Building a better world
I have spent over twenty years working in commercial real estate around the world, and for most of that time, I’ve been quietly but persistently asking: How do we make this work better—for the planet and for people?
Through my boutique consultancy, idea-scout LLC, and my collaboration as part of the team at Tradecraft Central, I’ve been helping owners, occupiers, and investors move beyond compliance and carbon accounting toward real, scalable decarbonization. I believe that buildings—and the systems around them—can do a lot more than we’ve asked of them so far. And, it is achievable today—cost-effectively and with existing technologies. No miracles or moonshots needed.
The climate clock is ticking—and the window for action is still open. The barriers are more about coordination and will than about tech. I keep seeing brilliant ideas and tools stay stuck in silos. I believe we need better, braver conversations about how to get from “we should do this” to “we did it.”
Core offerings
My core offerings are centered around co-creating practical strategies and highly focused project work. I guide leaders and teams as they work through some of their toughest challenges. My process is never a “one-off” but always consists of three phases: strong prep-work, a full-day workshop, and targeted follow-through. The core offerings are:
- Project-Based Coaching. Is your team struggling with decarbonization without enough senior-level guidance to break through? Through structured sprints (typically 2-3 months), together we build your strategic clarity and execution capability—whether you’re making the internal business case, sequencing capital investments, or designing innovative funding mechanisms. You get three decades of management and leadership experience applied to the built environment’s toughest transition. Get unstuck and start moving in the right direction.
- Strategic Execution Workshop. Is your leadership team pulling in different directions on decarbonization priorities? A one-day Strategic Execution Workshop gets everyone aligned. Grounded in deep prep (stakeholder interviews, landscape analysis), together we tackle: Are we doing the right things? Are we doing them well? I’ve spent my whole career at the intersection of strategy and execution, making sure teams are aligned on priorities and helping them deliver on what matters — you leave with clarity on sequencing, resource allocation, and the narrative to secure buy-in and budget.
- Converting Challenges into Options. Do you have a thorny decarbonization challenge that’s “stuck” for lack of fresh perspective or capacity to think it through? Whether it’s navigating policy shifts, pivoting funding strategies, or making sense of competing priorities, I run a robust discovery process and turn tough challenges into a short list of clear options with trade-offs (plus a recommendation, when desired). This is flexible, as-needed support for leaders who want a seasoned perspective without a long-term engagement.
In addition to these core offerings, there are several other ways I can help, including scenario planning and expert due diligence. Finally, given my deep background in professional services, I can help write and/or review RFPs for larger projects that you’re taking to market—as well as help evaluate candidate proposals. Think of this as a small insurance policy against potentially poor matches between your needs and the candidates’ proposed approach for must-succeed projects.
About me
I bring my native Dutch can-do pragmatism and three decades of global strategy consulting experience, including the last twenty years focused on commercial real estate. I am a strategy generalist with a knack for getting things organized and making sure strategy and execution are data-driven and aligned.
- As VP at a climate/prop-tech SaaS start-up company, I successfully (and profitably) stood up a new business unit providing value-added services to buyers of the software.
- As a trusted external advisor to global heads of real estate of Fortune 500 companies, I have worked on a broad range of strategy and innovation initiatives at the intersection of business strategy, talent strategy and global footprint strategy–including portfolio strategy, sustainability, technology and digital transformation, and workplace strategy including Covid response.
- As Managing Director at CBRE, I helped sell and deliver highly complex, long-term real estate service agreements, built awesome teams, and managed with direct P&L responsibility.
- At Toyota North America, I co-led a special forces team that drove the company’s first ever global e-commerce strategy. I also developed and presented seminal research on the future of retailing to internal Toyota audiences across the globe, and was part of a skunk works team developing a distributed cogeneration device leveraging Toyota fuel cell technology.
- At the Peterson Institute for International Economics, I have had the privilege of working with some of the smartest minds in DC dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy. I helped research and write a book evaluating the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations.
I hold a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service, and a bachelor’s in business administration from Nyenrode University in the Netherlands. Together with my husband I am raising a daughter who shares my love for and wonder of the natural world.
Let’s work together!
Want to learn more? Drop me a note—with a brief description of a pressing challenge that you have—and I’ll be in touch to discuss a few quick ideas on how to think about approaching it.
Building a better world.
Twenty Twenty-Five
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