Our team

Daan Brink has a background of two decades in the Dutch special forces and intelligence practice. Not only did he make countless decisions between life and death during his operations for the military, but he was also responsible for the strategic and tactical continuity of numerous projects. The experiences and insights he gained motivated him to establish Proximities. Moreover, they remain highly valuable, which becomes clear from the hands-on advice and clear-cut analyses he provides to our clients. With enduring energy, Daan serves our clients wherever they are.

Having worked at senior positions at several large logistics companies, including as Chief Commercial Officer at DHL Express Benelux, Hans became a specialist in business improvement and management development. He supports our operations through his expertise in helping businesses navigate organizational changes on the strategical, tactical and operational levels. Moreover, he provides coaching and training of higher and middle management.

Rosa has more than fifteen years of experience in collecting, processing and analysing information and its implications for (international) policymakers, diplomats and military higher management. After she finished her master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, she worked in operational, managerial and instruction roles for Dutch military and national agencies. She is specialized in tribal dynamics and cultures in general from all over the world but especially those in Africa where she travelled and lived for a long period of time.

David has more than fifteen years of experience in collecting, processing and analysing information that is of importance to our clients. After he graduated from the Royal Military Academy and finished his master’s degree in Political Sciences at Leiden University, David worked in operational, managerial and instruction roles for the Dutch military and national agencies. He is specialized in a wide variety of countries, having lived and travelled virtually all over the world.

Tom graduated with honours as a historian at Leiden University. Having managed and conducted numerous complex investigations, he became a seasoned researcher. He is also a licensed private investigator. At Proximities, he is responsible for the business line screenings, ensuring that our screenings remain the highest-quality employment checks available. Before starting at Proximities, he was active as board member and chairman of a national political youth organisation.

Jim has an experience for over twenty years as an officer at the Royal Dutch Army, where he was active in multiple operations in crisis areas. The work he did varied from different combat jobs to gathering, analyzing and processing intelligence. Furthermore, Jim worked for the ministry of Foreign Affairs as a security advisor at the Dutch embassies in Afghanistan and Mali.

Kaz has a background in International Relations & Security and is specialized in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before starting at Proximities, he worked as an author and researcher for Transparency International. At Proximities, Kaz operates as a specialist in the Intelligence and Investigation domain. His work consists of advising our clients how to mitigate security risks in challenging environments as well as conducting background investigations and screenings.

Scott has twelve years of experience working in demanding environments as part of specialised military and intelligence units, seeing him contribute to and conduct numerous projects and investigations throughout Europe, the Middle East, South America, and North and Central Africa.Having collected, processed and analysed information which significantly informed the decision-making processes of stakeholders at all levels within national defence and security agencies, Scott brings knowledge, enthusiasm and his operational experiences of global security situations to complement the team’s expertise. Scott also holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Intelligence and International Relations, particularly enjoying a focus on issues of European security.

Lisa has a background in International Relations, focusing in particular on the East-Asian region. She graduated from Leiden University with a master’s degree in Crisis and Security Management, with the specialization track of Intelligence and National Security. At Proximities, she analyses and reports on local situations of the countries our clients work in. Moreover, she conducts background screenings for pre-employment screenings of our clients.

Dana graduated from Leiden University, where she studied Political Science with the specialisation track of International Affairs and Organisations. Subsequently, she graduated from the University of Southampton with a master’s degree in International Security & Risk, focusing on contemporary security challenges. Hence, a position as a risk analyst suits her background perfectly. With an interest in a wide range of topics and a healthy dose of curiosity, she supports the team of analysts.

Samantha has a background in International Relations and is specialized in the politics of the Middle East. Currently she is a Military Strategy MA student at the Dutch Defense Academy where she focuses on intelligence and security, particularly revolving around threats posed by non-state actors. This makes her a great fit to help her colleagues with monitoring and assessing local security situations around the world, as well as conducting pre-employment and background screenings for our clients.

Ruben has a background in International Relations, focusing in particular on terrorism in the Middle East. During his master’s, Ruben gained a comprehensive understanding on the concept of security by expanding his theoretical knowledge. Before his master’s, Ruben studied Security Management where he has been trained in the operational ins and outs of the security discipline. With his broad and diverse understanding of security, Ruben supports the team of analysts.  

Annick has a background in Intercultural Communication as well as in International Relations and is specialised in English-speaking regions. She graduated from Utrecht University with a bachelor’s in English Language & Culture and a master’s in Intercultural Communication. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s in International Relations in Historical Perspective at Utrecht University. In doing so, she focuses on topics such as international security, geopolitical tensions and risks, the EU, and the future of warfare. At Proximities, she combines her broad interests and skillset by supporting the team of analysts.

Sylvia is responsible to manage our back office in its broadest sense. Having worked for the Royal Dutch Consulates in Chicago and Dubai as well as the Embassy of The Netherlands in Singapore, she has experience in working across the globe. At Proximities, she is crucial for the day-to-day running of our company.

Sanno is specialized in Cyber Security and is able to support our clients on a wide range of issues in the cyber domain. Through his experience with working for the Dutch National Police, he is able to detect vulnerabilities of our clients in the cyber space as well as on the deep web and dark web. His interests centre around quantum programming, artificial intelligence research and cyber security.

Anthony provides top-notch IT advice to our clients and supports team members in implementing projects effectively. Having worked on numerous projects for clients in virtually every sector, he has a wide portfolio of experience.

Petra is our head of financial administration. She makes sure internal and external stakeholders are served rightly and timely.

Arthur is one of our associate Security Officers stationed in Juba, South Sudan. Throughout his long military career with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and multiple deployments to the Middle East and Africa, he has built up extensive experience in analysing security situations and operating under stressful conditions. He utilizes this experience to support our clients’ business operations in South Sudan and to ensure the safety of the staff and assets involved.

Tycho started his career in defense and has held various operational positions at home and abroad for 13 years. He subsequently started working as a security professional in both the public and private sector in the field of close protection, security management as well as security advisor. Since 2020 he has been actively associated with Proximities as a risk & security consultant. In addition to performing (inter)national assignments, he also focuses on account management and targeted advice to clients within the Proximities network.

Rens has a background of 39 years as a former member of the military. As a naval officer, he has spent the last 18 years of his active military career mainly engaged in the field of Human Intelligence. In that capacity, he has operated in numerous missions in the Balkans, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Africa. With his extensive experience, he conducts employment screening interviews with (potential) employees of our clients.

Vincent has an extensive background in Human Resources in the oil industry where he occupied VP level positions. Vincent has an MA from Leiden University in Middle Eastern Studies, is an Arabic speaker and spent significant time in the Middle East, notably in Syria and Lebanon. He is also a reserve officer in the Dutch army and worked as an intelligence officer for the UN. Vincent has an international focus and has lived and worked in various countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Dingeman describes himself as a Swiss army knife. Born-and-bread in the Dutch military, while serving as a mechanized scout officer and eventually piloting a number of fixed-wing assets, he understands both operational and strategic risk. His understanding of managing complex and dynamic systems, was further enhanced while working in the safety and compliance domain, while graduating with honors in systems safety. At Proximities, he deals with management transformation, continues to serve clients facing strategic and operational risk challenges, while maintaining his currency as a Netherlands Coastguard pilot.

Henno runs our associate office in Kuwait. He has worked as a military officer, senior advisor and researcher. From Kuwait, he supports our customers in the region in identifying and mitigating security risks. He does this by offering practical help and availability.

As an ex-Naval officer, Hugo focuses chiefly on the maritime domain. He is specialized in designing and auditing security management systems of organizations to ensure they are in control of security and meet relevant standards. Holding an MA in Defence Studies and utilizing his experience from the military and as deputy company security officer at Shell, he has a unique insight in the challenges of the security risk arena. In addition to his experience gained during many deployments to high-risk countries, he has spent much time in the UK and has access to a substantial security-related network.