Ivo Veenkamp
Ivo Veenkamp is a senior executive and international expert on counterterrorism, preventing and countering (violent) extremism, diversity, social cohesion and youth. He has more than thirty years of experience at the crossroads of international, national and local strategy, policy and programming, including almost twenty years as a senior executive.
Throughout his life he lived in the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and India. Ivo worked in government, the private sector and a multilateral organization and engaged extensively with international and regional organizations, civil society, local communities, think tanks and research institutions
Ivo was the co-founder and first Deputy Executive Director of Hedayah, The International Center of Excellence for Countering Extremism and Violent Extremism, for more than 10 years. Together with the first Executive Director, he played a leading role in the foundation and establishment of Hedayah as an acknowledged and respected independent multilateral institution. He was responsible for the day-to-day lead of the organization and initiated the International Advisory Board of Hedayah. He also frequently acted as an expert speaker and moderator of international meetings. During his time at Hedayah he was an Associate Fellow for Counterterrorism and Extremism of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and a member of the Steering Committee of the RESOLVE Network (Researching Solutions to Violent Extremism), a global consortium of researchers and research organizations on CVE.
After Hedayah Ivo has been working as an independent international consultant. The past year as the Strategic Advisor for Preventing Violent Extremism and Transnational Crime of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ). In this capacity he advised of the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) on their National Action Plan on P/CVE.
Previously he was the Dutch Director for Counterterrorism Policy and Strategy reporting directly to the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security for more than five years. In this capacity he was amongst others responsible for the first National Counterterrorism strategy, the full spectrum of counterterrorism policy and coordinating bilateral and multilateral cooperation (EU, UN, Global Counterterrorism Forum). As the Policy and Strategy Director Ivo was a member of the Steering Committee on Modernizing Border Management/Passenger Data and the Directors Platform on Migration. He supervised an international UN initiated project on “counter-narratives” and was the chairman of the Nuclear Detection Working Group of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). Ivo was also a Dutch delegation member for the Ministerial and Coordinating Committee meetings of the Global Counterterrorism Forum from its inception.
As a Program Director at the Ministry of Security and Justice Ivo reformed the Dutch civic integration policy, programs and systems both domestically and abroad and he has been Head of Urban Policy at the Ministry of Interior, strengthening among others social cohesion at the local government and community level. He started at the Dutch government as the Secretary of the Government Advisory Committee on Oversight/Inspection, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice.
Ivo has been a member of the Dutch Senior Executive Service for more than eight year and started his career as a Management Consultant for the Government Group of KPMG Consulting. In this capacity he worked on strategy, organization, management and culture, focused on Youth and was interim director of the Foundation for Youth Work in Amsterdam
He holds a MA in both Political Science and Psychology (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Ivo was also selected for the ‘Candidates Program’, a two year Leadership Development Program to prepare for the Dutch Government Senior Executive Service.
Ivo was the co-founder and first Deputy Executive Director of Hedayah, The International Center of Excellence for Countering Extremism and Violent Extremism, for more than 10 years. Together with the first Executive Director, he played a leading role in the foundation and establishment of Hedayah as an acknowledged and respected independent multilateral institution. He was responsible for the day-to-day lead of the organization and initiated the International Advisory Board of Hedayah. He also frequently acted as an expert speaker and moderator of international meetings. During his time at Hedayah he was an Associate Fellow for Counterterrorism and Extremism of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and a member of the Steering Committee of the RESOLVE Network (Researching Solutions to Violent Extremism), a global consortium of researchers and research organizations on CVE.
After Hedayah Ivo has been working as an independent international consultant. The past year as the Strategic Advisor for Preventing Violent Extremism and Transnational Crime of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ). In this capacity he advised of the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) on their National Action Plan on P/CVE.
Previously he was the Dutch Director for Counterterrorism Policy and Strategy reporting directly to the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security for more than five years. In this capacity he was amongst others responsible for the first National Counterterrorism strategy, the full spectrum of counterterrorism policy and coordinating bilateral and multilateral cooperation (EU, UN, Global Counterterrorism Forum). As the Policy and Strategy Director Ivo was a member of the Steering Committee on Modernizing Border Management/Passenger Data and the Directors Platform on Migration. He supervised an international UN initiated project on “counter-narratives” and was the chairman of the Nuclear Detection Working Group of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). Ivo was also a Dutch delegation member for the Ministerial and Coordinating Committee meetings of the Global Counterterrorism Forum from its inception.
As a Program Director at the Ministry of Security and Justice Ivo reformed the Dutch civic integration policy, programs and systems both domestically and abroad and he has been Head of Urban Policy at the Ministry of Interior, strengthening among others social cohesion at the local government and community level. He started at the Dutch government as the Secretary of the Government Advisory Committee on Oversight/Inspection, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice.
Ivo has been a member of the Dutch Senior Executive Service for more than eight year and started his career as a Management Consultant for the Government Group of KPMG Consulting. In this capacity he worked on strategy, organization, management and culture, focused on Youth and was interim director of the Foundation for Youth Work in Amsterdam
He holds a MA in both Political Science and Psychology (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Ivo was also selected for the ‘Candidates Program’, a two year Leadership Development Program to prepare for the Dutch Government Senior Executive Service.