Our Global Team
We are a team of experts in development and trade, always open to collaborating with freelance consultants and trainees who are as passionate as we are and share our values and principles. Every day, we work together and support each other!
Bert-Jan Ottens
Senior Adviser
Bert-Jan Ottens is the founder of ProFound – Advisers In Development and Senior Adviser. He is also the founder of Blue Rhino (rural finance) and Green Rhino Kenya (‘Healthy Green Choice’). He has a background in international economic development, and policy and management studies of developing countries.
Bert-Jan is skilled in developing multi-stakeholder approaches for sustainable and traceable supply chains from resource to market; designing biodiversity and livelihood related BioTrade development programmes; designing related micro/rural financing strategies.
He has more than 25 years of experience in developing innovative products and tools for organisations such as RVO/CBI from the Netherlands, UNCTAD BioTrade, SECO and SIPPO, UNDP, World Bank, FAO and IFAD, as well as for private sector actors and sustainability initiatives like FairWild Foundation.
Adriana Tascon
Senior Consultant
Adriana Tascon is a trade promotion expert and economist with an Executive MBA and 18 years of experience in the private and public sectors. Adriana has worked with SMEs in Colombia and Latin America as an independent consultant, assisting them in their international expansion into specialised markets and promoting sustainable trade and innovation throughout the food value chain. She worked for the Colombian government in the trade promotion agency Procolombia for 8 years, promoting agribusiness companies and products and specialising in matchmaking.
Within ProFound Adriana works in project management, new business initiatives like our Webinar Series, Trade Fairs & Matchmaking projects (B2B & trade platforms).
Tjalling Meijer
Consultant
Tjalling Meijer studied International Economics & Business, as well as International Development Studies. He has a strong interest in rural development, sustainable transitions, and social equity.
During his master’s degree, Tjalling conducted fieldwork in Cambodia to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers. This research was carried out in cooperation with Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics and UN-FAO. Through this study, Tjalling gained a good understanding of the lives of rural communities, the rural and national agricultural economy, and regional trends.
At ProFound, Tjalling will start with market analysis work to get a fundamental understanding of the natural ingredients business segment, next to support to our trade fair work and communicating with entrepreneurs and support organisations.
Sonja van Rijswijk
Financial strategies & Human Resources
Sonja works as a freelance finance & administration consultant for the international development cooperation sector and organisations that value sustainable development. She currently assists ProFound with the improvement of various financial processes.
Milena Solot
Communications & Storytelling
Milena works on the interface of our Communications, Community Engagement & Impact Storytelling. She believes strongly that an inclusive and positive message is possible through transformative conversations among the community members we work with.
Milena has a background in communication and is a people-driven writer and researcher, enthusiastic and passionate about storytelling for sustainability and international development projects. She has joined us to weave ProFound’s narrative work, and to build our communication and community of best practices.
Ignacio Carmona
Digital Growth Consultant
Ignacio is advising Profound about how to develop its online digital growth strategy.
He supports the communication team creating the innovative ReGen55! Platform.
Alessandra Baldo
Intern
Alessandra Baldo is a dedicated second-year bachelor’s student at Utrecht University, pursuing a degree in Global Sustainability Science. With a strong commitment to sustainability and a firm belief in the value of continuous learning, Alessandra is thrilled to embark on an internship journey at ProFound.
One of her focuses within her studies is Business & Innovation, highlighting the pivotal role that organizations and emerging businesses play in the context of sustainability.
She is passionate about food transitions and recognizes their crucial importance in a sustainable and resilient future. This aligns with ProFound’s vision of supporting Agri-Entrepreneurs and enhancing value chains for natural ingredients.
Gustavo Ferro
Associate Expert
Gustavo Ferro is an independent consultant, and associate expert of ProFound – Advisers In Development, with 18 years of experience in providing technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and business support organizations (BSOs) active in agro-industrial sectors, notably in natural ingredients and fruit and vegetable value chains. Gustavo is skilled in market and value chain analysis, supply chain interventions, strategic marketing and sector planning.
He has been working as a market researcher for the market studies of the Dutch Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) in several agro-industrial sectors since 2007. Gustavo is also experienced in programme design and implementation according to the Market Systems Development (MSD) approach. He is affiliated to the Swiss Import Promotion Program (SIPPO), implemented by Swisscontact, as an expert for the natural ingredients and processed food sectors, providing support to seven different target countries and their partner BSOs. He also supports the German Import Promotion Desk (IPD) as an expert in BSO development.
He has also collaborated with organizations such as the German Development Agency (GIZ), UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Gustavo Ferro holds a MSc. in International Development Studies from the University of Utrecht, and speaks English, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish.
Miguel Camacho
Associate Expert
Miguel has been working with Business Support Organisations and Trade Support Institutions in one form or another for the past 25 years. He has developed and delivered capacity building and advisory programmes on different forms of organisational development in more than 45 countries for a large number of organisations, including ITC, SIPPO, the World Bank, GIZ, among others.
Miguel specialises in helping organisations and teams develop sharper focus, more robust processes and clearer priorities in their thinking and planning to ensure that in operations they optimise the use of their resources while achieving their objectives effectively. He has supported companies develop and implement their internationalisation plans through a number of activities, including market analysis and prospection, international marketing strategy definition, support to trade promotion activities, and others.