Nisha Bakker

About Nisha Bakker

Every year, hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic enter the oceans, primarily through rivers. And the plastic already floating in the oceans does not disappear by itself. To effectively solve this problem, we must simultaneously stop the influx of waste through rivers and remove the existing plastic from the oceans.

Over the past 12 years, The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization, has developed and scaled solutions to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. To date, The Ocean Cleanup has removed more than 50 million kilos of waste from oceans and rivers, and this mission continues unabated. In the next four years, they are expanding to another 30 cities, removing waste from more than 200 additional rivers. Their ultimate goal is to make themselves redundant once the oceans are clean and rivers no longer carry plastic to the sea.

As Director of Partnerships, Nisha Bakker is responsible for orchestrating the ecosystem of collaborations and relationships with stakeholders worldwide to make this ambitious mission a reality. She leads teams on three continents and has 25 years of experience in building bridges between the private sector, governments, institutions, and non-profits.

Nisha began her career at Unilever, worked in various countries for UNICEF, and built partnerships for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs with organizations such as the World Bank, IFC, and UNHCR. Now, at The Ocean Cleanup, she collaborates with governments on every continent, as well as with global brands like Coca-Cola, Amazon, and Kia, and artists like Coldplay, alongside a wide range of dedicated partners making an impact.

She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Maastricht University and a diploma in Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Additionally, she is a board member at the ALS Foundation in the Netherlands. She lives in Rotterdam with her partner and two teenagers.