'I want to make society a little softer'
Brainport for Each Other will become an association of social employers. In the run-up to its establishment, we have announced that Marc Cootjans, Yvonne van Mierlo and Ingeborg Janssen-Reinen will take a seat on our intended executive board. We are proud to announce that Janneke van Kessel, City Envoy of the Municipality of Eindhoven, will also take a seat. This completes our proposed executive board.
As City Envoy, Janneke is administratively responsible for the realisation of Brainport for Each Other and the realisation of a Social Brainport agenda. It is her ambition to join forces of all municipalities to make even more impact. In this article, she tells more.
Through experiences from my own environment, I know that our society is not a nice place for everyone. The bar is high, the risk of people dropping out is high. That is why, since my appointment as Eindhoven city envoy two years ago, I have been committed to ensuring that everyone gets equal opportunities. We do that with Brainport for Each Other. It is my job, but my drive therefore also really stems from a personal conviction. Ever since I was young, I have been busy making society a little softer. There is growing inequality, but we can do something about it. And I think it really is our responsibility to do so.
The Brainport region is doing very well economically. That's great, but many residents are now also suffering the negative consequences. Think of rising house prices and traffic problems. Behind the front door, many people have it harder than you might think at first sight. A gap is opening up between rich and poor, and it is widening.
With the municipalities of Eindhoven and Helmond, Brainport Development, Together for Eindhoven, Partner Fund and Impact040, we were already working to combat this growing inequality. There are all kinds of great, successful projects. For example, Financial Fit, which aims to address and solve financial problems of employees.
By joining forces in an association, we can achieve much more and make an impact. Hence I am now happy to join the board, where I represent the participating governments.
More and more municipalities in the Brainport region have already joined. And I am convinced that we will get the others on board as well. More and more civil society organisations and companies are also joining in. Very important, because they form a concrete link to reach as many people as possible.
When I, as part of Eindhoven's new city council, took office two years ago, I was given the task of drawing up a social agenda in addition to the economic agenda. There is now a solid structure and a regional Social Brainport agenda. We can start scaling up!
I hope that in a few years' time, we will see that everyone living in the Brainport region can also benefit. That everyone, no matter how young or old you are or where you live, will really feel: Brainport is there for me too! And if all 21 municipalities and many companies and organisations put their backs into this, I am sure we can achieve this. I hope that in a few years' time we will see that everyone living in the Brainport region can also benefit. That everyone, no matter how young or old you are and no matter where you live, really feels: Brainport is there for me too! And if all 21 municipalities, and a lot of companies and organisations, put their backs into this, I am sure we can achieve this.'