Advisory Board

Tanja Jadnanansing (1967) is chair of the Executive Board of the Amsterdam Zuidoost district council. A district with more than 170 nationalities and cultures. Her portfolio there includes education, security, youth and art and culture.

Jadnanansing has a clear love for education, which arose during her spokesmanship in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), where she served for almost 7 years. In addition, she was chairman of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Security and Justice for 2 years. After the House of Representatives, she worked for the Albeda College in Rotterdam as Programme Manager Strategy and External Relations.

Tanja Jadnanansing studied law at the Vrije Universiteit (VU). She is driven to contribute to knowledge, influence and opportunities to further grow the community. She wants to use every stage she is offered to achieve that goal for the benefit of the greater good. At Nuffic, she does this in the role of chair of the Advisory Council.

Carlo Segers is a member of the Executive Board of Firda, a leading vocational education institution with approximately 22,000 students across six vocational colleges in Friesland and Northern Flevoland. Firda plays a crucial role in the region by training young talent and connecting them with the labor market. As a board member, Carlo has a diverse portfolio and focuses on key themes such as education & research, ICT, sustainability, and internationalization.

Carlo began his career with a degree in mechanical engineering, initially working in the private sector as an engineer. Although this technical background provided a solid foundation, he quickly discovered his passion for education. This led him to various roles in vocational education, where he gained valuable experience in guiding and inspiring students and professionals.

In 2017, Carlo returned to his roots in vocational education when he joined the Executive Board of Firda, then still known as Friesland College. Since then, he has played a key role in the transformation and growth of the institution, and Firda has evolved into an innovative and future-oriented educational organization with a strong focus on sustainability, digitalization, and strengthening international networks.

With his technical background, managerial experience, and passion for education, Carlo Segers makes a significant contribution to Firda's vision and direction, inspiring both students and teachers to get the best out of themselves.

Karen Peters (1966) is member of the board of directors at De Haagse Scholen, a foundation for primary and special public education. Within this foundation, 51 schools offer education to approximately 15,000 pupils aged 4 to 18.

Karen possesses broad experience in education both in the Netherlands and abroad; as a result, the theme of education in an international setting is close to her heart. In addition to the degree programme in Educational Studies she completed in Groningen, she also studied in the United States and Sweden. Karen took her doctorate from Radboud University Nijmegen in 1997 with a thesis entitled De professionaliteit van schoolleiders, een taakspecifieke benadering (The professionalism of school leaders, a task-specific approach).

Before starting the position at De Haagse Scholen, she worked for STEV, a foundation for primary education and she served as executive director of the Foundation for Dutch Education Worldwide (NOB) for over 4.5 years. Prior to that, Karen spent nearly 3 years working as director of a group of three primary schools in the Utrecht region; she also held numerous positions as an authorised and interim administrator.

From 2000 to 2010, Karen amassed broad experience in Dutch-language education in other countries. She first did so as a coordinator and teacher at the Dutch school in Zug, Switzerland, and then as director and board member of the Dutch International School in Jakarta. During those years, she developed her international educational experience in positions such as director of a preschool in Switzerland and on the Supervisory Board (BOG) of the British International School in Jakarta.

In addition to her advisory membership at Nuffic, Karen is chair of the Foundation for International Education in the Netherlands (SIO).

Rob Verhofstad (born in 1972) is chair of the Executive Board of Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen (HAN).

He is a member of the education and internationalisation board committees of the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences.

He is chairman of Stichting Cube050, Incubator for Groningen and a board member of the Consortium for Valorisation and Entrepreneurship (CVO).

Rob Verhofstad studied Political Science in Nijmegen. Before moving to the Northern Netherlands in 2011, he worked for Radboud University in Nijmegen in the fields of internationalisation, research and communication.

Ewald van Vliet is chair of the Executive Board of Stichting Lucas Onderwijs, a school board for regular and special primary and secondary education that caters to approximately 36,000 students in the Haaglanden region.

In the late 1980s, he started as a teacher in primary education before becoming director of several primary schools in The Hague. After attending the primary education teacher-training college (Pabo), he took the secondary education teacher-training programme (MO-opleiding) in Educational Theory and Educational Studies, specialising in management and policy. Afterwards, he became a school supervisor and team leader at the Hague School Counselling Centre.

In 2002, after serving on the city council for 8 years, he became alderman in the then municipality of Monster and joined the steering committee for the merger that led to the formation of the municipality of Westland. In that municipality, he became alderman and deputy mayor. He was also a member of the Executive Board of the Haaglanden urban region, with the economy portfolio, and chair of the Supervisory Boards of Westland Energie and cable company CAIW.

In 2007, he was appointed mayor of the merged municipality of Lansingerland (Bleiswijk, Bergschenhoek and Berkel en Rodenrijs) with approximately 60,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, he was a member of the Executive Board of the Rotterdam city region, with the portfolios economy and resources. In addition, he has held various executive and supervisory positions, including 9 years as chair of WorldSkills Netherlands.

In 2014, he returned from public administration to education as chair of the Executive Board of Lucas Onderwijs. Within this educational umbrella organisation, considerable attention is paid to the continuous development of students up to about 18 years of age. Cooperation between childcare, welfare and education and internationalisation are important themes in the strategic policy plan of Lucas Onderwijs.

Gaby Allard (MPhil) is member of the Executive Board of ROC of Amsterdam-Flevoland. Her portfolio includes the following: educational development, quality assurance, research and innovation. In addition, she is board member of the trade association MBO Raad (Research & innovation, internationalization, social domain).

Allard started her career as a performing artist. She subsequently held various management positions in higher education in addition to chairing the sectoral advisory committee on art education.
Allard researches and publishes on educational innovation and is a PhD candidate at Christ Church University Canterbury in England.

Allard is founder of the National Center of Performing Arts, The Netherlands. In 2002 she received the merit award from the Dansersfonds '79 for her versatile contribution to the sector.

Vinod Subramaniam (1967) is Chairman of the Executive Board of the University of Twente. Prior to this, he was Rector Magnificus of the VU University in Amsterdam for six years.

Vinod himself was an international student in the US, receiving his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, before continuing his academic career at the University of Michigan, with a Master's degree in both Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics. He obtained his PhD from the same university in 1996.

He was then a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (DE), and then senior research scientist at AstraZeneca in Loughborough (UK), before coming to the Netherlands in 2004 as professor of nanobiophysics at the University of Twente.

Vinod is a member of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI) and of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), and was recently appointed as a council member of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI).

The members of the Advisory Board act as a sounding board, mirror and ambassador for Nuffic. They provide support based on their different backgrounds to ensure that ideas stay sharp and our activities link up even better with the needs of our stakeholders. The members of the board are not employed by Nuffic. They receive an attendance fee per meeting and a compensation for travel expenses.

The following organisations are also represented in the board, on a rotating basis: ISO , JOB MBO, LSvB en LAKS.