We are very pleased to introduce to you our new General Director, who will join us from 1 February 2018 onwards: Auke Minnema. He is well known to many of our members as he has been working for ECPM in the past. Our Board is very pleased with this new General Director who is very familiar with the ECPM network and European politics! We have interviewed Auke to introduce him to you. Get to know him and see how he answered our questions. 

Could you shortly introduce yourself?
My name is Auke - a real Frisian name (Frisia is a region in the North of the Netherlands). Although I am a Dutchman I live in Belgium since 3,5 years, halfway between Brussels and our Dutch office in Amersfoort. I am happily married to Annechien. I studied History with a specialisation in contemporary Central and Eastern European history. Currently I work as head of the Brussels office of ECPM MEP Branislav Škripek, a job I like very much. Things I enjoy doing in my free time are reading, hiking, photographing and travelling. Furthermore I enjoy being secretary of our Church council. 

How did you get involved in ECPM?
Since I was young, I have always loved to travel and to be active in politics. As I was involved in PerspectieF, the youth movement of the ChristenUnie in the Netherlands, I got in contact with 'the founding fathers' of the ECPM and ECPYN (now ECPYouth). This brought me in Kortenberg (near Brussels, Belgium), at the summer school where ECPYN was founded. My involvement in European Christian politics slowly developed till after my studies when I even worked part-time for ECPM.

What will be your job at ECPM?
My new job title will be General Director. In practice, this means that I will be responsible for the staff, for our vision, our members and many other things. I will divide my time between our head office in Amersfoort (the Netherlands) and our office in Brussels. Please do not hesitate to contact me for any help, projects or ideas!

Who inspires you and why?
It is a cliché, but a good one: Jesus inspires me most, since he has shown us what servant leadership really means. Furthermore I am inspired by people who are able to fight for the rights and wellbeing of others. As an example: a few weeks ago I took part in a congress of Christians working in the fight against human trafficking and prostitution. The stories you hear and the passion you see in these people is very inspiring. But also people who just help their neighbours or family members in informal care are great examples to me.

What are you looking forward to the most?
My passion in this work is sharing political vision and knowledge. I am looking forward to meeting and working with our members and partners on this -  to build a Europe that is inspired by Christian values.