration in her projects. Larissa has a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s in urban competitiveness and resilience. She has worked in many countries and is comfortable moving between different cultures and realities. She currently lives in Rotterdam with her husband and son. She is very engaged in her local community, where she has revitalized a public park and runs a leadership program for community leaders.

#thisisme

I strongly believe that systemic change is only possible through ownership and collaboration between all actors involved in our society. We all have our spheres of influence and can become change makers. With my work, I strive to help people and their organizations positively connect and create impact towards a socially just and ecologically safe world. In that process, I find it essential to understand social and ecological spheres as interdependent, and continuously apply humane-centered design, systems practice, and participatory planning. 

Change Agents
frederique@better-future.com
LinkedIn

Frederique, is a senior change manager and has an all round commercial business background that  stems from Nike and Heineken. She supports executives and professionals towards achieving sustainable change. She is an accredited Nine Conversations of Leadership, MBTI, and Enneagram practitioner.

The last 8 years she lived and worked in Southern Africa, where she started a social impact enterprise and founded a network called MozambiqueWomenofEnergy (MWE) for professionals working in the energy industry. It helped her to better understand the challenges of change, the power of resilience and the value of diversity & inclusion.

Frederique co-wrote the diversity charter for the VU University of Amsterdam and did research on inclusive business practices for them. At the moment she is the lead facilitator in a Diversity & Inclusion trajectory with Jumbo, with the bigger mission to make them the most inclusive supermarket in the Netherlands. In conjunction to this, she is also in the lead for a Diversity & Inclusion trajectory at Nestlé NL.

Her style of facilitation is characterised by her fast pace with a good dose of in-depth knowledge and warmth.

#ThisIsMe
“My mission in life is to unleash the gold in people and organisations. By connecting and inspiring others, I help release the good to make this world a better place.”

Change Agent
intouch@better-future.com
LinkedIn

With over 20 years of work experience in guiding and leading teams within start-ups, corporates and NGOs, Bernice knows how to unleash the full potential of people and connect them to organisational goals.

Bernice is a systems thinker. As a coach and team coach she helps make room for uniqueness while at the same time ensuring genuine connection. This makes the whole system stronger from which growth arises. With this experience, she has the conviction that differences, conflict and complexity are not obstacles, and instead sees them as fuel for sustainable change.

She helps individuals, teams and organisations to perform most effectively by looking for unique qualities and matching them with intended personal and business objectives. As a result, everyone can excel in what they have the most talent for.

Bernice believes that the foundation for this is an inclusive organisational culture. She helps organisations create policies and culture in which different perspectives can be discussed safely, diverse qualities are valued and actively sought out. This diversity of thought is necessary within organisations in order to be able to quickly adapt to external changes in our rapidly changing world.

She has worked with corporates like Albert Heijn, Ziggo, Action, Heineken, TMG. NGO's like Amsterdams Comité 4&5 mei, RNW, SOMO, Urgenda.

#Thisisme
To use the words from the incredible Ms Maya Angelou: My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. And what I am passionate about is making sure there is room for all of us. Inspired by the Ubuntu philosophy I deeply believe the only way for us to create meaningful change is to make sure we can all  participate and bring our unique selves to the collective. Hence my love for the topic of inclusion.

 

Change Agent
eric-jan@developmentworks.nl
LinkedIn

Eric-Jan Rijnierse works at people/capability development and its interfaces with organization development. He has particular expertise in coaching professionals and leaders in their role performance and career/life development, in organizational learning & change, and in facilitating leadership (team) development in the context of organizational change & transition.

He holds a MSc. in Molecular Sciences from Agricultural University (Wageningen, 1987) and a Master of Change Management from SIOO (1997), he is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) since 1997. 

He is trained in organizational change, leadership development and executive coaching at SIOO, Hay Group (now Korn Ferry) and by ongoing education in Transactional Analysis and relational/systemic approaches.

He worked at Unilever as a manager and MT-member and at Hay Group as Sr. consultant, executive coach and client manager. Then he started his company Development Works March 1st 2007. His ongoing adventure with Better Future started in 2004. This long term engagement feels like contributing while getting the best out of himself. Sometimes the hardest work, always biggest smiles; dancing at the beat of drums.

Eric-Jan has a deep passion for meaningful growth & development of people. And a passion for life: for purpose, connection, energy, diversity, belief, doubt. 

You can expect that he dedicates his full attention, authenticity, sensitivity, independence, humor, and broad experience to the challenges we engage in together.

ThisIsMe
"Enhancing humanity, working from unity and embracing diversity. Co-creating better understanding in ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times. Enjoying liveliness and growth."

Change Agent
nina@better-future.com
LinkedIn

As a learning designer, Nina conceptualises and facilitates transformational experiences that enable holistic personal growth, collaboration, co-creation, and innovation.

With 10+ years of experience working globally, she has had the chance to design, co-create and catalyse learning solutions that put the user at the centre and foster local ownership and leadership. In her approach she uses tools and techniques from design thinking, applied creative facilitation, systems thinking and practice, mindfulness, embodiment etc.

She designs from purpose and delivers with intention, in order to create meaningful experiences that go beyond achieving goals and offer a safe space for personal discovery, authenticity, creativity and wellbeing.

Nina is wise and warm. With her courage and smooth stubbornness she manages to make things happen and stand up for what is right. When you meet her, she is totally present. With an eye for detail and always with your best interest at heart. She says: "I lead a life driven by meaning, as I create brave spaces where I and others can discover more of who we are, who we want to be, and how to get there."

#ThisIsMe
"I lead a life driven by meaning, as I create brave spaces where I and others can discover more of who we are, who we want to be, and how to get there."