PROFILES

Alexander is the coordinator at Quindo. He was born and raised in Ghent. He is in charge of the educational programme, the contracts, financial overview and the annual reporting. He did his PhD in systematic musicology and has 10-years of experience in academic research. He was attracted by the job at Quindo because the job offered had the combination of music and radio, which was linked to quite a few of his study domains and was also connected to higher education.

Alexander is currently coaching Broos in the process of writing a scientific publication on how inclusive methodologies are being deployed at Quindo. With his background in media literacy studies and policy preparatory work for the Flemish Government, Alexander thinks the vast majority of media literacy projects are at present insufficiently and social practice are not linked. This motivates Broos and Alexander to formulate and consolidate a working methodology so that similar organisations may potentially practice the same method that Quindo already applies.

Broos is a Kortrijk local. He started as a volunteer and intern at Quindo in 2012, and was one of the founders of the organisation. Now, he works there as a paid social worker, he is responsible for the social part of the organisation.

Due to his interest in social sciences and their ability to explain a lot of things that are going in the world, Broos studied social work. Furthermore, Broos wants to help people find their own context and direction. He wants to use his people skills to help people to help themselves.

Jasper has been working at Burn Leuven since its beginning in 2014. Burn started by giving weekly workshops on slam poetry and RAP in order to allow young people an outlet for self expression. They also organised shows to get more attention for the organisation and to attract new participants. The current activities at Burn are breakdance, RAP, slam poetry, singing, hip hop/ urban dance and a mobile recording studio.

The infinite possibilities of the job is Jasper's biggest motivation for working at Burn. He wants to see how his ideas work out and he wants to give voices to youth who do not have them. For him, young people go to Burn not only learn about doing activities, but also to create networks and practice new skills. Jasper also thinks that keeping Burn open doors is important because it involves kids who are not really targeted by the main cultural centres.

Jeroen is the trainer of the breakdance group at Burn. He is a criminologist who has also worked as a social worker in Hasselt and Aarschot. Jeroen has several years of experience working with vulnerable youth. He strives to establish open spaces where young people have the ability to reach their own potential. With his open spaces, he wants to create environments of equal opportunities. Jeroen's slogan is 'Diversity is reality'.

Laura has been a dance teacher at Burn since April 2017. She used to be a volunteer at Urban Woorden, where she participated in different activities like slam poetry and dance. She currently has a paid volunteering contract at Burn. One of her main goals is to make young people feel like they can express themselves without being judged. Moreover, it is very important for her that nobody feels excluded.

Laura studied Communication Management at the Erasmus Hogeschool in Brussels. She is currently doing a Masters in Government Management and Policy at KU Leuven.

Tevin is 18 years old and is doing his internship at Burn. He is studying Office and Retail (7th year in Secondary School) at Heilig Hart Heverlee.

When he was 15, Tevin came to Burn for the RAP and MC as a participant before doing his internship. His tasks consist of doing some administration, merchandising and resource management. Moreover, he is responsible for some workshops, as the 'mobile recording studio'. He tries to listen to what the participants want and helps them with writing their texts, adding beats and recording. The progression people make and leaving the studio happily with a good beat and text motivates him a lot.

Thomas comes from a town close to Kortrijk named Deerlijk. He used to be an intern at Quindo in 2016. He is now a full time employee at Quindo is in charge of producing content for the website. He firmly believes that everybody should be treated as an equal at Quindo. Moreover, Thomas thinks that Quindo is an unique organisation since they give chances to everyone, no matter their socio-economic background.

Thomas studied at the University of Ghent where he did some radio programmes at UrGent. During his teenage years he worked as an animator in speelplein activiteiten (playground activities) where he learned the importance of having accessible leisure activities for vulnerable youth.