Our regular series in which we ask Bridges 5.0 people to reveal something about themselves. In this edition, meet:

ANNEMARIE STRIK (PLATFORM TALENT VOOR TECHNOLOGIE, NL)

Describe yourself in three words.

Inpatient, impact-driven motivator

What is your job title?

Program Manager Human Capital. The more elaborate version: Program Manager Human Capital in SMEs and Industry and Public Private Partnerships in Vocational and Professional Education.

How would you summarise what you do for a living?

Contribute to or develop projects, networks and initiatives that focus on a skilled and agile workforce to make the major transitions in energy, health, food, water and security that are essential for our welfare in the coming decades.

What is your role in Bridges 5.0?

Project lead for the experiments of the Teaching and Learning factory with the Smart Makers Academy in the Netherlands. Besides I’m also focussing on building strong alliances in Europe

Did you ever think life would take you down this path?

Not for a second.

Please identify two or three career highlights

• Upscaling of the Smart Makers Academy in the Netherlands and getting it privately funded
• Coordinating and guiding the King’s Commissioner of Flevoland and Dutch SMEs for trade missions to China.

What would you have been if your career hadn’t led you here?

Helicopter pilot or irrigation engineer😉

What’s the best thing about your job?

Finding opportunities everywhere, more than I can handle.

How do you spend your leisure time?

Mainly outside and being active, by horseback riding in the woods, strolling the woods with our dog and playing soccer. To relax I like gardening a lot, I use weeding as zen therapy. As restless as I am, once I start reading a book I can’t stop until it’s finished. So the remedy is ‘don’t start reading’.

What makes you happy?

Experiencing that what you do has impact (on whatever scale). Seeing my children flourish on their way to adulthood and being happy themselves with who they are and being meaningful to others.

Tell me something about yourself that would surprise your colleagues?

In 1995 I decided to start my study on ‘tropical landuse’ at Wageningen Agricultural University after turning down an assigned position in helicopter pilot training.

Finally, please share some personal details that you’re prepared to publish

With my family: my partner, two daughters and a son I live in the very green area of Bennekom in the Southern part of the Dutch Veluwe region. The age of 48 feels like I am too old to be young and too young to be old. After having very adventurous dreams of being a pilot and international development work as an irrigation and water engineer, I have been doing a lot of different professional activities, from knowledge management, international capacity building programmes, regional economic cluster development in the Netherlands to business development for electroluminescent technology. I am pretty restless and I need new challenges to keep me alert all the time. The Katapult network of Platform Talent for Technology (www.wearekatapult.eu) gives me these challenge and currently one of them is EU Bridges5.0.

You can read more partner profiles here.