In 2023, SOMO’s Supervisory Board consisted of the following people:

• Angela Wigger (Chair since July 2022) is Associate Professor of Global Political Economy at Radboud University in Nijmegen.
• Claire Fernandez (Member) is Executive Director of European Digital Rights (EDRi). Claire joined the SOMO Supervisory Board in April 2022.
• Radboud van Delft (Member) is a senior management consultant for civil society organisations. He previously served as Organisation Director at PAX for Peace and Greenpeace. Radboud joined the SOMO Supervisory Board in April 2022.
• Fernanda Hopenhaym (Member) is the Co-Executive Director of the Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER(opens in new window) )

There were several changes in the composition of the Supervisory Board of SOMO in 2022. Ronald Messelink (Chair) stepped down in July and Jasper Teulings (Member) in November. Their expert support and thoughtful insights, as well as commitment and passion for SOMO’s mission, have been invaluable for the development and successes of the organisation, and in particular for the transition period from 2020 to 2022.

Ronald Messelink was succeeded as Chair of the Supervisory Board by Angela Wigger. In April 2022, Claire Fernandez and Radboud van Delft joined the Supervisory Board, bringing significant expertise in organisational and financial management.

In March 2023, SOMO appointed Fernanda Hopenhaym to the Supervisory Board. Fernanda Hopenhaym is the Co-Executive Director of the Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER(opens in new window) ), an organisation in Latin America dedicated to corporate accountability.

The Supervisory Board would like to thank the outgoing members, Ronald Messelink and Jasper Teulings, for the many years of dedicated service and for their wisdom, strategic insights and time commitment, and warmly welcomes the new members.

Board Meetings

The Supervisory Board held regular meetings in 2023, including staff segment with presentations on ongoing research. Throughout 2023, building the resilience of SOMO’s organisational, financial, and human resource capacities were focal points, alongside reviewing risks.

The Supervisory Board also acted as a sounding board for the Board on the completion of the transition process that started in 2020. It provided advice and guidance on the application of SOMO’s Statutes to this transition, and on developing an operational strategy and ensuring financial strength.

Supervisory Board members also offered specific support on recruitment of interim financial management capacity to enable SOMO’s management team to have the space to review staffing needs in Support Services. The Supervisory Board is very satisfied with the Board and the Management Team, which has succeeded in rebuilding continuity reserves and increasing the diversity of funding sources.