Board of Directors
Awraham Soetendorp, Chairman
Awraham Soetendorp is the founder and co-chair of the Hope for Children Everywhere Foundation and President of the European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He is also co-chair of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders and a founding member of Green Cross International. Soetendorp serves as rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Community in The Hague and is a renowned human rights advocate and champion of civil society worldwide.
Ben Barten, Treasurer
Ben Barten holds a degree in Western Sociology. He worked for much of his career at the Inspectorate of the Dutch Ministry of Finance, where he served as Chief Inspector and was responsible for the coordination of all the Dutch government's budgetary requests and financial affairs. He is currently advisor to the Minister of Finance in Suriname and financial advisor and comptroller for several organizations, including Radio Benevolencija.
Jan ter Laak, Secretary
Jan ter Laak is senior advisor to the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC), which conducts democracy, human rights and rule of law projects throughout Central and Eastern Europe . He has also served as Secretary General of Pax Christi Netherlands, as Secretary General of the ecumenical Interchurch Peace Council, and has worked for Roman Catholic Broadcasting (KRO), in addition to serving as a Roman Catholic priest for 33 years. During the 1980s, he traveled extensively in Central and Eastern Europe , providing support to independence movements such as Charta 77 and Solidarnosc as well as to human rights groups. Jan has also collaborated extensively with peace and human rights groups in the Balkans, Colombia and Cuba .
Chris Keulemans
Chris Keulemans is a traveling writer and journalist based in Amsterdam . He has written five fiction and non-fiction works and contributes regularly to the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland , a magazine that specializes in arts, culture and multicultural issues. He also served as director of De Balie, a center for culture and politics in Amsterdam . He has traveled extensively around the Balkans and elsewhere, was a co-founder of Press Now, and has organized numerous events on culture and media, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Simone Susskind
Simone Susskind is a politician and an influential fighter against racism and anti-Semitism in Belgium . She served for decades as secretary general of the Belgian Secular Jewish Community Center (CCLJ) and initiated the first public dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian women in 1989 in Brussels . Currently, she is a special representative for preventive diplomacy in the cabinet of the Belgian vice-premier and minister of justice and serves as a member of the Belgian Socialist Party (PS).