Andy Wehkamp, Regional Director

Andy Wehkamp (50) started her career with SNV in 1996, first as Country Director for Uganda, then Country Director for Peru, and most recently Country Director for Vietnam. Since January 2005, she was appointed Regional Director, Asia. In addition, Andy is also the corporate account manager for the UNWTO-SNV partnership.

Before joining SNV, Andy held different managerial and policy positions with Oxfam - Novib in the Netherlands and in Central America, and with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was board member of several Dutch institutions. Her education includes an MSc in Social Anthropology, specializing in Gender & development, Development economics and Applied Sociology.

In Asia, more than 600 million people are living on less than a dollar a day. Therefore, Andy has a strong commitment in ensuring that SNV's capacity development support delivers impact in poverty reduction for the benefit of disadvantaged women and men in Asia.

Country Directors

Nicolette Matthijsen, Laos

Nicolette Matthijsen has worked with SNV in 4 continents since 1992. She started as a gender advisor in Ethiopia and after that in Bolivia. In Bhutan she was a project responsible of a large Dutch funded integrated rural development program and she started in a similar position for a big governance program in Albania. There she became portfolio coordinator, a position that she continued in Laos in 2005. Since 2008 she is Country Director for SNV in Laos and Cambodia.

Before her SNV-life, Nicolette worked in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and with the University Council of Wageningen University. In Wageningen she graduated in Human Nutrition with a specialization in gender and sociology.

Laos is classified as one of the least developed countries and wants to leave this “classification” by 2020. Comparing Laos with its neighboring countries, it is clearly less developed, certainly in terms of human resource capacities, but at the same time it has lots of potential. Cambodia has similarities to Laos, but is in many aspects also different; it has for instance a much more developed private sector and civil society. In both countries SNV’s capacity development services can certainly make an important contribution to pro-poor and sustainable development.

Hans Heijdra, Nepal

Hans Heijdra has about 18 years of experience in development cooperation, of which 9 years in management positions. Since January 2008 he became Country Director of SNV Nepal, a position he also fulfilled in Bolivia (2003-2007) and as interim in Peru (2004-2005). From 2001-2003 he was member of the SNV Core Team supporting the world wide transition process of SNV towards an independent capacity development organisation. In 1996-2001 he was the first coordinator of the SNV Amazon Program in Peru. Before that, he worked for SNV-Bolivia in the Santa Cruz region as senior advisor in Indigenous People’s affairs (1993-1996) and as advisor of Indigenous People’s organizations on land tenure, economic and organizational issues (1989-1993).

Hans holds a Master degree (with honors) in Sociology of Rural Development at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands, with specialization in Rural Sociology of the tropics and subtropics, Irrigation and non-western agricultural co-operatives and finance.

Megan Ritchie, Bhutan

Megan Ritchie started her career with SNV in 2004, first as a tourism advisor in Bhutan and then later as Sector Leader for Tourism, Portfolio Co-ordinator for Thimphu, and now as interim Country Director for SNV Bhutan.

Before joining SNV, Megan was a senior lecturer at La Trobe University, Australia and the principal consultant at Blue Gorm; a private consultancy firm specialising in capacity development of rural communities.

Megan has a passion for facilitating the empowerment of people and a special interest in rural and remote communities.

Regional Office Team

Wim J. van Nes, Renewable Energy/Biogas Network Leader
Wim van Nes joined SNV in 1989, first as Biogas Researcher and from 1992 to 1997 as Manager of the Biogas Support Programme (BSP) for Nepal. After a break, he rejoined SNV in 2000 as Local Governance Advisor for Tanzania, and since 2004 as Practice Leader of the Renewable Energy/Biogas network, first for Asia, but now including Africa as well. Before joining SNV, Wim started his career in 1982 with the Centre of Energy Conservation and Clean Technology (CE) in Delft, the Netherlands. In the period 1998 to 2000, he was associated with the Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment (Novem) in Utrecht, the Netherlands, as programme manager responsible for the stand-alone applications of photovoltaic solar energy. His education includes MSc in Chemical Technology, Business Administration and Public Administration.

Worldwide, 2.5 billion people, especially women and children, rely on biomass such as woodfuel, agricultural waste and dung cakes for cooking. Wim is convinced that the long-term multi-stakeholders sector approach as practiced in national programmes on domestic biogas can make a difference.

Rob Ukkerman, Forest Products Network Leader
Rob Ukkerman joined SNV in 1991 in a rural development project in Niger. After this he became senior environment advisor first in only Honduras and later also in Nicaragua when both programs merged. The main activity was support to the implementation of Strategic Environmental Analysis at municipality (district) level. The following 5 years were spent at Head Office in the Shared Service Unit as NRM officer and since January 2007 he is posted in Hanoi as Forestry network leader covering 4 countries with forestry programs: Vietnam, Laos, Nepal and Bhutan. At the same time he is coordinator for the global partnership with WWF and regional partnership with RECOFTC.

Before joining SNV, Rob work as associate expert for DGIS in Guinea Bissau and Jamaica. Rob holds a Masters degree in Tropical Agronomy from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is married without children and likes traveling and bird-watching.

Tara Gujadhur, Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism Network Leader

Gujadhur is an American citizen but both in . After studying Anthropology, Economics and Sustainable Tourism, she has been working on and off with SNV since 1998. She started off  working on community-based natural resources management in  and southern , but started working on more community tourism issues almost immediately. She has since done consulting work on sustainable tourism development, community institutional development, and cultural heritage and tourism. Currently based in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, she moved there in 2004 as an SNV Sustainable Tourism Advisor. She is the interim Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism Network Leader for 2009 while John Hummel is on sabbatical, and is particularly interested in the issue of impact measurement of our work, and also how disadvantaged groups (like ethnic minorities) can benefit from tourism development.

Antoinette Maria Kome - Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Network Leader

Joining SNV Asia from mid-2008, Antoinette brings with her extensive knowledge of Latin America’s decentralisation processes and water reforms. Her experience involves capacity strengthening to national and local governments, NGOs and the private sector. She has been involved in the setup of several professional training courses on water management and WSS. She has published many articles and manuals ranging from irrigation management, gender, water legislation, small town´ utilities as well as water supply and sanitation in rural areas.

Antoinette´s experience has always related to learning, networks and interinstitutional collaboration. She has worked for over 10 years in developing countries as an adviser, trainer and researcher. After Sri Lanka, Senegal, Peru, and Central America, Antoinette joins SNV Asia as Regional Network Leader for Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), covering Bhutan, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam.

Jan Vloet, Lead Advisor Regional Strategy and Partnerships
Jan started his career with SNV in 1988 as an adviser in the SNV Ethiopia programme. This was followed by functions as management adviser in Nepal and Zambia, and coordinator monitoring & evaluation at our head office in the Hague, the Netherlands. He subsequently managed a large district development programme in Tanzania and became Country Director for Zimbabwe in 2002. Most recently, he established a new country programme in Montenegro. In August 2008, he was appointed Lead Adviser Regional Strategy and Partnerships for SNV in Asia, based in Hanoi.
Before joining SNV, Jan has worked as an adviser in a land tenure programme for indigenous communities in the Amazon Region of Venezuela. His education includes a MA in Rural Development Planning (University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK) and an MSc in Public Policy and Management (SOAS - University of London, UK).
In Asia, multiple processes of transformation are taking place, providing ample opportunities for both public and private organizations to address the issues affecting people living on less than a dollar a day. Therefore, focusing on those issues in strong partnerships with local, national and regional organizations is one of his priorities.

 
Rajendra Shakya, Head of Administration
Rajendra joined SNV in 1992 as Project Administrator in Nepal. He joined SNV/ Biogas Support Programme as Programme Administrator in 1994. He became the Country Administrator of SNV/Nepal in 1996. He served as the Business Economics Manager (BEM) in SNV/Albania from 2000-2002. He came back to Nepal in 2002 and joined SNV/Nepal again as Coordinator Administration & Services. He was appointed as Head of Regional Administrative Centre – Himalayas in January 2005. Since September 2006, he is working as Regional Head of Administration – Asia.

Before joining SNV, Rajendra was involved in several things e.g. import/export business in China, working for a UK based multinational company in India, construction and restaurant business in Nepal etc. He has a Diploma in Science and also studied Psychology (Masters level). Sports and traveling are his favorite pastimes.

Que Nguyen, PR and Knowledge Management Coordinator
Before joining SNV in 2006, Que had had nearly 10 years of profession experience in managing PR and communication activities for private, governmental and educational organisations in Australia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

As someone who has directly benefited from development assistance, Que is highly enthusiastic about the profound impact that capacity development can have on people’s lives. She values the opportunity to help SNV share knowledge and information as well as build effective relationships with clients, employees, donors and partners.

Que holds a degree in marketing communications from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and has done several advanced courses in PR and communications. She is married with two children.

Bui Thu Dung (Dzung), Regional Management Assistant
Dzung has more than 10 years of working experience in the development field, with different international organisations such as DANIDA, GRET, World Bank funded projects in the position of Training and Development specialist. Before officially joining SNV in June 2006 as Regional Management Assistant, Dzung worked for SNV Asia as Training Coordinator for Regional training programmes. Dzung is convinced by the noble goals of the development work, and is committed to contributing her part to a better life of underprivileged people in Vietnam and Asia.

Dzung holds bachelor degrees in English, Russian and Economics. With a strong interest in human resource management, she is now studying a Master Degree in Human Resource Management from Villanova University, Philadelphia, USA. Dzung hopes to help build the human capital of SNV in Asia as it is one of the most valuable assets of our organisation.

Misja Brandenburg, Regional Financial Controller
Misja started to work for SNV in Cameroon as a Financial Manager (BEM) in 1998 and moved to Bolivia in 2001 to work again as a Financial Manager and later as Head of Administration & Logistics of the Region Latin America.

Since 2007 he is the Regional Controller of SNV Asia, based in Ha Noi Vietnam.

Before joining SNV, Misja worked in the private sector: first shortly in Holland for a plastic manufacturer of and later for a Dutch Logistics company in Hungary (1994-1998) as Financial Manager. He has a degree in Business Economics and did several post graduate studies in the field of Management, Control and Organisation.

Mai Thi Thanh Thuy, SAP Finance Administrator
Thuy joined SNV in 2003 as Book Keeper/Logistic Officer. She then moved to the Biogas Project office and worked there as Project Administrator. Thuy returned to SNV in May 2005 and started working as SAP Finance Administrator since June 2006.

Before joining SNV, Thuy worked for private companies, including Ha Tay Brewery Limited and PEPSI international Co.

Thuy obtained a Bachelor Degree in Accounting at Hanoi Financial Academy and a Diploma in Accounting at Sydney New South Wales Business College. She is married with two children.

Le Bich Nga, SAP HR Administrator
Nga started her career with SNV upon her graduation from university in 1996, first as a Secretary, and then as a Regional SAP Administrator until now.

Nga loves to work in development field, where a lot of poor people get a chance to improve their livelihood.

Nga holds a Bachelor in Foreign Language. She likes traveling and having fun while working.

 

Nguyen Hong Nga, Resource Mobilization Officer
Nga holds a Bachelor Degree in English from Hanoi National University and a Masters degree on Environmental Management from the University of Queensland, Australia. Before joining SNV, she worked for different development projects on water resource management and coastal zone management. Her most recent work experience was with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), where she supported programs in productivity improvement, trade capacity development, rural development, gender equality, and energy and environment management.

Nga started working for SNV Asia at the end of August 2008 as Regional Resource Mobilization Officer. She has a strong desire to use her skills and knowledge to contribute to SNV’s mission, which is strengthen local capacity for poverty alleviation.

Lucia Nass – Regional Governance Advisor       

                                     Lucia Nass started her career with SNV in 1987. She has been working on and off for SNV ever since, currently more permanently as Regional Governance Advisor. Starting in West-Africa initially, Lucia was advisor to local NGO’s for SNV Niger on women and development, for SNV Mali on a holistic approach to development through community organisation, and for SNV Ghana on the establishment of a training and information facility for the NGO community. Next to these longer-term employments, she consulted with international NGO’s in Francophone Africa and more recently in Myanmar, to facilitate strategic change and learning processes, and to support the design and evaluation of capacity development learning and funding programs. Lucia has been actively assisting SNV Asia in the capacity development of local government organisations in Bhutan. She supported change facilitation for SNV “emerging lines of advisory practice” in Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, and Vietnam. More recently she worked as a consultant with SNV for the strategy roll-out workshops, and assumed part-time interim Human Resources Management for the Asia region.

Lucia believes SNV can achieve lasting impact through sustainable improvements in the governance situation in a sector. She looks forward to collaborating with you.