Our staff
Per Heggenes
Chief Executive Officer
Per became the IKEA Foundation’s first CEO in June 2009.
Previously, Per was the Global Head of Corporate Affairs and member of the Global Executive Team for the shipping and logistics company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. Before joining WWL, he was the UK President and CEO for the global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and Co-CEO for Europe. He also held different global roles for Burson-Marsteller based in their New York headquarters.
Per served in the Norwegian Air Force and graduated from the University of Augsburg in Germany with a “Diplom Oekonom” (MBA).
Katrina Crew
Digital Content Manager
Katrina oversees the IKEA Foundation's website and social media channels. She joined the Foundation in November 2011 after six years in London, where she was the web editor for the British Red Cross and earned her Master's degree in human rights from the University of Essex.
Before that, she taught English in Prague for three years and coordinated an active group of volunteers for Amnesty International Czech Republic.
Petra Hans
Program Manager
Petra manages and oversees program partnerships, and manages our Soft Toys campaign.
Petra has extensive field experience and has worked several years abroad with various non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Before joining the IKEA Foundation, she was with Oxfam, where she specialized in educational projects and was responsible for large collaborations and programs.
Petra is fluent in Dutch, Nepali, French, English and Spanish and is currently learning Arabic.
Emma Harbour
Program Communications Manager
Emma manages and oversees the communications activity for our key programmes, including the Soft Toy Campaign.
Emma joined the Foundation in January 2012, having previously worked for UN Women in New York, where she led the global launch of their first flagship report – Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice.
Emma has extensive experience in communications and campaigning in international development, having worked for ActionAid, Comic Relief and Christian Aid in the UK, the ISIS Foundation in Nepal and taught English in Brazil. She has also coordinated communications for large anti-poverty campaigns including Make Poverty History, Live 8 and Put People First.
Shambhavi Sharma
Program Assistant
Shambhavi works in our Delhi office analyzing the progress of our programs and partners.
She did her Bachelor's degree in psychology/organizational behavior from Delhi University and her Master's in transnational entrepreneurship/corporate social responsibility. Both degrees are from Vrije universiteit van Amsterdam.
She's fluent in Dutch, Hindi and English, and in her free time she volunteers with charities that help stray animals in Delhi.
Jonathan Spampinato
Head of Communications & Strategic Planning
Jon leads the Foundation’s communications planning and activities, and coordinates strategic communications with grantees and stakeholders within the IKEA Group.
Jon has had a wide-ranging career developing communications and public affairs programs for some of the world’s most recognized brands including Pfizer, Ford Motor Co., Visiting Nurses of America, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Jon was deputy political director for US businessman Mitt Romney's successful gubernatorial campaign, and served as deputy director of the Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation for former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld.
Jon has an MPA in international public and non-profit management from New York University.
Annemieke Tsike-Sossah de Jong
Assistant Controller
Annemieke supports the organization’s financial and administrative affairs. Before joining the team, she was a program manager for the Abusua Foundation in Ghana, and more recently worked for the Dutch Central Bank.
Annemieke has a Master’s degree in international law and enjoys reading, classical music and African cultures.
Vandana Verma
Program Director
Vandana joined IKEA in 2002 and is currently based in New Delhi. She manages and oversees program partnerships, and holds an additional role as Children’s Ombudsman for IKEA South Asia, where she supports business teams on preventing child labor in the supply chain.
Prior to joining IKEA, Vandana worked with ICRIER, the World Bank and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on issues including competitiveness of Indian industries, child labor, women’s employment and the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship in six developing Asian countries.
She is a trained economist and studied international trade at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
Jeroen Wopereis
Controller
Jeroen is responsible for the Foundation's finances and works closely with our partners to deliver and monitor grants.
His background is in business economics, international management, and finance. For several years he worked with Ernst & Young as part of the audit and financial due diligence teams in the Netherlands, Mexico and Spain. Before joining the IKEA Foundation, he was with Oxfam, which gave him valuable understanding of development issues and finance within a non-profit organization.
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