As the Commissioner of External Affairs I oversee and strengthen relationships with key external stakeholders, including businesses, academic institutions, and associations, to secure alliances and collaborations that align with our mission. I created and led the Partnership Development Committee (PDC), guiding its efforts to drive sponsorships, partnerships, and initiatives that support our organization’s goals.
Organisation: Negotiation Project Twente
Location: Enschede, in-person
Role: Commisionair of External Affairs
Dates: 09.2024 - 09.2025
Negotiation Project Twente as a relative new association, has its upsides and downsides. The upside is having plenty of flexibility in the things you do, the downside is having less structure, and the possible danger of having less knowledge retention and continuation of best practises. To counter this, I took the initiative to design and implement the first official Outreach and Negotiation Strategy.
The creation of the Partnership Development Committee (PDC) was one of the activities that I wanted to undertake at the beginning of my board period. Not only to have more hands on the external outreach, but also to future proof our association further. The launch was an utter succes with 5 members active in the committee. Along side the committee I also developed the PDC Handbook with all types of tips and tricks to improve outreach skills.
During our board year we also took part in the “Best Board Pictures" organized by the U-Today. We decided to take a quick picture before one of the staple buildings of the University of Twente. It is a masterpiece of imperfection: feet cropped out, and a dress code somewhere between casual turtlenecks and poorly fitting suits. Let’s just say there’s plenty of room for improvement next time. But hey, it perfectly captures the growth we have had as a board.