At seventeen, he rented out boxing rings and organized combat sports events as far away as Brazil and Russia. At twenty-seven, she led the national campaign team of GroenLinks. Then came Palestine and Lebanon, Bernie Sanders and the PvdA, PAX and Milieudefensie.
Jacob and Lotte know civil society organizations from the inside: as directors, as campaign leaders, as founders of their own NGO. They have also seen up close what happens when funding dries up and an organization starts doing more and more just to stay afloat. With that experience, they will help Dutch charities and civil society organizations make sharp choices once again.
"My social entrepreneurial heart kept itching"
Koenraad: This week you are announcing your commitment to developing S&L Netherlands. Jacob, how did you end up here?
Jacob: "If we really go deep, this will be a long answer. At seventeen, I started renting out boxing rings. As a result, I attended many events and thought: I can do this myself, I can do this better. For ten years, I then organized combat sports events, first in the Netherlands and later as far as Brazil, the US, and Russia. It was my first experience with entrepreneurship, but I missed the social contribution. I wanted to do more than make money."
"So I went to Palestine as a volunteer and activist, and then to Lebanon for my studies, where I stayed for five years. I worked there for all kinds of NGOs and started one myself, which gave boxing lessons to children in refugee camps. Then came politics: first as an organizer for Bernie Sanders, a campaign that radiated hope and energy, and then five years with the Labour Party and PRO. In Amsterdam, together with colleagues from GroenLinks, I helped shape the merger. That felt like a project, and the project is finished. I have always kept my social entrepreneurial heart, and it kept itching. In S&L, I find my social entrepreneurial heart, but also my activist heart."
Koenraad: "That is exactly the combination from which S&L was born in Belgium. Everyone there told us for about a year and a half: this will never work."
Koenraad: Lotte, where are you from?
Lotte: "From a true education family. My parents taught Dutch to people who came to live in the Netherlands, so I was brought up with the idea that you help people build a new life here. I joined GroenLinks at a time when the party had just suffered a major loss in national elections. Because of the climate; I wanted to support the party precisely because of that issue. I started working there and went on to lead the national campaign team. I was twenty-seven at the time."
"After about eight years and a great many election campaigns, I wanted to see what things were like in the world outside politics. I worked in the management team at PAX and then became head of movement building at Milieudefensie. During those years, I noticed that many NGOs run into the same problems: limited sustainable fundraising and a desire to grow in movement building, within the context of a political climate that does not naturally move in the direction NGOs want."
Koenraad: You know each other from the merger in Amsterdam, where you were each other’s counterparts. And you, Lotte, brought Jacob to us.
Lotte: "I first got to know S&L as a client and already thought you were pleasant, knowledgeable, and smart people, with a relaxed working atmosphere and a lot of humor. When I suggested that you should also talk to Jacob sometime, you were hard to get at first. In the end you agreed, so I said to him: make me proud."
“Ask an organization about its focus, and it will name nine themes.”
Being honest, even if it costs you an assignment
Koenraad: You could both have continued as freelancers too. Why S&L?
Jacob: "There are many skilled freelancers in the Netherlands who work for NGOs. What makes S&L strong is that you bring together many more disciplines and knowledge. In principle, there are two of us working with a client, and because you then have two pairs of eyes looking at things, you make an impact more quickly. And I believe in the mission."
Koenraad: "Because we are not getting rich."
Jacob: "Certainly not. It is a deliberate choice."
Lotte: "To be honest, I don’t have much affinity with the term consultant. It was never my dream to become one. What gave me confidence is that you only work with people who have been directors themselves or have been on the management team of a non-profit. What also struck me is that you sometimes say no to assignments. You simply tell a client honestly: in our view, you don’t need this at all; you need to sort something else out first."
Koenraad: Was there also anything you found strange about S&L?
Jacob: "I especially really enjoy learning all kinds of Belgian words. Taking a little photo, for example."
Lotte: "I’m also picking up Flemish words. Today I suggested to someone that we meet in the afternoon."
Koenraad: What does the other person bring that you don’t have?
Lotte: "Jacob’s social entrepreneurial heart. I really like that business side of him. Besides that, we can work very hard and laugh very hard. We switch effortlessly from silly jokes to deadly serious conversations."
Jacob: "Lotte has more of an eye for the personal side. I can sometimes go into a meeting studs up, and then it helps when she says beforehand: switch on your empathy for a moment now."
“At S&L, I find my social entrepreneurial heart, but also my activist heart”
Nine themes is not focus
Koenraad: Where are you going to make a difference in the Netherlands?
Lotte: "In recent years, I have watched with dismay how easily cuts were made to development cooperation and NGOs, even though money there was hardly sloshing around to begin with. Many organizations are now in a kind of rebuilding phase. They need to take a critical look at what they are going to focus on, make sharper choices, and work in a less donor-driven way."
Jacob: "I saw it in Lebanon and I see it here: because of a lack of money, organizations start working more and more broadly. You are a first-aid organization, but you can get a grant for children's education, so you go ahead and do that too, because then you can keep your staff. That way you slowly lose focus on the subject for which you were founded. I think it is wonderful to bring that focus back, because then you also see people's passion return: oh yes, that is why we started this."
Koenraad: Finally, do you have one free piece of advice for anyone reading this?
Lotte: "Dare to choose. It may not sound exciting, but I have seen very often that it does not happen. If you ask an organization about its focus, it names nine themes. You will not hear me say that those are not important, but with limited resources you cannot do so many things at once. If you know what you stand for, and therefore also what you do not do, that makes your organization super powerful."
Jacob: "Some people say that hope is postponed disappointment, and I do not believe that. I used to be a pessimist. I always assumed that Ajax would lose, because then I had already had the disappointment. At some point I turned that around. Now I am cheerful all day because I think Ajax is going to win, and if it does not happen after all, at least I have had a nice day. Keep going, because then change will come."
You persevere together
An entrepreneur who became an activist and a campaign leader who would rather build than manage: S&L Netherlands is getting two founders who know what it feels like to lead an organization when times are tough. Their message to Dutch civil society is as simple as it is difficult. Choose what you were founded for, say out loud what you will no longer do, and organize with others.
Koenraad recognizes a lot in this. "There is reason enough to despair. But how do you keep going? By doing it together, with good people. And a lot of good things are happening too. A few years ago, people everywhere were saying that young people only think about themselves and only sit on TikTok. Meanwhile, young people around the world are standing up en masse for their own future."
Jacob and Lotte have begun. In the coming months, they will continue to build the team and network of S&L Netherlands together with their Dutch colleagues.
