The Dutchlink Board was inaugurated in 2003 with representatives from three pillars – Business, Social and Cultural. Currently the Board is chaired by Bert Bardoel. His colleagues on the Board are Akky van Ogtrop, Annerie van Maarschalkerweerd, Lieke Scherbeijn, Dorus van den Biezenbos, Tjarko Edzes, Laurens Visscher and Elle van Beijsterveldt. Sasja Bouwman is the Executive Manager and she manages the day-to-day operations of Dutchlink and is its central point of contact.
The Government is represented via Netherlands Consul-General Hugo Klijn.
Bert Bardoel
Chairman
Born in the Netherlands, Bert arrived in Australia in the mid eighties, is married with two children and currently living on Sydney’s North Shore. Bert completed his MBA at the AGSM and UNSW Australian School for Business in 2009 Bert Bardoel is an Executive Director with Ernst & Young in Sydney.
Akky van Ogtrop
Director
Akky van Ogtrop (born in The Netherlands), graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, s’Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands and has a Masters Degree Fine Arts, Sydney University. As a director and manager of major arts events Akky has proven experience as an arts administrator and creative manager with extensive contacts and national and international project experience.
Annerie van Maarschalkerweerd
Director
Annerie moved to Sydney permanently in 1984. Since February 1986 she has been employed as an International BFA Flight Attendant.
While there is currently no International travel Annerie has become a volunteer at the Addison Road Community Organization in Marrickville
Dorus van den Biezenbos
Director
Following his studies in International Business & Languages in Maastricht, Dorus started his career at ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam and Luxembourg as Private Banker. In 2005 he stepped into Management Consulting with a focus on Customer Experience and Digital Transformation in Financial Services. Dorus has worked across Europe, Asia Pacific and moved to Australia in 2011. Most recently as entrepreneurial executive coach and co-founder of multiple businesses.
Lieke Scherbeijn
Director
Lieke moved to Sydney in 2010 after travelling the world. She joined the Board in 2014 after working closely with Dutchlink in her job at the Netherlands Consulate-General. After nearly 10 years working for a PCO, she joined Ashton Media as the Event Operations Manager. Ashton Media create leading conferences that deliver unprecedented insight into the industry with inspiring speakers, highly targeted content and delegates that align with what matters.
Tjarko Edzes
Director
Following his studies in Law and MBA, Tjarko worked in international real estate investment roles across Europe and Asia-Pacific. He moved to Sydney in 2018 to open a pan-APAC office for real estate investor Bouwinvest. He joined Scape, the largest rental housing developer and operator in Australia, as Chief Capital Officer in 2022. Tjarko also plays in the ‘best Dutch band Down-Under’ Hollandse Nieuwe.
Elle van Beijsterveldt
Director
Elle has almost a decade of experience in the wine industry, having worked in various (digital) marketing roles across Europe and Australia. She relocated to Sydney in 2017 and joined Dutchlink in 2019 as Executive Manager, a position she held for three years. Currently, she’s working as a marketing specialist for AIX Rosé, a premium rosé wine from Provence.
Laurens Visscher
Director
Laurens is a Management Consultant specialised in business growth. After nearly 8 years at KPMG in The Netherlands him and his wife moved to Adelaide in 2018. After 2 years as Commercial Director in a consultancy firm and receiving his PR Vis he moved to Melbourne and from there to Sydney in 2021. As a Director he now leads one of the Accelerating Business Growth teams at KPMG. He also has extensive experience in NGO boards and committees across Rotary, Rotaract and ShelterBox at a national and European level