Ditri Zandstra

Founder, board member; LifesWork, The Wellbeing Project, and the Presencing Institute

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About Ditri Zandstra

As member of several Supervisory Boards and former CEO, COO and Chief People, she led and governed complex transformations for more than 25 years. At the Presencing Institute Ditri blends her experience and passion for living systems with the stewardship of PI’s mission and practices to support organisations, eco-systems and grass root initiatives that are the driving force of the overall system transformation needed today to address the challenges we face as societies. Ditri aspires to serve the acceleration of awareness and agency to re-balance society and the world’s operating model, unlocking abundance, inclusion and wholeness. As COFRA’s former Chief People and Operations officer, she played a key role in COFRA’s mission and strategic transformation to be a Force for Good by contributing to the world’s systemic transitions in Capital, Food, Liveable Cities and Energy.

In the years before Prior, Ditri served aswas CEO at the Brenninkmeijer Family Office (Anthos). Ditri combines her current activities leadership role at the Presencing Institute with Supervisory Board roles at Vesteda (Largest mid-rental housing fund of the Netherlands), Constanter (Philanthropy), TU Delft and an advisor role at The Wellbeing Project. She is also actively engaged with the World of Communities initiative, weaving together business and local communities, building prototypes that unlock reciprocal value and potential. Ditri studied Hotel Management and holds a Master degree from Nyenrode-Kellogg-Stellenbosch. She worked across multiple industries, gaining experience in Commercial and Investment Banking (ABN AMRO Bank), Health Care (University Hospital Utrecht) and FMCG before she joined the COFRA Family business. Key transformative moments in her life were the births of her two daughters and the longer residency and activities with the Brahma Kumaris (India), Mother Teresa’s missionaries of charity and native Americans. Ditri lives in the Netherlands.

Ditri Zandstra,

Chief People Officer and COO Cofra Group (Holland)

Ditri has subsequently worked in Banking, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Healthcare before moving into the family office (Anthos) of the Brenninkmeijer Family where she spends the last two years as CEO. Since April 2020, Ditri is working for the broader Cofra Group.

Ditri’s passion for people and system change can be leveraged in her current role as a catalyst and Chief People Officer (and COO). Ditri is dedicated to contributed to Cofra’s mission to ensure business is a Force for Good, driving key systems change in Cities, Food, Energy, Capital Solutions and Consumption. Cofra is committed to the Flourishing of the Whole person for the Whole world.

Ditri is an MBA graduate at Nyenrode-Kellogg-Stellenbosch Business Universities and enjoyed the INSEAD Advanced Management Program.

If you had to summarise Ditri’s qualities, you would probably conclude that she is an authentic leader of transformations; she serves and leads through consistency and focus with a balanced focus on strategy, continuous learning and exploration, people development, and bottom-line results; She is passionate, engaged and committed and wants to contribute to society. As Ditri believes learning takes place through encounters, she is intrigued by philosophy, sociology, and psychology and enjoys traveling tremendously. This also included spending longer periods in some countries, like working for Mother Theresa in Calcutta. Sports
include yoga, hiking, kayaking, and horseback riding. Ditri tries to remain balanced through hard work and emotional and spiritual development.

Ditri is married to August and is the mother of Sabijn (15 years) and Annemoon (13 years). They live in Maarssen, a small town in the Netherlands, near Utrecht.