Jurenne Hooi succeeds Nico Schoof to chair Progress Committee Sint Maarten

PHILIPSBURG -- Dr. Jurenne D. Hooi has been appointed as the successor of Nico Schoof as the chair of St. Maarten’s Progress Committee. Schoof and committee member Michel Marijnen both stepped down. Mari- jke van Veen replaces Marijnen. The other members of the committee are Franklyn Richards, secretary Gert-Jan Stortelers and St. Maartenbased adjunct secretary Terrance Rey.

Jurenne Hooi was born in Curacao; she moved to the Netherlands at the age of 19, where she obtained a degree and her PhD in health science from Maastricht University before building a career as an independent advisor and keynote speaker. Hooi describes herself as a poverty and inclusion expert who helps municipalities, social organizations, enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) in the Netherlands and abroad managing their poverty reduction policies effectively. On her LinkedIn-profile, Dr. Hooi points out that multidimensional problems need understanding first before moving on to measurements and policy-making. “These are my domain, for instance poverty and poverty stress. Shame is a very important disruptive variable in the process of solving extreme debts.”

Dr. Hooi has a long track record in the social domain, among which a position as managing director of a social service organization (MaDi) in Amsterdam for over 12 years. She specializes in governance and holds several positions, including chair of the Supervisory Board of Mental Health Caribbean and chair of the Supervisory Board of the Amsterdam Museum and Swazoom, a broad welfare organization for children, youngsters, their parents and other residents. She is also a member of the supervisory boards of Housing Foundation De Key and the Doen Foundation, a member of the advisory council of Techmeup, a