The Hague · International
Innovation, transition and engagement strategy in a world of change.
I’m Wilfried. With deep roots in justice, security, governance and peace innovation, I help public and private partners collaborate, invest together and use AI wisely.
Civil servant · Advisor · Creator
Where worlds meet
- PublicPrivate
- LocalInternational
- Bottom-upTop-down
- FuturePresent
About
Building the conditions for collaboration that holds.
I am a Senior Advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, with a background in law, economics, impact investing and innovation that spans more than twenty years.
I am fascinated by how people and institutions decide together, especially now that AI is becoming part of the room.
Why
Where rivers meet the sea.
We live in a time of rapid change and innovation. Technology, security and society are shifting faster than any one institution can follow. New ideas and cross-fertilisation between worlds matter more than ever.
A delta is where that happens. Rivers carry soil from far away; where they meet the sea, it can settle into new land. The Netherlands, built in a delta, learned better than anyone to manage that encounter. Today a new delta is forming, where the material and digital worlds meet, and we must learn to manage it again.
First and foremost, I am a civil servant, and that is where my focus belongs. Colleagues who devote their careers to one institution will always know its intricacies better than I do. What I can add is what a river brings: experience from many organisations, and from entrepreneurship, advisory and international work. In public service, it can settle into fertile ground. I also believe in learning by doing: advice gets better when the advisor has skin in the game, which is why I keep building things of my own.
I am grateful to serve a country that makes room for this: one that dares to innovate at the cutting edge of government, designing partnerships and transitions with respect and care for the people who live here.
With care for public service, fed by many streams. That is where I learn most, and where I hope to give most.
Public & private
Public purpose and private initiative each carry knowledge the other needs; bringing them together turns shared ambition into shared investment.
Local & international
Hubs in six markets — from the Netherlands and Ukraine to Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda — taught me that the best ideas travel when they stay rooted in local reality.
Bottom-up & top-down
Practitioners show what works on the ground; institutions make it last. Change grows strongest when both learn from each other.
The world of the future & the here and now
Foresight opens the horizon; daily practice keeps it honest. Moving between them makes transitions both ambitious and achievable.
Work
Where I contribute
Ministry of Justice and Security
Senior Advisor Innovation Strategy. I lead innovation strategy, financing and market engagement, develop concrete public–private partnerships, and orchestrate coalitions in automation, AI, data exchange and tackling crime.
Foresight-Transitions
Advice and interim management, with methods in foresight, transition, collaboration and joint investment — helping practitioners and entrepreneurs act with clarity on long horizons.
Humanity Solutions
Building things that can help move humanity peacefully forward.
Creative work
Words, music, websites and innovation ecosystems — craft as a way of thinking.
Record
Results that matter
- €300M+ Growth Fund investment programmes developed, 2020–2022.
- 56% CAGR growing HiiL’s global justice accelerator, with €12M in additional investment secured.
- 40+ startups and innovators advised.
- Designed and delivered 20+ flagship innovation events and challenges, engaging 1M+ people worldwide.
- Directed the INNOvember innovation festival: 10K+ participants, 98 organisations.
- Co-created platforms for living wages (ACT on living wages), wildlife justice (Wildlife Justice Commission) and EU-level digital infrastructures.
- Delivered 11 high-profile European and international projects, including border control strategy and migration platforms.
Path
Experience
- 2023 – nowSenior Advisor Innovation StrategyMinistry of Justice and Security, The Netherlands
- 2020 – 2022Interim Manager & AdvisorForesight-Transitions — public-sector Growth Fund investment programmes, INNOvember
- 2019 – 2020Senior Innovation ConsultantInnovation strategy in banking, investment and customer insight
- 2013 – 2018Director, HiiL Justice AcceleratorSupporting justice entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide
- 2008 – 2013Independent Advisor, Founder Aspirationplatform, President EffectiusProgramme management, platforms and partnerships in justice, governance and collaboration
- 2005 – 2008ConsultantStrategy, IT and legal consultancy
- FounderHumanity Solutions · Foresight-Transitions
Education
Executive Master in Innovation & Entrepreneurship — Vlerick Business School
Master in International Management & Economics — Humboldt University & Panthéon-Assas University
Master in Law — KU Leuven
Expertise
Innovation & partnership development · Public–private partnerships · Impact investing · Strategy · Feasibility & impact assessment · Coalition building · Interim & portfolio management · Team coaching
Languages
Dutch (native) · English (fluent) · French · German · Spanish · Albanian (basic)
Integrity
Integrity, made transparent
Holding several roles only works when the lines between them are visible. As a rijksambtenaar (Dutch central-government civil servant) I am bound by the Ambtenarenwet 2017 and the Gedragscode Integriteit Rijk.
I practise what I advise. The methods I share — for collaboration, foresight, transitions, joint investment and AI — are also applied in my own work and ventures, and I keep studying and testing them.
What I do
- Serve the public first.I am bound by the oath or affirmation (ambtseed of -belofte) every civil servant takes, and act as a good civil servant should.
- Keep confidential what is confidential.What I learn through my public role stays there, also after I leave it.
- Speak in a personal capacity.Views on this site and in my private work are my own, not the ministry’s. Where my public role calls for restraint, I show it.
- Name conflicts early.Potential conflicts of interest, and even the appearance of one, are declared. When in doubt, I step back.
What I don’t do
- No paid work in justice and security.That expertise serves the public through my ministry role.
- No private gain from public access.I never use non-public information or ministry networks for private benefit.
- No conflicting financial interests.As an investor, I hold no financial interests that could affect how I do my public job.
- No gifts or favours.I don’t ask for or accept gifts, fees or favours from parties I deal with as a civil servant, unless my employer has approved it.
- No commercial pitching.I do not pitch commercially to counterparts of the ministry.
See a possible conflict?
Tell me. I would rather hear it early.
Based on the Ambtenarenwet 2017 and the Gedragscode Integriteit Rijk. Private engagements also follow the Integrity & Data Protection Principles of Humanity Solutions. Updated November 2026.
Contact
Let’s talk.
Questions about my ministry role go through the Ministry of Justice and Security, not this site.