Bas’s academic journey began with a degree in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences in Leiden, where he conducted research into gene therapy and comparative genetics in London. He later expanded his expertise with an Executive MBA at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University. This program was enriched by international experiences at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Johannesburg. For many years, he applied his expertise as a strategy and organizational consultant, both in the Netherlands and internationally.
Ten years ago, Bas discovered that the worldview of children is surprisingly different from that of adults. Their unbiased perspective, courage to ask unusual questions, and ability to come up with original ideas deeply inspired him. Based on this vision, he founded ConsultingKids in 2014.
ConsultingKids
With ConsultingKids, Bas taps into a different way of thinking; inspired by the refreshing ideas of children, he and his colleagues develop solutions that help organizations and society move forward. He also wrote the book “Little Consultants”, which perfectly aligns with this philosophy.
For clients in both the public and private sectors, they work on major challenges. Recent topics include environmental management, governance, innovation with stakeholders, customer experience, flood defense reinforcement, translating strategy into operations, international collaboration, poverty policy, future housing visions, customer contact, positive health, learning organizations, Q fever, social domain vision, team dynamics, integrated area-based working, organizational development, healthcare systems, dementia, and more.
At ConsultingKids, children are also introduced in classrooms to proven strategies from top consulting firms and leading management books, adapted to fit their world. They equip children with problem-solving skills—tools many professionals only encounter later in their careers, but secretly wish they had learned much earlier.
Over the past 10 years, ConsultingKids has worked with government organizations and businesses on more than 120 complex challenges. Together with organizations and children from six countries, they have developed over 2,200 refreshing solutions and taught more than 12,000 children problem-solving skills.
Bas as a Speaker
In his keynotes, Bas draws from the endless collection of inspiring examples and insights he has gained through a wide variety of projects around the world with ConsultingKids and its mischievous sibling, DisruptiveKids.
