Marjolein Kok

During my career, as an international development cooperation and social justice expert, change processes have always fascinated me. Over the years, I have worked in the Netherlands and internationally, including […]
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Jan 5, 2018

During my career, as an international development cooperation and social justice expert, change processes have always fascinated me. Over the years, I have worked in the Netherlands and internationally, including in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Egypt, Israel and Palestine. I sometimes worked in fragile areas or with partners operating in conflict sensitive environments on issues related to human rights, corporate accountability, community resilience and natural resource management. In these complex settings I have witnessed the power of dialogue and bottom-up approaches, the urgency for systemic thinking, and the necessity for fair engagement, inclusion and the participation of vulnerable groups.

I strongly believe in the strength of diversity and something that drives me is bringing people together to cross-fertilize, to create a space for dialogue. Connecting people and nature is also one of my passions. I would say my approach is focused on appreciation and participation, and working towards common ownership. There are several methods that have inspired me along the way, amongst others the Work that ReconnectsDeep Democracy and systemic thinking. I also enjoy the process of analyzing and designing, to think in concrete steps without losing sight of the bigger picture. Perhaps that is why I like to work with the Sprockler methodology and tool: designing and conducting participatory narrative inquiries and evaluations.

I obtained a master degree in international development planning at University College London (UCL) and a bachelor degree in Public Policy, focusing on rights-based and participatory approaches, land custodianship and sustainable food systems.

In my free time, I am a business and human rights working group member at a Dutch Commission on Human Rights and a member of the United Nations Harmony with Nature knowledge platform. I also sing, dance and travel whenever I can.

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