Born in a developing country, in a family that was hardly able to feed five children, Roy learned what poverty means. At the age of 11, his parents managed to move to the Netherlands. As he says himself:
“I was lucky to escape poverty. And through education and hard work, I am where I am today, but I could never have succeeded without support from those willing to share their knowledge, network and wealth. I am now fortunate to share what I have to offer with those who lack the resources but have the ambition to realize their dreams.”
Roy started his career as ING management trainee in the most affluent area of the Netherlands, managing a portfolio of private clients, SMEs and mid-corporates. Beginning of 2000 he became director of ING’s Private Banking branch in that area, and thanks to his social skills, significantly strengthened ING’s role in the local community. His ambitions to work in an international context took shape in his next role, where he established the Global Credit Card Fraud Management Department of 50 FTEs. One of the major technological transitions he facilitated with the department, was the migration of magnet bankcard to chips and 3D-secure.
As Head Impact Finance, his last role at ING, he established a business line investing in Financial Institutions – amongst others via ING India and ING Turkey. This allowed access to financial services to over 1 million people at the base of the pyramid, or in other words: the poorest people in our society. The portfolio had a sound financial return and in addition, over 25,000 women received financial literacy training as part of the interventions. This resulted for ING in a well-established name in the Impact Finance sector with an extensive network and goodwill among stakeholders. Later, as a spin-off of ING’s microfinance activities in Turkey, he initiated a multi-stakeholder consortium with the European Union to create jobs for Syrian refugees.
Another noteworthy project Roy was involved in, were the renowned ING research series ‘A Billion to Gain’. ING issued seven reports and organised five related international conferences, which contributed to the leading position of the Dutch impact sector worldwide. He was also one of the founding fathers of Debtlab070 in the Hague, an initiative to prevent problematic debts. It was a Public-Private Partnership combining strengths of multiple stakeholders. The initiative became a success and expanded to a national level.
Roy is a trustworthy person with a pleasant and outgoing personality. One of his strengths, is that he’s capable of establishing excellent relationships with people from all walks of life. He’s creative, finds solutions where others have given up, and has taken the lead in numerous relevant initiatives and accomplished them with much enthusiasm. Throughout his career, he has always taken on an active role in society with unpaid ancillary positions.
