Jaap Smit

About Jaap Smit

In August 2024, Jaap Smit concluded a long and highly varied career, with his last main role being the King’s Commissioner in the province of South Holland.
He began this role in 2014, coming from the CNV union where he served as chairman from 2010-2014. Prior to that, he was the general director/CEO of Victim Support Netherlands for seven years and president of Victim Support Europe.

From 1994-2003, Jaap worked as a management consultant at KPMG and Andersson Elffers Felix. During this time, he undertook numerous assignments ranging from personal coaching and guiding major change processes in various organizations in the public and private sectors, to projects in the field of social entrepreneurship and business ethics. Between 1998 and 2002, he frequently appeared as a guest speaker at INSEAD in Fontainebleau.

Originally a theologian, Jaap began his career in 1977 as a teacher at his own high school in Leiden and started his career as a minister in the Protestant church in Ellecom and De Steeg at the age of 27 in 1984. After four years, he transitioned to the military and became a chaplain with an army unit in Seedorf, West Germany. There, he witnessed the ‘fall of the wall’ and the end of the Cold War up close.

He then returned to civilian life in 1992 and became a minister in Heemstede. After two years, he initially made a partial transition to KPMG, and in 1997, he fully transitioned and ceased being a minister. Since then, he has continued to perform in his original role and has regularly served as a guest speaker during church services.

If you know you can swim, it doesn’t matter how deep the water is.

Jaap Smit is a storyteller who captivates audiences with his thoughts on society, politics, meaning, and the power of ancient stories. In his book “Zonder Kompas geen Koers,” published by Prometheus in September 2024, with the subtitle “The Theologian as an Administrator in a Searching Society,” he takes the reader through the backdrop of his varied career and shares his analyses and reflections on developments in today’s society.

Jaap holds a wide range of (additional) positions. He is, among others, chairman of the NC Veterans Day, president of the War Graves Foundation, chairman of the Taskforce Against Anti-Semitism, chairman of the Agrologistics Cluster Westland, representative of religious denominations at the CIO, chairman of KWV de Kaag, and chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Verwey Jonker Institute. Additionally, he regularly appears as a guest speaker for various groups.