Mr Mark Knippenberg

Mark became a Cub Scout aged ten, joining the Sea Scouts, which later led to a career in the Royal Dutch Royal Dutch Navy as an Officer. Upon his honourable discharge, he moved to work at the Dutch ING Bank & Insurances.

After several years of banking, and motivated by his experience of Scouting, Mark decided to change careers, first becoming Deputy Director and later Director of the Kandersteg International Scout Centre. During his tenure, he successfully led the expansion of the centre’s global reach, constantly driving overnights and developing and inaugurating the Kanderlodge facility.

In 2010, Mark took on a new challenge, joining the World Scout Foundation in Geneva as Deputy Director. In this role, he took on a lead role in the coordination of donor engagement, including Foundation Investor Conferences and Honours Programme field visits; work to strengthen systems to effectively manage donors, grants and fundraising, specifically the joint WSF-World Scout Bureau deployment of the grantmaking system and Scout Donation Platform and, in 2021, the WSF Digital Transformation Project. Mark drove the successful 2020–21 Fundraising Campaign during the global pandemic, as championed by Board Members Margot Bogert and the late Kent Clayburn and has continuously worked to strengthen coordination with all World Scouting bodies.

Mark became Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation on 1 September 2021. He also continues to volunteer for Scouting, supporting young leaders and giving back to the Movement, grateful for his own experience.

“Scouting plays an important role in my life. It helped build my character and gave me the foundations for my current life.”