a collective of entrepreneurs
we are audacious. we challenge the status quo. we are upbeat. we keep it real.
we are entrepreneurial.
NextGenners is a collective of entrepreneurs who lead innovation projects inside companies. Our core team brings a diverse set of skills, as well as (new) perspectives onto any project. We are curious and love the new; new people, new projects, new approaches.
Let’s meet?
Esther Zijtregtop
Esther is the founder of NextGenners. Her curiosity for the new and passion to deliver lasting value drove her to bring together entrepreneurs and innovators under the NextGenners collective in 2017.
Esther leads on many projects as senior business designer and strategist - having a passion for building better businesses by taking an ecosystem approach.
Esther is an analytical and strategic creative who enjoys building new business opportunities. She gets especially inspired when those opportunities combine corporates and innovation; engaging the two to develop new ventures that add strategic value and contribute to a better place. With her background at Delft University of Technology comes a love for technological applications to build solutions. She finds it important to connect people and organisations so that they can truly contribute to a more sustainable world 🌱. She’s passionate to set-up those eco-systems to drive the change.
With over 5 years of experience across different sectors and with various corporates, she is driven to mobilise talent and teams towards a common goal - and ultimately, deliver sustainable, profitable and clear results. 📈
The home to NextGenners is at KW9, a place to meet and space to work in the center of Amsterdam. Since 2021 Esther runs this place and made it the base to get together with the NextGenners members. Always welcome to come by and have a look! ☕️
Kristina Palovicova
Kristina is an entrepreneur, who co-founded a venture-backed business from an idea to acquisition. It was focused on the digitalisation of city discovery through playful experiences created by a community of local creators🚶🏼. It was a B2C market solution and Kristina was head of fundraising, business development, and scaling of the business from strategic and operational perspective. She is an expert on sustainable hospitality.
Before that, she worked as an innovation lead for corporates focused on venture building and creating new products and services. Her passion is to use curiosity to unlock creativity, innovation and authenticity. She is an innovation & strategy consultant, workshop facilitator, creator, and an advisor. She loves redesigning services and processes to unlock the valuable time of people, revenues, and new possibilities 🧐.
Kristina has a wide range of passions & activities. She used to be a professional skier, skiing in Slovak National Team and then for a university in the United States. She loves traveling and spent 2 years backpacking around the world. She enjoys good coffee & wine, spending time in nature, on the beach or in the mountains ⛰. Loves the energy of cities and now she is practicing mindfulness while raising her 1 year old son 👼🏼 ;) She enjoys family time with her husband and son, and sometimes alone time for a run or yoga class.
Max Wohlgemuth Kitslaar
Max is a business strategist and developer with over 15 years of experience. He has collaborated with corporates, SMEs and startups across a variety of industries to create innovative and sustainable solutions.
After playing a key role within an online advertising technology company, he decided to leave the business, having recognized in his work the absence of a greater sense of meaning. He moved on to investigate how other successful companies are able to integrate a social element in their business model. Transported on his classic Moto Guzzi motorbike, he took six months to travel from Chile to New York, visiting 32 social businesses that work towards a better world 🏍.
With all knowledge and inspiration collected on this journey, he wrote a book 📖 about businesses working towards a better, more sustainable world. After presenting the book on various places, he was approached by Tommy Hilfiger to create a global startup competition. Max has been developing innovative solutions across various industries, such as fashion, law and the material industry.
Apart from riding his Moto Guzzi, Max loves going to AJAX football matches (through the good times and the bad..) and cooking traditional Italian pastas 👨🏻🍳. He also serves as supervisory board member of the Flamenco Biennale Nederland. Max has Master degrees in Criminal Law and Latin American Studies, and speaks Dutch, English and Spanish fluently. So; Goedendag, Hello, Ola…
Mart Veeken
Mart is an entrepreneur and ‘jack-of-all-trades’. He has over 10 years experience as founder of a design agency working for corporates and international organisations all over the world.
After doing some projects in Kenya he decided to switch business and to start setting up a social and regenerative fashion production facility. From regenerative cotton, to social and inclusive fabric and garment production; everything takes place in one community in Kenya. Providing jobs whilst reviving the community and restoring nature. 👘 ♻️.
One of his new ambitions is regenerative systems design. This is not about doing less damage to nature but about using regenerative design as a force that revitalises or renews systems. Life is by default regenerative, so how can we design new businesses and systems that embrace this power?
He brings this knowledge also to home, where his small garden provides many fruits and veggies. He teaches his young kids to grow their own food (although they still have to learn how to eat…👼🏼). He is into kickboxing and running but also loves hanging in bars with beers and friends. His silent passion is Bitcoin, and every free hour of the day goes into reading books or listening podcast on how this open monetary network is set to improve the life of billions of people around the world.
Wendy van Leeuwen
Wendy is an innovation + brand strategist. She leads our Iberian office since July 2021 - and works on innovation projects with NextGenners across Europe.
Wendy brings an incredible amount of positive energy to any project, no matter how big the challenge. As an entrepreneur, she’s co-founded a venture in the experience industry, bootstrapped it and then raised venture funding (x3) to scale to 20+ European countries.
Prior to her entrepreneurial journey, Wendy spent 7+ years working with some of the world’s largest brands. She led the corporate startup funds and accelerators for Booking.com (sustainable travel focus) and Chivas (impact focus). She’s also led brand and communications teams for Nike, Carlsberg, Groupon (in their hyper-growth days) and global entrepreneur support network, Impact Hub.
When she isn’t building new value propositions or helping organisations tell the story of their why - Wendy’s usually found in nature, hiking on land ⛰, stand-up-paddle boarding on the water 🌊. She also sews colourful dresses 👗.
Robert Oude Nijhuis
Robert is a visual designer and entrepreneur. He has been collaborating on NextGenners projects since 2018.
Robert creates visual minutes at events, meetings and workshops for businesses of all sizes. He is incredibly talented at accelerating processes through visualisation, envisioning the future and making insights visible - his goal is always to help teams and individuals increase their understanding of the topic at hand.
Having studied at the Delft University of Technology, Robert enters any (digital) room or workshop equipped with deep understanding of technology as well as industrial design skills.
Besides his visual creative work, Robert is also the co-founder of Avatek. Born out of his graduation research project and a passion for outdoor (snow) activities 🏂, Avatek provides CO2-scrubbing technology for manufacturers of outdoor apparel that integrates directly into existing product or clothing designs.
Robert lives in Rotterdam where he is currently designing at large scale; he is renovating and reconstructing an old house and turning it into his dream home!
