Astrid Kaag

About Astrid

Astrid Kaag is a policy advisor for the regional government of Noord-Brabant (NL) on the topic of socio-economic transformation. More specific, she deals with a positive movement that values wellbeing, balance and equality more than assets, property and financial gain: the so-called purpose economy.

This movement is about all actions that contribute to a better world: varying from grass roots’ initiatives to corporate businesses doing business for the greater good. Important changemakers in this movement are social entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs invest in contributing to societal issues; their business is not primarily aimed at making a (monetary) profit but about creating societal and ecological impact.

As an advisor at the province of Noord-Brabant on subjects such as Social Resilience, Smart Health and Sustainability, she sees that government bodies have a responsibility in this purpose economy. Not only in stimulating and facilitating this movement, but also because government authorities can learn from it: social entrepreneurs show us that it is possible to find tangible and innovative solutions to our societal issues. We cannot ignore the importance of this movement: facts and figures underline that this goes way beyond a marginal impact. It is happening right here and right now and it is vital that also governments take responsibility together with public and private partners, and thus contribute to an inclusive, green and open economy.

In this challenging process different stakeholders are needed, with various backgrounds and perspectives on different levels: local, regional, European and global. In order to achieve a sustainable learning attitude of all stakeholders in this process, Astrid uses her training and education as a certified system coach. Her special interest in (eco)systems is also reflected in her background as an ecologist. One of the things Astrid did to take concrete action, is to initiate the Brabant Outcomes Fund: a public-private financing methodology that stimulates the scaling of initiatives in the purpose economy.

Astrid uses her experience and skills to work on what she strongly believes in: the power of a global learning economy, so as to achieve equal opportunities for all, no matter where you live.