James Veenhoff

About James Veenhoff

James Veenhoff founded the consultancy Fronteer in 2008, which has now grown into one of the leading players in the field of ‘co-creation’. His book on this subject, titled ‘Collaborate or Die’, was published in 2022. With clients such as HEMA, Heineken, KLM, Shell, Eneco, Rabobank, World Wildlife Fund, and the Municipality of Amsterdam, he works on remarkable innovations, always from the philosophy ‘Business as a force for Good’.

In the years immediately following his studies in Business Administration (Nijenrode) and Anthropology (VU Amsterdam), he was involved with prominent brands and projects in the fashion industry (including Evisu, Amsterdam International Fashion Week, Blue Blood, Ganbaroo, Hilfiger), but for the last 15 years, he has primarily focused on innovations for the benefit of education and the transition (both economically and socially).

Fronteer distinguishes itself from other consultancy firms by applying Holacracy (self-managing teams), registration as a B-Corp (very high standards for inclusion, sustainability, and transparency), and the intensive involvement in various (own) initiatives, such as House of Denim, Denim City, the ‘Denim Deal’, Embrace Emma, NDSM Energy, as well as various social initiatives. Since 2021, Fronteer has a separate division that helps companies with their strategy regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2012, he established a training program for sustainable denim developers with several leading jeans brands (including Levis, Gstar, Calvin Klein, Hilfiger, Kings of Indigo, Scotch & Soda): the Jean School. This MBO4 program is now internationally highly regarded: ranked 99th in the global ranking of fashion education (thus above many HBO programs). This ambitious development approach has now been embraced by various ROC institutions, resulting in dozens of new MBO programs across all sectors, from beauty and movement to construction and bar staff.