Deputy Mayor Henk Kool

Deputy Mayor Henk Kool is The Hague's alderman for Social Affairs, Employment and Economy as well as the Laak district.

H.P.M. (Henk) Kool was born in The Hague in 1955. He finished his studies at the College of Social Studies in 1977 and the School of Journalism in Utrecht in 1981 and completed a management course at Van de Broek and Partners in 1992.

Following a long and varied career in broadcast and print journalism from 1980 until 1999, including with the daily national newspaper Dagblad Trouw, Stad Radio Amsterdam, VARA-radio, the daily national newspaper NRC Handelsblad, and Radio West, he worked as a consultant with the communications firm of Jos van den Berg/Arie Kleijn and was a faculty member of the School of Journalism in Utrecht from 1996 until 1999.

In 1996 Henk became director of the communications consulting firm Henk Kool, Communicatie en Advies. At about the same time, his career took a political turn and since 1999 he has served as director of the Nederlands Participatie Instituut (NPI), member of the board of the European Federation for Employed Shareholders (EFES) and the International Association of Financial Participation (IAFP), and member of the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) in The Hague (chairman since 2002).

Other work and managerial duties include co-founder and co-chairman of Stichting Atrium as well as consultant for the Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten and the Stichting Transforma (member of the board since 2004) as an expert in the area of government communication, participatory democracy and journalistic projects in Romania, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia.

Henk has held many additional volunteer positions, including:

• Editor-in-chief of Pro&Contra, the magazine for members of the PvdA
• Representative of the NVJ in the board of the FNV (Trade Union Congress)
• Officer of Surplus B.V., which runs a dental practice in the Hague neighbourhood the Schilderswijk
• Course instructor for a group being held in custody at a Rotterdam penitentiary.
  

From April 2006 to May 2010 Henk was also The Hague's alderman for Social Affairs, Employment and the Economy.

Visit the Dutch-language municipal website for information on how to contact the alderman.