DACS

Teresa Cardoso Ribeiro is a political scientist, fascinated by how public administrations function. Always finding ways to help and support the ability to change, innovate and renew what is done and how it is done to create public value.

Teresa co-authored The Information Paradox: drowning in information and starving for knowledge, an academic study and a master’s programme conducted at the University of Amsterdam reflecting on the relationship between public administration, politics and how it influences decision-making and accountability in democracies. Teresa continued her academic career as a researcher and lecturer at the Tilburgse School voor Politiek en Bestuur (TSPB) of Tilburg University.

As a political advisor of the Dutch Parliament, at both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Teresa supported the Committees of Health and Home Affairs in their responsibility to review legality, enforceability and feasibility of draft legislation before being adopted. For example, the social welfare act that plays a crucial role in the Dutch decentralisation process; the reform of the Dutch healthcare system; changing from appointed to elected mayors and the parliamentary hearings on the challenges faced when implementing policies in day-to-day practice.

Internationally, Teresa acted as the spokesperson of the Dutch Representatives on the Board of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) based in Vienna and in Amsterdam at the Anne Frank Foundation (1999-2005). In 2007 the EUMC became the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), the advisory agency of the European Commission.

In the last 15 years Teresa worked extensively in the Southwestern Balkans and Turkey on the Rule of law and ethical leadership, as well as in the Dutch Caribbean. Most recently she supported public administration reform and capacity-building initiatives funded by the EU to promote decentralisation, digital transformation, good governance, strategic planning at the national and local level in Ukraine and Georgia. She has also delivered risk management training for Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and supported capacity building in Curaçao.

Teresa joined DACS in 2021 as Managing Partner. This gave her the opportunity to share her experience as a senior consultant and trainer and at the same time lead innovative programmes on digital transformation of healthcare at the National Health Care Institute in the Netherlands (ZIN). Teresa developed as a senior management consultant at Boer & Croon Group based in Amsterdam, ROI and PBLQ in The Hague. At ZIN she advised on new legislation related to the digital government (Dutch EHDS), was responsible for the national eHealth Sandbox and leads the programme Datalogica, an innovation lab to learn more about the impact of disruptive technologies and data use, like (generative) AI and digital healthcare.

Multilingual in Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, and Italian, Teresa combines a practical and results-driven approach with extensive international experience, offering deep expertise in governance, strategy, motivating people to embrace change and lead (digital) transformation. An important topic in her work is how to recognize and deal with wicked problems.

Marc van den Muijzenberg is a historian and governance specialist with over 25 years of experience in public administration reform (PAR), European integration, and capacity building.

A graduate of Leiden University (MA in History, 1992), Marc studied the decline and fall of the Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman empires during a year at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (1987–88). His PhD research on democratisation in Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland reflects his commitment to understanding how historical legacies shape governance in post-one-party systems.

From 2008 to 2013, Marc served as Director of the Dutch Institute for Public Administration (ROI) and as a board member at PBLQ. In these roles, he modernised civil service training, introduced data-driven approaches, and developed international training programmes for the Dutch Senior Civil Service (ABD). Marc also worked as an EU-funded Project Director and Resident Twinning Advisor in Kosovo, Romania, and Croatia, focusing on EU integration readiness, legal approximation, and capacity building. In fragile states such as Lebanon, South Sudan, Yemen, and African countries like Egypt, South Africa, and Tanzania, Marc contributed to developing governance frameworks and establishing Master’s programmes in public administration.

Since 2013, as Managing Partner of DACS, Marc has led transformative projects across Europe and Eastern Europe. His work includes overseeing the implementation of EU Association Agreements in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova; managing decentralisation reforms in Ukraine through programmes for CSOs, SMEs, and local governments; and supporting education policy development and reforms in Georgia, Kazakhstan (Bolashak programme), and Ukraine. Most recently, Marc contributed to the development of a policy document for the reform of upper secondary education in Ukraine, commissioned by the Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fluent in six languages, Marc combines academic expertise with hands-on leadership. His culturally adaptive and results-driven approach enables governments and organisations to navigate complex governance challenges and achieve meaningful, sustainable impacts

Paul de Nooijer is a sociologist with over 40 years of experience in development cooperation and the evaluation of a broad range of topics – from the regulation of the export of arms and dual use goods, sexual and reproductive health, to gender and capacity building, especially in higher education. He is a graduate of the University of Amsterdam (MA in sociology, 1983, BA in law, 1980).

He started his career at the United Nations Development Program in Khartoum in the 1980’s, then moved on to work at the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program in Rome and subsequently Laos.

Returning to the Netherlands in 1990, he was first employed at the Dutch organization for internationalization in education (Nuffic), primarily working as a consultant on social sector development projects and programs in republics of the former Soviet Union, mainly for the European Commission. After a short spell at the international project unit of the Netherlands Association of Municipalities (VNG), he became a full-time international consultant at SPAN Consultants from 1996 to 2010.

In this capacity he undertook many assignments to countries like Yemen, Egypt, Syria, where he worked as (interim) manager on projects dealing with higher education development and reform and girls’ education, as well as monitoring and evaluation.

He was furthermore, amongst others, responsible for the implementation of a multi-country EC-funded program to address the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, the development of an education program in the Dutch Antilles, and the conduct of evaluations of large internatiomal higher education program of the European Commission (TEMPUS) and of Dutch government bilateral cooperation with Eastern European countries (MATRA). He worked for the operational agency of the Flemish rectors’ conference (VLIRUOS) in the assessment and evaluation of its inter-university cooperation projects.

In 2010, he joined the evaluation department of the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs (IOB). Here he managed and conducted a range of comprehensive program and policy evaluations and support ministry departments in the design of new policies in areas such as European development cooperation, gender, sexual and reproductive health, cooperation with the World Health Organisation in the aftermath of Ebola, and non-proliferation of nuclear and chemical arms, arms control and export control of weapons and dual use goods. As a senior evaluation specialist, he also managed several systematic reviews.

Arjen holds an LL.M degree in International and European law from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands and has an MA degree in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, USA. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, researching the sustainability of development project results.

He has 25 years of experience as a public sector consultant, with a particular focus on strategic planning, policy formulation and coordination as well as the institutional anchoring required to deliver such functions at the center of government and line ministries. Moreover, Arjen has extensive experience in a range of policy fields, including healthcare, higher education, industrial and economic policy, and environment. In addition, he has experience with specific topics such as recovery planning, decentralization, and civil service training.

He has worked with key institutions including the Prime Minister’s Office and Council of Ministers Secretariat in Iraq (2009–2016) and the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Planning in Palestine (2019–2025), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Finance in Afghanistan (2008-2009), and the Ministry of Presidential Affairs in the UAE in 2005. In addition to the Middle East, his international experience encompasses Europe (Netherlands, France, Belgium, Ukraine, Belarus) and Asia (China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan).