Hivos is managed by an Executive Board, made up of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anne Jellema, and Chief Operations Officer (COO) Michel Farkas. The Management Team includes the heads of the Strategy and Impact Department and the Business Development Department, the directors of our four regional hubs, and some other management positions.
The directors of our regional hubs are Kennedy Mugochi (East Africa), Nana Zulu (Southern Africa), Tanja Lubbers (Latin America) and Sarah Saleh (Middle East & North Africa).
Regional presence
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hivos was one of the first major Dutch NGOs that opened offices in the Global South to operate in the close vicinity of its civil society partners, beneficiaries and other stakeholders there.
Hivos currently works in 40 countries and has regional hubs in Latin America, East Africa, Southern Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Hivos’ regional hubs, working alongside our many partner organizations, take the lead in defining regionally and nationally specific programs. In the next several years, Hivos will particularly seek to expand collaborations and partnerships in the MENA region and increase its advocacy efforts in the Netherlands. Hivos has handed over its Southeast Asia activities to the recently formed local NGO Yayasan Hivos in Indonesia.
Distribution and make-up of staff
Currently one fourth of Hivos staff works at the global office in The Hague, other colleagues work at regional and country offices. Staff in the regions are mainly non-Dutch and also hold management positions in the regional offices, including those of Regional Director.
The Supervisory Council
The Supervisory Council is – by Dutch law – the employer of the Executive Board. It is also charged with approving Hivos’ budgets and annual accounts, as well as any major strategic decisions Hivos takes. The Supervisory Council consists of seven members.
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Diana Monissen is the chair. She was the CEO of the Princess Maxima Center for Childhood Oncology and served as Director General at the Dutch Ministry of Health. Additionally, Diana chaired the board of directors of a health insurance company and was a member of several taskforces advising the Dutch government on preventing child and sexual abuse, among other issues.
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Elizabeth Lwanga is an advisor on innovations in development, leadership development and gender and development. She is from Uganda and has been a member of the Supervisory Council since 2018.
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Marianne van Kimmenade, a former partner of Ernst & Young, is a chartered accountant and serves as a senior policy advisor on fraud and governmental auditing at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants.
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Bernard ter Haar joined the Supervisory Council in 2021 and has held a number of high-level civil service posts. He is currently a special advisor to the Ministry of Domestic and Kingdom Affairs. Previously, he served as Director General at the Ministry of Social Affairs and held key leadership positions at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment.
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Frida Kruijt joined the Supervisory Council in 2021. Although a Dutch national, she has lived abroad for many years. She is the interim Executive Director of Amnesty International Canada.
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Savio Carvalho joined the Supervisory Council in 2022. Savio is from India and based in Amsterdam, where he works for Greenpeace International as Global Campaign Lead Biodiversity. Savio is familiar with NGOs like Amnesty International and Oxfam and has expertise in running and executing complex programs.