The team
Neva Nahtigal
Director
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ENGLISH – SLOVENIAN – CROATIAN – SPANISH – GERMAN – DUTCH
Charlotte Chng
Network Development & Research officer
ch************@rr****.org
ENGLISH – MANDARIN – CANTONESE
Marie-Jeanne Gaertner
Project & Policy Officer
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ENGLISH – FRENCH – GERMAN
Frederick Ryan Wallace
Projects & Grant Management Officer
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ENGLISH – SPANISH
Simone Schirru
Policy Officer - Social & Economic Policies
si************@rr****.org
ENGLISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH
Board of directors
Following a very successful term for the Board of RREUSE, the Network re-elected all Board members and elected two new Board members during the RREUSE General Assembly which took place on the 18th of April 2024.
Matthias Neitsch, Re-Use, Austria
President
Matthias is the President of RREUSE and the Managing director of Re-Use Austria, the Austrian NGO for social economy re-use enterprises and re-use- and repair networks and of VABÖ, the Austrian Federation of Municipal Environment & Waste Advisors. His main activity is to promote the implementation of regional re-use & repair networks with focus on social and solidarity economy, networking and lobbying for re-use, repair and other aspects relating to a sustainable lifestyle. Matthias has been a RREUSE Board member for over a decade and was unanimously elected President of RREUSE in 2020.
Antigone Dalamaga, Ecorec, Greece
Honorary President & Vice President
Antigone is the director of the Ecological Recycling Society, a national NGO in Greece, promoting waste prevention, re-use and recycling. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of sustainable waste management at the local, national and international levels, and how this links to job creation. Antigone has been a board member of RREUSE since 2004 and was RREUSE President from 2013 till 2020. Antigone is now Honorary President and acting Vice-President of RREUSE.
Carmen Aja Ruiz, AERESS, Spain
Vice President
Carmen is AERESS technical director. AERESS is the Spanish network for social and solidarity economy enterprises active in re-use and recycling. Their activities aim at social transformation and work integration of people at risk of social exclusion.
Her background includes law, conflict resolution, gender studies and collaborative law.
Giorgio Rosso, Rete 14 luglio, Italy
Secretary
Ivan Božić, Humana Nova, Croatia
Treasurer
In 2016, Ivan won the “Pride of Croatia” award due to his help in the field of employing people with disabilities.
Ivan’s hobbies include music (Radiohead), basketball and traveling.
Margriet Jongerius, BKN, The Netherlands
Founded in 1994 by secondhand shops, BKN’s mission is to support its members in representing their interests and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and information.
To help their members professionalise, BKN created a quality label called ‘100%Kringloop’. This quality label or certificate is important when interacting with governments and administrations, in particular when dealing with public tenders.
Michael Cook, Circular Communities Scotland, UK
Nesrine Dani, ENVIE, France
Since 2014, Nesrine joined the nonprofit sector working for Les Ateliers du Bocage, Adie and Envie. Nesrine is currently New projects Director for Fédération Envie, a French umbrella organisation created in 1984 and gathering 50 members dedicated to social reintegration through circular economy activities.
Jean-Marc Caudron, RESSOURCES, Belgium
Jean-Marc is the Director of RESSOURCES, the Belgian Federation of Social and Circular Enterprises in the sector of re-use of goods and materials. A sociologist by training, Jean-Marc also completed a master’s degree in management. Before joining RESSOURCES in early 2019, he worked for 15 years in the international solidarity sector. After 5 years working at Oxfam-World Shops, he then took up various positions with achACT/clean Clothes Campaign, a platform of organisations aiming to respect the rights of workers in the globalised clothing industry.
Harri Niukkannen, Tramel Oy, Finland
Harri was born in 1971 in the legendary town of Nokia. He studied Political Science at Jyväskylä University and then pursued a Master’s degree in leadership and management studies at Helsinki University of Technology. Following this, Harri spent a few years conducting academic research in regional economics and development.
One of Harri’s interesting personal highlights was during the 90’s: he was teaching English in Bratislava (Slovakia) and Finnish for Asylum seekers in Lappland, Finland.
For the last 20+ years, Harri has been working in the field of re-use, recycling, employment, social enterprise and other scrap/secondary material businesses.
Emma Kavanagh, CRNI, Ireland
Emma Kavanagh (she/her) is the National Executive at the Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI). CRNI is Ireland’s only network of community-based reuse, repair and recycling organisations. Emma is a passionate storyteller with a keen interest in communicating social impact in dynamic, accessible and meaningful ways. She has dedicated her career to the non-profit sector in Ireland and Canada, specialising in community-centric fundraising, advocacy and social impact.
A Dublin native, Emma has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community since 2017, a network of young people driving dialogue, action and change in their cities and communities. Emma enjoys digital storytelling and has a BSc. in Multimedia from Dublin City University.
Thomas Ahlmann, FairWertung, Germany
Thomas is the managing director of the umbrella organization FairWertung e.V., the German network of social economy reuse companies and used textile collectors.
FairWertung wants to bring more transparency to the collection, recovery and recycling of used textiles. FAirWertung sees itself as a driver of a textile circular economy and a more sustainable textile economy.
Thomas main activity is the promotion of textile clothing donations, local reuse cycles and the representation of the interests of non-profit clothing collectors.
Eva Verraes, HERW!N, Belgium
Eva Verraes likes to put things into motion. As director of HERW!N, she has been representing, strengthening and connecting the 100 members in the collective of social circular entrepreneurs for more than 13 years.
Because what if entrepreneurs can change the world? What if together we can tilt towards a socially just society that’s mindful of the planet’s limits? From making, using and discarding to sharing, reusing and processing goods. A circular economy with one common vision: creating jobs for people who are struggling. That is our mission, reclaiming work, materials and encounters.
Eve Poulteau, Emmaüs Europe
Eve is the Chief Executive of Emmaus Europe, a network of social organisations that uses reuse activities as a revenue source to support its action to fight homelessness and poverty. Founded in France in 1949, Emmaus is now present in 20 countries.
Eve is a big fan of Europe and will never forget the 2 years she spent in Lithuania just before they joined the European Union. She also found many ways to act for a more ecological and social society by working in the French parliament and in international NGOs as well as in local municipalities.
Neva Nahtigal
Director
ne***********@rr****.org
ENGLISH – SLOVENIAN – CROATIAN – SPANISH – GERMAN – DUTCH
Edoardo Bodo
Policy officer - Environment
Before joining RREUSE, he did a traineeship in DG TREE at the Council of the European Union.
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ENGLISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH
Frederick Ryan Wallace
Projects and Grant Management Officer
As the Project and Grant Management Officer, Frederick coordinates RREUSE’s involvement in two funded projects: the European Social Fund+ funded project DigiSocCirc, which focuses on identifying trends and opportunities for the digitalization of social enterprises working in the circular economy, and the COSME funded project BuySocCirc, dedicated to fostering partnerships between social enterprises and the private sector.
Before joining RREUSE, Frederick was involved in various sustainability initiatives. He worked on the CESCY (Circular Economy-Sustainable Competences for Youth) project, which was funded by the Erasmus+ program. Additionally, he was on the board of the European Students’ Forum (AEGEE-Europe) and Generation Climate Europe. Frederick holds a Master’s degree in Sustainability Science, Policy and Society from the University of Maastricht.
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ENGLISH – SPANISH
Jana Zurkova
Deputy Director
Jana graduated in molecular biology and waste management and her first work experience was in the field of biomass and energy. In her spare time, Jana is a volunteer at Tournevie, a non-profit tool library in Brussels.
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ENGLISH – CZECH – GERMAN – FRENCH
Sandrine De Fru
Finance and HR manager
Sandrine De Fru joined RREUSE in July 2023, to coordinate and manage Finance and Human Resources. During 25 years in the private sector she developed skills in Managerial Finance, Human Resources, Change management and Process Improvement. Then, she moved to the NGO sector, first with GCAP and now with RREUSE, bringing her experience combined with a passion for people and a deep motivation to engage in an organization driven by impact on people and environment.
She holds a Master Degree in Business and Administration.
ENGLISH – FRENCH – DUTCH – SPANISH
Florence le Levreur
Communications and Events Officer
Florence joined RREUSE in October 2023 as the Communications and Events Officer. Her main responsibilities include overseeing RREUSE’s communications strategy, maintaining the website, and creating social media content. She is also in charge of media relations and event organisation.
Florence previously worked for a Brussels-based organisation active in the circular economy sector. She holds a Masters in Public Affairs and Political Communication from the Technological University Dublin.
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ENGLISH – FRENCH
Charlotte Chng
Network Development & Research officer
As the Network Development and Research Officer, Charlotte’s main responsibilities include leading specific network development activities, such as the member survey. She leads research and data collection to support our advocacy, projects and publications through impactful data and best practices from the RREUSE network. She also supports fundraising efforts by monitoring funding opportunities and contributes to the implementation of our EU and non-EU funded projects.
Prior to joining RREUSE, Charlotte has worked at WWF and the Ministry of Education, Singapore. She holds a Masters degree in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London, UK.
ch************@rr****.org
ENGLISH – MANDARIN – CANTONESE
Marie-Jeanne Gaertner
Project and Policy Officer
As the Project and Policy Officer, Marie-Jeanne coordinates RREUSE’s involvement in the CISUTAC project (Circular & Sustainable Textiles & Clothing), a Horizon Europe funded project dedicated to increasing circular use of textiles within the EU. She is also working on topics related to the EU’s textile agenda (EU strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, Sustainable Products Initiative, Waste Framework Directive).
Prior to RREUSE, Marie-Jeanne completed a Master’s degree in European Affairs at Sciences Po Lille, worked within Quebec, European and French associations and participated in an Erasmus exchange programme in Norway.
ma*******************@rr****.org
FRENCH – ENGLISH – GERMAN
Simone Schirru
Policy Officer - Social Affairs
si************@rr****.org
ENGLISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH