ZOA’s Board of Directors
ZOA’s Board of Directors consists of Chris Lukkien and Edwin Visser. Who are they? Read a short biography here.
Chris Lukkien and Edwin Visser
Members of ZOA’s Board of Directors
Read more about ZOA’s two-person ZOA Board of Directors: Chris Lukkien and Edwin Visser.
President: Mr. Chris Th. Lukkien – CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
Mr. Lukkien has over 30 years of international experience in the relief and development sector both in Africa and at headquarters level and joined ZOA as CEO in 2017. During his career, Mr. Lukkien has shown to be a flexible and people-oriented leader. With his strategic and logical thinking skills he has been urging for creative solutions to address challenging issues while building consensus. Dutch by birth, he has lived and worked in the UK for nearly 17 years, and before that in Africa for 8 years.
Besides his position as CEO of ZOA, Mr. Lukkien is involved as board member in multiple national and international partnerships and umbrella organisations in the sector. He is chairing EU-CORD, a pan-European network of over 20 NGOs in the relief and development sector who work together in the area of policy influencing (advocacy) and EU project/programme funding.
Mr. Lukkien is married, has three grown-up children and lives in Amersfoort (NL).
Member: Mr. Edwin Visser – CPO (Chief Programme Officer)
Mr. Visser started off his career in the humanitarian sector in 2007 in Darfur and has since then been working in various emergency response settings, mostly in the Middle-East and the Horn of Africa. He returned to The Netherlands in 2019 to take up the position of ZOA’s Chief Programme Officer.
Prior to his humanitarian work, Mr. Visser worked as a media and communications specialist, based out of Cairo, Egypt. His long cross-cultural experience and exposure to a variety of major humanitarian crisis contexts, including Somalia, Syria, Sudan, have deeply impacted him and created a strong passion to serve people in need and advocate for their rights. Mr. Visser possesses strong diplomatic analytical skills and is able to provide oversight and leadership in complex situations. He has a strong focus on working through teams, enabling and stimulating every team member’s growth and potential.
Mr. Visser lives with his wife and 3 sons in the Dutch town of Ede.
