ProFound team
The ProFound team consists of experts and advisers in development. We regularly collaborate with freelance consultants and trainees when and where required. Much of the work is done through teamwork, which optimises creative inputs and ensures the continuity of the tasks at hand. Feel free to connect with us!
Bert-Jan is skilled in developing multi-stakeholder approaches for sustainable and traceable supply chains from resource to market; designing biodiversity and livelihood related BioTrade development programmes; designing related micro/rural financing strategies.
He has more than 25 years of experience in developing innovative products and tools for organisations such as RVO/CBI from the Netherlands, UNCTAD BioTrade, SECO and SIPPO, UNDP, World Bank, FAO and IFAD, as well as for private sector actors and sustainability initiatives like FairWild Foundation.
Within ProFound, Geertje has the role of chief operating officer, leading ProFound’s business development and translating it into operations making use of her coaching oriented style.
He is team leader in market analysis projects with a focus on natural food ingredients markets. He also coordinates ProFound’s value chain development projects in Ethiopia and provides training and consultancy on market analysis, business planning and matchmaking.
Within ProFound Adriana works in project management, new business initiative leadership, Matchmaking Projects, and B2B sustainable trade.
With a background in international development and journalism, Lisanne is well able to effectively synthesize and communicate complex information to any audience. Lisanne is based in Colombia, where she supports ProFound’s operations and project acquisition in Latin America.
Camiel studied Rural Development in Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences. During his studies he familiarized himself with East-Africa by doing an internship at the Dutch Embassy in Kenya. Moreover, by working at the Embassy’s agricultural department, he gained a rich understanding on the agricultural sector in the country. After his internship, he did his thesis on Georgia’s small-scale dairy sector for a Dutch company. For this research he got extensive knowledge in Georgia’s local dairy market by interviewing small-scale farmers and sector representatives.
Camiel is passionate about working with local initiatives to promote local employment.
Juanita studied Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. She has always been interested in development, social and environmental issues. Due to her work as an intern in a social program, she has gained experience in social project management.
At ProFound, Juanita works as a Junior Consultant and is mainly engaged in activities related to market research.
Miguel specialises in helping organisations and teams develop sharper focus, more robust processes and clearer priorities in their thinking and planning to ensure that in operations they optimise the use of their resources while achieving their objectives effectively. He has supported companies develop and implement their internationalisation plans through a number of activities, including market analysis and prospection, international marketing strategy definition, support to trade promotion activities, and others.
“I find it exciting to promote resilient and fair value chains, while thinking about how trade and commerce can foster development and sustain biodiversity.”
“In my experience, entrepreneurs in developing countries have a great business spirit. We only need to show them the way and they will overcome the many challenges to reach their goals. It’s extremely satisfying to see how these entrepreneurs progress.”
“What drives me is working with an inspiring ProFound team – it’s very exciting every time we manage to bring innovative biodiversity products and concepts to market;
Communities and entrepreneurs we work with are often faced with difficult or conflictive economic environments; we guide and empower them to a value proposition, based on quality and compliance; but most importantly: also with a story!”
“I have always enjoyed working in the natural ingredients sector and in market development of biodiversity and community relevant products.
After I left ProFound in 2008, it has been inspiring to follow the activities and progress of the organisation until now. It’s not an easy market in which we operate, but I believe we have something valuable to offer!”
“I believe in the power of strong teams. When we work towards the same goal, when we respect each other and can rely on each other, we can do great things.”
“Throughout my career I have gained experience in various aspects of business. I get positive energy from working with numbers.”
“I am passionate about local sustainable development. I believe that supporting SMEs on ethical and sustainable trade is essential to meet the SDGs and this is at the core of what we do at ProFound.”
“I encourage market-oriented approaches incorporating social and ecological principles that bring about a profound contribution to local value creation.
It excites me to see how ProFound and its partners drive the transition towards a more fair and resilient natural ingredients sector.”
“I believe in the power of long-term strategies. The lifetime of our work cannot be limited to the lifetime of our programmes. Engaging with local stakeholders and building capacities are key factors in creating sustainable interventions.”
“Promoting a fairer, more progressive trade and development agenda that puts nature, biodiversity and sustainability at the forefront is one of the key drivers of my career. And to do that, I believe strongly in building up organisations that ensure those key concepts remain the key driver of commercial and entrepreneurial development, for the benefit of communities and nature.”
