Our team

TheBridge2Hope's founder Sheetal is an educator and change maker. She specializes in counseling people with chronic illnesses such as epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, and special target groups such as commercial sex workers and the victims of human trafficking.

Sheetal has been working as a psychologist in Asia and Europe since 1999. In the Netherlands she developed and carried out the Bijlmer project, mainly focused on research. From the Bijlmer project she started TheBridge2Hope, an intervention programme based on the traumas she saw in the field during her work.

Sheetal works from the mantra that psychotherapy is not possible on an empty stomach, and that rebuilding a life takes much more effort than we often expect. Sheetal wants to break the chain, and inform politicians and society about the sexual exploitation and all the consequences that the survivors experience.

Angélique is president of the TheBridge2Hope Foundation and has been actively involved as a volunteer since 2012. After studying History at Leiden University, she had a great career in international business and true sustainable entrepreneurship. She is now brimming with energy to use all that knowledge and bucket of experience at a socially focused organization with a focus on sustainability, human rights and circular economy.

Angélique finds it particularly harrowing to observe people being smuggled into the Netherlands under false pretenses and being humiliated raped and sexually exploited for years. She sees it as her humanitarian duty to help survivors and is immensely impressed by the resilience of people to rebuild an economically independent existence in freedom.

She wants to draw attention to this growing social problem and collaborates on research to improve care for victims who are in danger of falling between the cracks due to lack of adequate shelter, appropriate care and legal support.

Mrunalini is a certified public accountant and a certified internal auditor. She has over 20 years of audit experience in India and the United States as an executive, mainly at the Big Four accounting firms. Her experience ranges from public companies in information technology, manufacturing and finance to non-profit organizations.

Mrunalini is involved in TheBridge2hope to help the survivors build their lives. She believes that people who have endured such difficult circumstances deserve a chance to live a fulfilling life. However, the survivors are so vulnerable that they need someone on their side, and that is what she is committed to!

Jean Paul is director of the Webster Leiden Campus of Webster University - USA. He has leadership and management experience in the private and public sector. Jean Paul was a partner at two American law firms and represented the Dutch government in the European Union in Brussels.

He started his career as a business consultant and has been teaching at Nyenrode Business University since 2005. He obtained his PhD from Leiden University (European Law) and completed executive leadership and strategy programmes at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago.

Jean Paul is involved with TheBridge2Hope because he wants to live in a world where every individual has the right to make free choices that lead to a dignified existence.

Anupama Menon has always been passionate about working with and for organisations that make a positive difference to both individuals and the wider society. She has over 15 years of experience in the education sector in various administrative roles for both campus and online universities. Most recently, she has guided postgraduate students in their academic progress and emotional wellbeing during their studies.

Anupama is a real people person and gets her energy and inspiration from working with and supporting others. To become even better at this, she recently started a certification programme in coaching and counselling. Anupama is very excited to join TheBridge2Hope as programme manager and is looking forward to supporting clients in this role, helping them with their reintegration and most of all making them realise that they can choose to live the life they only dare to dream of!

Stefania has been involved with TheBridge2Hope since the research phase "The Biljmer Project" in 2012. She has worked with several local and international NGOs as an educator, content creator and marketing strategist.

With a background in media communications and psychology, Stefania has a wide range of expertise. She is currently pursuing a career as a clinical psychologist and counseling psychologist with a private practice in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and online. She spends a lot of time in the field with participants implementing interventions such as trauma-informed yoga, art therapy and dance therapy. This allows her to really connect with the mission of TheBridge2Hope and combine it with the best tools for advocacy.

As marketing and communications manager, Stefania's goal is to bring attention to the problem of human trafficking and modern slavery in the Netherlands and worldwide, hoping to not only break the chain, but also provide the necessary resources to help survivors heal.

Noura is an Admissions and Recruitment associate at Webster Leiden Campus. With a background in Psychology and Computer Science, she believes in a world where technology is made and suited for real human experiences.

With her strong values of justice and empathy, Noura believes in a fair and inclusive world. For her, doing what she loves to do to serve others and make a better world is her motivation. Therefore, Noura has decided to work with TheBridge2Hope as a website coordinator to achieve that goal. She wants to use her skills to publicize TheBridge2Hope and raise awareness about human trafficking.

Peter studied Developmental Psychology in Nijmegen. He worked as an educational advisor at primary schools in The Hague, where he carried out psychodiagnostic research among pupils. In addition, he advised, supervised, trained and coached parents, teachers, teams and school leaders on a wide range of education-related topics, including language education.

Peter will be involved in TheBridge2Hope from 2017. Since that time he has been teaching Dutch to the participants of the Academy. Mastery of the Dutch language is an important tool for the participants on their way to an independent existence. In an atmosphere of appreciation, hope, understanding and trust Peter tries to support the participants in their language acquisition.

He has also been a volunteer coach for young people at JES Rijnland in Leiden since 2011.

Mary Jane Roy is a highly motivated and dedicated corporate advisor, facilitator and presenter. She shares with others how to develop more effective strategies to thrive in their lives.

She began her career as a Military Nursing Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, specializing in cardiac diagnostics. After leaving her military and nursing career, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry and then together with her husband, consulted in the fitness industry.

Since 2009, Mary Jane has been certified as: Resiliency Coach | Stress Counselor | Sleep Coach | Happy @ Work Coach | Foundations of Positive Psychology, Univ. of Penn | Science of Well-being, Yale University | Skogsfloating Trainer | NLP Master Practitioner. All contribute to her mastery of the skills needed to thrive.

You can find out more about her and her company at www.creatingwaves.nl or https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjaneroy/.

Beatrice was a participant of TheBridge2Hope Academy in 2014 and is an example for many! She has developed her leadership skills and is a mentor for other participants. She has been a board member since 2017.

Her dream is to have her own business with which she can support other survivors of human trafficking.