In 1994, Triodos Bank, a private bank of the Netherlands, and the Doen Foundation, a Dutch organization, jointly founded the Triodos-Doen Foundation, a microfinance investment vehicle. The Triodos-Doen Foundation is managed by Triodos Investment Management as well as a Supervisory Board appointed by the Doen Foundation.
The Doen Foundation was founded in 1991 by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, Holland’s largest charitable lottery. Financed by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, the BankGiro Lottery, and the Sponsor Bingo Lottery, all charity-based Dutch lotteries, the Doen Foundation utilizes its funds to invest in entrepreneurial projects in the developing world. As of 2006, the organization had USD 109.6 million in total assets.
The investment fund of the Triodos-Doen Foundation has USD 58.4 million in total assets. The foundation channels USD 14.5 million through equity investments and USD 50.5 million through loan investments. The foundation invests 92.5 percent of all funds to 40 microfinance institutions (MFIs) internationally. This past year, Triodos-Does provided initiated investment relationships with eight new MFIs.
Kees Izeboud, Herman de Jong, Regien van der Sijp, Mechtild van den Hombergh, and Suzanne Wolff serve on the Triodos-Doen’s Supervisory Board, with Mr. Izeboud as the board’s chair. Mr. Izeboud has been a management consultant for Economie VU Amsterdam, the economics department of an Amsterdam university, since 1976. He has served as a member of supervisory boards of companies including investment firm ING Bank International, DELTA, Kruidenier Groep, all based in the Netherlands. He has also assisted non-profits such as the Doen Foundation and Omroep Zeeland and Zorgstroom.
Dr. Jong is a member of the economics department faculty of the University of Groningen. He has written on historical economic development and Dutch industry analysis. He has published a book on the latter topic, titled The Nature of Dutch.
Ms. Sijp has been director of SMK, a Dutch company that evaluates food products’ quality, since 2003. Prior to this position, Ms. Sijp was director of programs and projects for the Hivos Foundation. She has also assisted in the management of the Netherlands Development Organization, an entity which provides technical assistance in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Mr. Hombergh is director of the Doen Foundation. As for Ms. Wolff, no further information is available.
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