Speaker: Coco
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Over de spreker
Merel Ritsma (she/her) is a seasoned business professional from the Netherlands with over 30 years of experience across the corporate and NGO sectors. She is the Managing Director of Merits B.V. and a Board Member of Spread The Word Intersex Collective. She holds a BSc in Operational Research from the University of Kent (UK), a master’s degree from Lyon Business School (France), and a master’s degree in Economics from the College of Europe (Belgium). A committed advocate for social justice, Merel has long worked to advance the rights of feminist and intersex communities, driven by a deep belief in equality, dignity, and bodily autonomy. As a Supervisory Board member of Mama Cash, she brings extensive expertise in strategy, governance, operational excellence, and risk management. Merel bridges rigorous business acumen with principled activism. She actively supports fundraising for the severely underfunded global intersex movement, working to ensure intersex people can fully realize their human rights—particularly the right to bodily autonomy and freedom from discrimination.