Ella Vogelaar
She is the minister of Integration and Housing in the Fourth cabinet Balkenende for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA). Previously she was vice-chair of the Federation Dutch Labour Movement (FNV). Between 1997 and 2000 she was project manager at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Since 2000 Vogelaar works as an independent advisor and interim-manager, as such she has coordinated the projected Taskforce Integration of the ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations. She advises governments, organisations and companies on employment policy, social security, education and integration.

HE Mr Lyn Parker
Formerly Lecturer in Law, Manchester University (1975-78). As a British diplomat since then, he has worked extensively on EU issues in the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office and the UK Permanent Representation in Brussels, as well as bilateral postings to Greece, India and Cyprus (High Commissioner 2001-5).

Sadik Harchaoui
He is Chair of the Board of Directors of FORUM, national centre of expertise on multicultural development in The Netherlands. He was born in Morocco and grew up in The Netherlands, where he studied criminal and private law at the University of Utrecht. He earlier worked as dep. public prosecutor in Zwolle, and as researcher and teacher at the Willem Pompe Institute for criminal law, University of Utrecht. He established FORUM’s position as an independent centre of expertise and introduced new themes to the institute, such as Youth & Safety, and Religion & Identity. Sadik Harchaoui is well-known as a social innovator, a networker pur sang, and adviser of government, corporate sector and civil society in The Netherlands and Europe. Chair RMO (Council for Social Development).

Petra Hoogerwerf
She is a is member of the Board of Directors of FORUM, focusing on the internal management of the institute. Her drive is to work with FORUM from an enterprising, innovative and collaborative perspective on multicultural issues, the core business of FORUM. Her experience lies in the field of management, coaching, marketing communication and fundraising. She earlier worked in the national government service, at the interface of government, corporate sector and not-for-profit organisations. For a long time she combined these functions with running her own consultancy bureau Hoogerwerf Coaching for Communication. Before she joined FORUM this summer, she was Head Strategy and Management of the Management Development Department (Algemene Bestuursdienst) in the national government service.

Dr Dirk Jacobs
He is a sociologist and political scientist, specialised in the issue of immigrant integration. He is associate professor in sociology at the Université libre de Bruxelles. He obtained his master degree at Ghent University (1993) and his PhD degree at Utrecht University (1998). He was one of the main research partners for the MIPEX-project.

Dr Rob Bijl
He is sociologist and psychiatric epidemiologist, is deputy director of The Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP. SCP is an institute for social and cultural policy analysis. For more than 30 years SCP supplies central government with information on the Dutch welfare state and the living conditions of the population. From 2001 – 2005 dr. Bijl was head of the research department on Migration and Integration of the Ministry of Justice. He has published – and is still involved in European research projects - on monitoring the processes of migrant integration, and on the issue of ethnicity and crime.

Nahed Selim
She is the author of several books on women and Islam (De vrouwen van de profeet, Brieven uit Egypte, Zwijgen is verraad, Allah houdt niet van vrouwen). Writer of many essays on integration, radicalization and women emancipation within the Islam. Also winner of the Harriet Freezerring feminist prize in 2006.

Dr Marc Verlot
He advises and publishes on issues of integration and social inequality. He was Head of Public Policy at the Commission for Racial Equality from 2005 onwards and currently works for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (UK). Before, he was for 10 years the director of a research centre on Intercultural Education and taught social anthropology at Gent University (Belgium). Prior to his academic career, he was a policy advisor  for the Royal Commissioner  for Integration Policies and the Flemish Ministry for Education (Belgium). He has worked with the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

Marijke Priester
Strategic advisor to the Board of Directors of FORUM. FORUM is a national centre of expertise, working on multi-cultural development in The Netherlands. Earlier she worked (a.o.) with OXFAM International on strategic collaboration, and with OXFAM Novib as head of lobby and head of R&D. She started as a social anthropologist teaching and doing research at Leiden University.

Vanessa Barton
Vanessa Barton has recently joined the British Council as Project Manager for the Benelux Region with a focus on arts, education and science projects. Before joining the British Council, Vanessa worked successfully in the UK as a Project Manager in community heritage projects and has a special interest in social inclusion issues.  

Mark Baldwin
Mark Baldwin has recently joined the British Council as Project Manager for the Benelux Region, focussing on governance and social policy. Before joining the British Council, Mark was an MBA Programme Manager and a university Careers Consultant in the UK, with special interest in the creative industries.