Our story - BDR Thermea foundation

About us

The BDR Thermea Foundation is an independent ANBI or Public Benefit Organization, founded by BDR Thermea Shareholder, to engage in philanthropic activities and contribute to social impact. In the communities BDR Thermea Group operates we give back to society and contribute to its well-being. While we operate separately, we maintain a close relationship and align our mission and goals with the overarching values. We receive funding from the BDR Thermea Shareholder, support from the BDR Thermea Group and involve their employees to contribute to our mission.

We are affiliated with FIN, the industry association for funds and foundations. The board of the BDR Therma Foundation declares that it complies with the FIN Standards for Good Governance and has submitted the Annual Statement of Compliance with the FIN Standards for Good Governance.

Our core values are the compass for everything we do

Pragmatic

We look for practical solutions that really work

Compassionate

We listen and understand what is needed

Curious

We continuously learn and discover

Collaborative

Together we achieve more impact

Our way of working

We fund programs and build partnerships based on our impact areas and use our theory of change in our process.
We focus on youth, prioritize people-oriented initiatives and place special emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion.
We prefer repeatable and scalable initiatives as they have a bigger impact on society.
We accelerate initiatives after proof-of-impact phase
We empower organisations and measure impact
We strengthen the system by connecting stakeholders and share lessons
We do not consider unsolicited proposals.

Our board

Gerrit Schipper

Gerrit Schipper started his role as chair of the BDR Thermea Foundation Board in 2023. As an executive and entrepreneur, Gerrit has gained a wealth of experience throughout his long career in the international technology sector—experience that is highly relevant to the Foundation. He is active as a board member of NEMO Science Museum, and advisory board member of Recharge Earth and Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics (ECDA).

Yvette van der Kloet

Yvette van der Kloet joined as board member in 2022. Her experience as board member in the family business MerweOord with similar ambitions and a foundation has been incredibly valuable. Yvette is also secretary of the BDR Thermea Shareholder.

Britt Bremer

Britt Bremer joined the Board in 2022. As employee of the BDR Thermea Group and board member of the BDR Thermea Shareholder she offers insights and network to help creating positive change in technical education and accelerating the energy transition. Britt is also board member of the BDR Thermea Shareholder.

Our team

Marie-Julie Alberda

Marie-Julie Alberda, Executive director, has a background in marketing with multinational companies in the Netherlands and USA. Over the past years, she has focused on fundraising roles in the nonprofit sector. Her experience at NEMO Science Museum sparked her passion for inspiring children in STEM and tech. She also holds several non-executive board positions.

marie-julie.alberda@bdrthermeafoundation.nl

Robert van Roijen

Robert van Roijen, Program & partner manager. In his previous role as partner manager at The Green Village/TU Delft, Robert worked with knowledge institutions, businesses, governments, and citizens to research, experiment, validate, and demonstrate sustainable innovations for climate adaptation. He also gained valuable experience working with startups, specializing in crowdsourcing for nonprofits, and their social enterprise community.

robert.van.roijen@bdrthermeafoundation.nl

Our founder

The BDR Thermea Shareholder is the engaged owner of the BDR Thermea Group and was founded in 1982 by Andries van Reekum, son of Remeha’s founder with the objective to safeguard the continuity of the company. The Shareholder supports the energy transition through the BDR Thermea Foundation.

More about our founder