Sanne Van keulen

About me

I am a hard-working, passionate and compassionate leader for change. Creating a world that is good for all its inhabitants, where communities live in harmony with ecosystems, is what really drives me. With the heart-breaking science behind the climate crisis we are facing and the pace of biodiversity loss in mind, I have chosen to focus on the developments that are hopeful, that lead the way to a bright new future.

I am at my best when working with teams, designing campaigns and projects for change. This could be either in an interim management role, as a team coach, a strategy consultant or as facilitator. In addition, I’m experienced in helping organisations (profit or not-for-profit) with their stakeholder approach, coalition building and positioning in relation to politics and policies.

When I am not working on my mission for a better and fairer planet, I love spending time with my five-year-old daughter, hiking in nature and cooking for friends. I am a fanatic kitesurfer as there is plenty of opportunity for this in windy Holland. 

My skills

Experienced in:

• Moderating events, debates, webinars
• Facilitating project start-ups, campaign planning, creative processes and complex meetings
• Coalition building, fostering cooperation amongst stakeholders
• Strategy development, power analysis and stakeholder approach
• Programme management & development, including M&E
• Managing (interdisciplinary) teams
• Transforming top-line strategies into concrete projects
• Team development & performance, coaching teams and individual team members
• Media work & spokesperson, representing the organization

Skills & qualities:

• Developing new ideas, new perspectives
• Strategic and creative
• Making it work
• Building relationships, committed to people
• Impact and result oriented
• Flexible, self starter
• Good at designing processes and setting up a structured approach

Why you should work with me

I can help you create impactful events, campaigns and projects. My approach is first to design an effective strategy, ideally as a co-creation process with client and stakeholders as a basis for further action.

I see an event as a means, not an end in itself. Therefore, as a facilitator/moderator my role is to make the event count in a broader range of activities and actions. I really like a design-thinking approach to all the projects I take on, starting with creative concept development, selecting on the basis of clear criteria, prototyping and testing with your key audience and adjusting according to feedback to make sure the event will hit the right note with the right audience. Depending on the client, I will look for opportunities to experiment with new formats and ways of working together in an event, getting out of that comfort zone.

My work experiences

Strategy consultant/interim manager, independent (Aug 2019 - present) 

• Developing a three-year campaign strategy for Transport & Environment in Brussels.
• Project lead in financial sector IMVO covenants, for Nature & Environment.
• Coaching the ED and MT in team- and organisational development, for Varkens in Nood (Animal Welfare).
• Stakeholder management and PR around large-scale solar projects, for Solarcentury.
• Scoping study and coalition forming around a code of conduct, for NVDE/PBE.
• Interim programme manager, for Nature & Environment.

Senior consultant, EVConsult (10/2018 - 10/2019) 

• Leading strategy and policy advisory trajectories aimed at accelerating the transition to zero-emission mobility.
• Acquisition of new projects, tapping into new client networks.

Diverse roles, Greenpeace Netherlands (4/2011 - 10/2018) 

• Programme Director/Department Head Climate & Energy
• Part of the organisation’s leadership team.
• Co-designing an impactful restructuring of the organisation and developing a three-year strategy.
• Managing an interdisciplinary team of 14 staff members.
• Responsible for finance, HR, planning and control and M&E within the department.
• Task giver for several long-term international projects.

• Programme leader/team leader climate and energy
• Line managing six campaigners and functional management of six communication/online/actions staff.
• Development and execution of the programme strategy and planning, managing interlinkages and clashes with other programmes
• Leading the Dutch crisis team around the arrest and captivity of 30 activists in Russia
• Founder of an internal network of ‘creative facilitators’ for project start-ups, brainstorming and concept development.

• International project leader/campaigner
• Media spokesperson.
• Project management of international projects with multidisciplinary, intercultural remote teams.

• Chair of the board, UpToYouToo Foundation (8/2008 - 1/ 2012)
• Facilitating organisational growth for 2 to 10 employees and expansion from Kenya to Tanzania.

• Youth representative UN Climate & Sustainability (4/2006 - 4/2008)
• Advisor to the Dutch government delegation to UN conferences.

My education & training

• Master International Development Studies, at the Graduate School for Social Sciences (UvA). Four-month field study in Dar es Salaam, analysing Chinese involvement in the development of infrastructure assets in Tanzania.
• Bachelor of Political Science, at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
• System Dynamics in Organisations/Master Systemic Constellations, Bert Hellinger Institute. Identifying unhelpful patterns in organisation dynamics and designing effective interventions for change and transformation.
• Creative Idea Development and Leading Creative Collaboration, Fantastic Studios Leading creative processes, concept development and collective decision-making

My references

Leon Varititmos, journalist, writer, communication strategist (fellow SMT member at Greenpeace NL):

"I have learned so much from Sanne. Being part of the Greenpeace Netherlands Management Team was for both of us a time of rapid professional and personal growth, building and shaping our teams and projects together. Sanne’s sharp mind, thirst for innovation and goal-oriented work style made our time as colleagues an amazing experience for me. One of Sanne’s biggest talents is questioning the status quo, pushing herself and her team to improve, try different strategies and get out of that comfort zone. And she doesn’t just apply that to strategy and output. Sanne invests a lot of time and energy in team building, personal interaction and personal growth. A great strategist and a great leader, that’s how I would describe her."

Simon Douw, crowdfunding entrepreneur (client for moderator/facilitator assignments):

"Hiring Sanne as a moderator has become a no-brainer. Her conscientious disposition, palpable commitment to co-workers and parties involved and sharpness with respect to content as well as procedure make her a skilled, hands-on professional who can be trusted to do the job unaided. And that's just the boring part. Genuinely exciting is her authentic, vibrant and incorruptible personality which allows her to inspire and transform. You get the point: Sanne is something special."