About Tjerk

About Tjerk Feitsma

Executive summary

Tjerk Feitsma is a Dutch neurodivergent social-impact entrepreneur, movement-builder, and public speaker whose work centres on one mission: making society more neuroinclusive by turning values into usable infrastructure—celebrations, education, advocacy, and practical tools that help neurodivergent people thrive in everyday life.

He is best known as the founder/director of the Neurodiversity Foundation (founded 15 February 2018) and as the originator of Neurodiversity Pride Day, a global Pride tradition for neurodivergent identity, belonging, and self-respect.

Alongside that movement-building work, he has helped develop assistive-tech and research pathways—including projects like SIGNS Messenger (supported by SIDN fonds) and the ATHENS Initiative/Assistive Tech Hub—designed to reduce the “communication tax” and friction that neurodivergent people often face in a neurotypical world.

Overview

Tjerk Feitsma’s public-facing work can be understood as a multi-layer ecosystem: culture change (e.g., Pride) + education (e.g., open learning resources) + advocacy (e.g., translating lived experience into policy proposals) + innovation (e.g., assistive tools and research pilots). The Neurodiversity Foundation explicitly frames its work this way—creating tools, publications, websites/apps, talks, and other outputs to foster neurodiversity as an everyday reality, not a niche topic.

The Foundation states it was founded on 15 February 2018, with an initial research focus on autism and an explicit mission to “bridge gaps” for neurodivergent people and the people around them (parents, friends, employers, coaches).

In parallel, a second long-running thread of Tjerk’s work is civic-action infrastructure—building platforms and programmes that make it easier for ordinary people to do meaningful “good deeds” and participate constructively. This is visible in the Terra Futura “Tools, Tours & Technology” framing and in the long-running action platform deWereldRedden.nl and its successive “editions.”

Values and methods

Across interviews and organisational materials, Tjerk consistently articulates a values-base that emphasises dignity, curiosity, compassion, and practical solidarity—paired with a method that prioritises delivery over rhetoric. In a published interview with the Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce, he describes the Foundation’s core beliefs in “love, curiosity and compassion,” “respect and dignity,” and the premise that “diversity is strength.”

A signature concept that appears repeatedly in public materials is the Platinum Rule—treating another person the way they want to be treated, rather than projecting one’s own preferences. This is positioned not as a slogan but as a practical inclusion principle for policy, organisations, and interpersonal communication.

Method-wise, the work is repeatedly framed as “making things that can scale”: building traditions (like ND Pride), building learning ecosystems (like education programmes), building research and prototypes, and then continuously iterating them so they become long-term infrastructure rather than one-off campaigns. This is visible in how the Neurodiversity Foundation describes its tool-building and research approach and in how Terra Futura Foundation describes Tools/Tours/Tech as an operating model for impact.

Early life and education

Tjerk Feitsma is described in public interviews as Amsterdam-born, and he foregrounds his identity as a neurodivergent sociologist and serial social-impact entrepreneur.

Education: Master’s & Bachelor’s in Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Oct 2007

In multiple public contexts, he connects that background to an applied, movement-building purpose: to “fast-forward” neuroinclusive society; to translate social theory into action; and to design cultural change as something that can be implemented in institutions, communities, and daily life.

Career timeline

2004–2016: Board service at Alert Fund (board member; 2004–2016). Public annual reports later list him as part of the Advisory Board (Raad van Advies), demonstrating formal governance involvement.

2010–present: Terra Futura “Tools, Tours & Technology” ecosystem work through Terra Futura, a foundation that describes itself as active since 14‑2‑2010 and focused on “seducing” people into positive action through projects, events, and technology.

2007–present: Running and iterating the civic-action platform deWereldRedden.nl (also described as “Actieplatform deWereldRedden.nl”), positioned as a site with “100 solutions for a better world” and an archive of action formats/tutorials; third-party documentation (2010) describes it as led by Tjerk and focused on making good deeds easy to copy and spread.

2007–2011: 18 European youth trainings for personal development (trainer/co-trainer).

2016: Neurodiversity Foundation is described as “conceived in 2016” (two years prior to founding), at a time when neurodiversity was not widely understood in the Netherlands; this origin story is explicitly stated in the NBCC interview.

2016–2026: Advisory Board service at Alert Fund (2016–2026)Public annual reports corroborate Advisory Board membership in multiple years.

15 Feb 2018–present: Leadership of Neurodiversity Foundation (founded 15 Feb 2018). The Foundation publicly lists its founding date and its mission to bridge gaps and support neurodivergent people and their communities.

2018–present: Ownership/leadership of 2Tango B.V. as a social impact company linked to neurodivergent-friendly communication tooling; it appears as the project owner of SIGNS Messenger “on behalf of the ATHENS Initiative,” and is publicly connected with Tjerk Feitsma.

2018–present: Establishing and scaling Neurodiversity Pride as a public tradition. The Foundation’s content frames ND Pride Day as celebrated annually, and multiple ND Pride pages describe the event as a Pride day for neurodivergent people and their allies.

2017–2021: Politics and civic participation via Piratenpartij. A candidate page positions Tjerk’s candidacy as representing a political voice from “Neurodivergent Netherlands,” and official election documents show him listed as candidate #4 for Piratenpartij Amsterdam in the 2018 municipal election results.

Driven Support Groups for Millenials: Founding of Driven support groups.

Neurodiversity Education Academy: Board and strategic involvement, but not as the main founder  (which are Saskia Wenniger and Lana Jelenjev). Public Foundation materials frame the academy as one of the Foundation’s most important projects.

Neuroprofiler (recent years): Work on the Neuroprofiler tool ecosystem (including a public page titled “NeuroProfiler NEA” and public professional posts describing presenting the “Thriving at Work NeuroProfiler”), in collaboration with Lana Jelenjev, the main author of the project.

Major projects and products

SIGNS Messenger and communication tooling

SIGNS Messenger is documented by SIDN fonds as a “Pionier” project by 2Tango on behalf of the ATHENS Initiative: an AI tool intended to help autistic people communicate better with their environment by interpreting and translating between “autism-friendly” SIGNS language and more conventional communication.

The Foundation’s own timeline records a key grant milestone in January 2019 to build a SIGNS Messenger prototype, showing how early-stage funding supported practical development.

Relatedly, Zorginnovatie.nl describes 2Tango.Signs as being built “by experience expert autists” to enable digital sign language and a “neuro(a)typical translation computer” concept that supports children and families, plus a self-management app and AI assistant component.

ATHENS Initiative / Assistive Tech Hub

The Foundation publicly positions the Athens Initiative as part of its flagship research ecosystem: a consortium framed as “Assistive Tech Hub Enhancing a Neurodiverse Society,” listing the Foundation as a founding member and explicitly describing the Athens Initiative as a core project area. The main project is Athens is Family Signs.

Neurodiversity Pride Day as a global tradition

The ND Pride project pages describe Neurodiversity Pride Day as a Pride day “for neurodivergent persons and their allies,” with annual editions and global activity. The numbers have been growing gradually, and in 2025 there were celebrations in 58 countries.

The Foundation also maintains a “Map ND Pride 2025” page framed as “All countries where Neurodiversity Pride is celebrated in 2025,” which signals international scaling and serves as a durable SEO anchor for the project’s global footprint.

Neuro Inclusive Politician Award

The Foundation’s NIP Award page describes the award programme and frames it as highlighting politicians who give neurodivergent people hope and model neuroinclusive decision-making; it also references the “Pride Universe of the Neurodiverse” context in which interviews and award content are presented.

The Foundation’s history timeline also records a Parliamentary Session on Neuroinclusion in April 2024, describing the founder presenting “10 actionable plans” to Dutch Parliament to make the nation more neuroinclusive (with the Platinum Rule emphasised).

Neurodiversity Education Academy

The Foundation explicitly describes the Neurodiversity Education Academy as one of its most important projects and publicly names its co-founders.

Design Your Life and the RAAK award pathway

HAN University of Applied Sciences describes “Design Your Life” as a project focused on self-designed technologies that increase self-reliance and agency for young people with autism, developed through collaboration among clients, support staff, and assistive-technology providers.

HAN also reports the toolkit winning “1e prijs RAAK-award 2024,” documenting formal recognition for the project’s applied impact.

Awards, grants and recognitions

Won Awards:
– 3rd place best idea of NL against loneliness (Competition)
– 1st place best youth project of the Netherlands (Competition)
– 3rd round best impact start up concept of the Year (Competition)
– 1st place Winner Social Impact award against Loneliness (For 2Tango & Neurodiversity Foundation)
– 1st place Neuroinclusivity Support Enterprise of the Year (Award)
– 1st Place RAAK-award 2024 (As Project Partner, not as founder)
– 1st Place Winner Health Care award 2024 (For Project Family Signs)

SIDN fonds support for SIGNS Messenger (2018 project listing; prototype grant milestone in 2019). SIDN fonds documents SIGNS Messenger as a supported project and describes it as a “pioniersproject” in the idea phase, enabling development toward a first version/pilot/experimental design; the Foundation’s timeline separately records a January 2019 grant milestone for prototype building.

NWO “CO-INTEND” research funding (2 million euros; start 1 Jan 2026; 6-year duration). The University of Twente reports that NWO awarded a two‑million‑euro research grant and that the project starts 1 January 2026 with a duration of six years; an NWO project page also records the start date.

RAAK-award 2024 (Design Your Life). HAN publicly states the Design Your Life toolkit won first prize in the RAAK-award 2024 context.

European Enterprise Awards 2023 (winner listing). EU Business News maintains a winner directory page for Neurodiversity Foundation as a 2023 winner, with an A–Z winners list also showing the organisation listed among 2023 winners.

Citylab grant for 2Tango.Work (timeline record). The Foundation’s timeline records a grant for 2Tango to research/build “2Tango.Work,” framed as digitally supported work-related communication.

Media, talks and publications

Tjerk’s media footprint is best read as “movement visibility + institutional credibility”: interviews, broadcast features, conference panels, and longform writing that is consistent with the Foundation’s public agenda.

  • NBCC interview: “Interview | Tjerk Feitsma, Director of Neurodiversity Foundation” (founding story; values; strategy; ND Pride vision; volunteer scale; call for collaboration).
  • NPO Radio 1 (De Nieuws BV): “Neurodiversiteit vieren bij Pride” (discussion of celebrating neurodiversity via Pride; includes Tjerk as guest).
  • Amsterdam Dance Event conference listing: “Neurodiversity Unmasked: The Music Industry’s Hidden Superpower…” (includes Tjerk in the line-up; date/time; location).
  • Medium writing: “NVA strijders sluiten aan bij de Neurodiversity Foundation” (organisational narrative; movement-building context; political portfolio mention).

Governance, impact and how to work with me

Governance and partnerships

The Neurodiversity Foundation explicitly positions itself as open to cooperation, co-creation, consultancy, educational partnerships, and advocacy, framing collaboration as part of its core operating model rather than an add-on.

Alert Fund’s public “about” page states it is an independent fund supporting youth-led actions, protests, and activist projects with small subsidies and a volunteer board model—context that explains why governance roles there signal both trust and movement-grounded credibility.

Public annual reporting by Alert Fund lists Tjerk Feitsma among Advisory Board members, corroborating ongoing governance involvement.

Impact and metrics

The Neurodiversity Foundation describes itself as producing a wide range of outputs—tools, publications, websites/apps, talks and more—to foster neurodiversity and support neurodivergent people and allies; it explicitly invites people with “a great idea, a need, a request or a plan” to contact the organisation.

In quantified terms, the Foundation’s ND Pride materials include reach claims (e.g., “2.5 million reached” on the ND Pride 2023 page), providing a public indicator of scale beyond local events.

In the NBCC interview, Tjerk describes volunteer capacity across departments (including ND Pride project leaders/collaborators, researchers/research fellows, and other volunteers/ambassadors), and he frames paid services and donations as a primary scalability lever for expanding real-world impact.

For civic-action work, deWereldRedden.nl’s continuity is evidenced by a long-running “edition” model described publicly: a LinkedIn post notes the platform’s “23rd version since 2007,” “since 2010 from Terra Futura,” and reaching 100,000+ visitors in 2024—illustrating a sustained capacity to mobilise action at scale over many years.

Terra Futura’s English “About” page itself contains unusually concrete historical metrics (e.g., a dated progress marker stating 66,500 deeds generated by 70 projects with 30,000+ participants by 14‑2‑2015), reinforcing that the civic-action system is not presented as hypothetical.

How to contact or work with Tjerk Feitsma

If you want to work with Tjerk Feitsma, the best way is to contact me directly, and not ‘ask for a conversation’, but tell me directly what the conversation is about, what you are trying to achieve, and where relevant what the budget is you have to make it so.

If you’re approaching for collaboration or support, the most compelling inbound messages tend to be the ones that are concrete, and severely reduce the questions I need to ask before we can move forward, things like: what you want to build, who it is for, what “better” looks like, and what resources (funding, partnership access, distribution, research capacity, event hosting, policy leverage) you can bring. You can reach Tjerk by whatsapp, email, linkedin and phone, other routes are available but not recommended.

Sources about Tjerk Feitsma

Sources mentioned or referred to in this article:

Frequently asked questions

Who is Tjerk Feitsma? Tjerk Feitsma is a Dutch sociologist (MSc), social entrepreneur, and director of the Neurodiversity Foundation. He is an expert in neuro-inclusion, social innovation, and the urban commons.

What topics does Tjerk Feitsma speak about in his keynotes? Tjerk speaks on a wide range of subjects, including neurodiversity in the workplace, inclusive leadership, the psychology of movement-building (such as Neurodiversity Pride Day), and the role of Assistive Technology in self‑management.

Which organizations has Tjerk Feitsma spoken for? Tjerk has worked with and spoken for hundreds of organizations such as Google, ASML, the European Space Agency (ESA), Eneco, the Public Prosecution Service, and MEE West-Brabant.

What is Tjerk Feitsma’s mission? His mission is to help create a society in which cognitive diversity is valued and supported through technology, education, and policy change.