Marc van den Muyzenberg established Dutch Academic Services in 2013. He is able to combine his passion for the public sector with his 25 years of experience in designing, organising and supervising learning programmes and developing programmes in the Netherlands and abroad. Marc’s strength is his ability to bring people together, in order to come up with new ideas and delivery of initiatives and plans. He inspires participants to expand their horizons, but also to focus on connecting new knowledge to ‘what works in their own context.’ After graduating in History and Political Science, Marc lectured, conducted research and was a public sector and educational reform consultant. From 2002 to 2013 he was strategic advisor for the Dutch Institute of Public Administration, he was responsible for designing, organising and teaching international programmes. From 2008 to 2010 he was general director of the Institute, in this capacity he merged ROI with HEC (ICT Governance Expertise Centre).
Marc’s way of working is characterised by a high level of flexibility, organisation skills and dealing with stress. He worked in Hungary, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia, Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Lithuania, Macedonia, South Africa, Tanzania, Indonesia, South Sudan and most recently Azerbaijan. Marc is fluent in English, German, Hungarian and is a student of Russian. He has in-depth experience and knowledge of governmental cultures, especially in Netherlands, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Arjen van Ballegoyen Worked as a consultant for over 15 years. He specializes in all aspects of strategic planning in the public and semi-public sector, ranging from strategy and policy development to the organizational development and HRM training efforts in order to implement the strategic plan. He has a proven affinity for turning strategy into action, focusing on practical and sustainable implementation strategies that include organizational design as well as budgeting and other support functions. Arjen holds a degree in law (LL.M) from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands (1993-1997) and a degree in International Economics and International Relations (M.A.) from the Johns Hopkins University, USA (1998-2000). Long and short term country experience: United Arab Emirates, France, USA, Netherlands, Belgium, China, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Croatia and Kazakhstan.
With degrees in both History and Russian Studies, an innate passion for the unknown and a curiosity to match, Gilles Piters is always looking for new challenges. He lived in Russia and travelled Central-Asia and was submerged in the Post-Soviet states, their people and mentalities. As a former president of the study association of Russian Studies he has experiences in critical thinking, working in an organisation and managing its spare resources. Gilles worked as a student mentor, coaching international students. This has given him problem solving skills required to work with and support people from different nationalities and backgrounds.
Vadim Sharshov originally born in Russia in a small town Tambov, has lived in the Netherlands for about two decades. But he still fluently speaks, reads and writes in Russian. Foreign cultures and languages had always interested him. At Leiden Stedelijk Gymnasium he studied other languages including English, German, French, Latin and Ancient Greek. He has finished his Bachelor degree in Mathematics at Amsterdam University. He had always been passionate about mathematics, already at school he took part in the preparatory training for the International Mathematical Olympiad. From the age of eight he has enjoyed playing chess. During his chess career he has earned a degree of a chess teacher, he took part in Dutch Championships at the age of eighteen and he still regularly plays in different tournaments. He gladly uses his skills in order to help people in achieving their goals.
Drs. Henk Frencken is senior educational advisor, at ICLON, graduate school of teaching, Leiden University. ICLON is a direct partner of Dutch Academic Services for programmes in the field of (language) training, didactical skills, curriculum development and advanced e-learning. Henk’s career spans more than 40 years. After graduating as a biologist he worked for twelve years in Dutch Secondary Education as a teacher and teacher educator. Then he worked for more than 12 years in educational projects at secondary and tertiary level in Africa (Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Mozambique.) After his return to the Netherlands he remained involved in various international projects aiming on educational management and capacity building with partners in China, Kazakhstan, Uganda, Korea, Lithuania and many more.
For ICLON he is responsible for teacher training innovation, evaluation and didactical skills development, such as e-learning, action research and problem based learning. For eight years he has been the driving force of the E-merge Consortium, a common initiative of Leiden, Delft and the Hague Universities, aiming to increase e-learning standards and practice at these universities . Within the partnership with Dutch Academic Services Henk focusses on programme implementation and quality assurance.
Roos van Gent is a research and administrative intern at Dutch Academic Services. She carries out research for her master’s thesis for the Msc. in Public Administration: International and European Governance. In her research she focusses on the soft power of the Netherlands and how this influences the export of skills and knowledge about governance structures. She is also involved in the setting up of a summer school at Leiden University in The Hague and carries out logistical work surrounding the study visits that Dutch Academic Services offers. As a master student at Leiden university she aims to graduate Cum Laude of the master Public Administration: International and European Governance. Roos holds a Magna Cum Laude bachelor degree from Leiden University College The Hague, an international honours college with a focus on critical thinking, building personalities and leadership.