Jotham Sietsma

One could say I’m a by-product of the successful Tandem collaboration between ECF and MitOst: after working in Amsterdam (and Istanbul) at the early stages of Tandem, I moved to Berlin in 2013. First as project manager for Tandem C&P, now as Tandem programme manager. My tasks include working with the Tandem Shaml, Tandem Europe and Tandem C&P teams, but also on the development of new Tandems and designing new methods.

I came to non-profit and culture by chance. I studied political science, with cooking as my first passion. After adventures running my own small business, and working at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I found my direction at the AIDS Foundation East-West and the European Cultural Foundation. Working with great people in places across Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Egypt, I realised: culture doesn’t have borders, so why should we?