Ilse Maas – van Veghel

Since May 2026, Ilse is working at GreenTrust on initiatives that make our planet greener, both literally and figuratively. As a business developer, she explores new opportunities that will allow GreenTrust to make an even greater impact. She also brings more than fifteen years of experience in the field of project financing, with a preference for working on initiatives that are local, socially beneficial and/or nature-inclusive.

The projects we work on at GreenTrust do not stand alone. They are an important part of a larger whole: restoring the beautiful ecosystems of which we, as humans, are a part of and on which we therefore depend.

That’s why what you see in my hands is an “ecosystem in a jar.” This symbolizes my ambition to devote myself unconditionally to restoring the system that we, as humans, have damaged. Even though it sometimes feels like trying to bail out a sinking ship, I want to be able to explain to my grandchildren that I did my very best to keep our beautiful planet livable for them as well.

I do this on a small scale, for example by teaching a weekly vegetable garden lesson to fifth graders and sending my kids out to the garden after dinner to pick their “own dessert.” And in my work, I like to focus on projects with multiple solutions. In a healthy ecosystem, everything is interconnected: clean air, healthy soil, clean water, and resilient communities. At GreenTrust, I can contribute to this in all sorts of ways: whether it’s a community heating system or the development of food forests. Or who knows—maybe one day that fully self-sufficient (energy, food, water) regenerative residential community.”

Expertise: financial management, multi-faceted value creation, financing solutions (equity, debt, citizen bonds/crowdfunding), financial modeling, presentation and storytelling, renewable energy, food forestry, and regeneration.