Jesse Klaver
Summary
Jesse Klaver was born in Roosendaal on 1 May 1986, and lives in 's-Gravenhage. He has been a Member of the House of Representatives for 5454 days in total.
Social media links
Biography
"We are going to change the Netherlands"
My name is Jesse Feras Klaver. I got my first and last name from my Dutch-Indonesian mother, while Feras comes from my Moroccan father. I was born on the first of May 1986 in Brabant and grew up in social housing in the Roosendaal neighbourhood of Westrand. Because I grew up without my father, my mother, together with my grandparents, was responsible for my upbringing at a young age.
Wish
My future as an MP was never a foregone conclusion. I left the secondary Waldorf school in Prinsenbeek with a vmbo diploma and was told that my dream to study social work at Avans University of Applied Sciences might be out of reach. However, I was also taught that you should never let anyone tell you that something cannot be done.
Life lesson
When I took office as group chairman, I told myself: the only thing standing between you and your dreams is your fear of failure. Let go of that fear, and anything is possible. My mother taught me that life lesson, and I have always found it very important in politics. In the Netherlands, we are promised change every election, only to get more of the same. All parties in power believe in economism: every debate on social matters is flattened into a money issue.
Change
But the tide is turning. There is an undercurrent in society that is gaining momentum and yearning for change. People who want decisions to be made based on values and ideals, rather than financial concerns. People who refuse to be told that something cannot be done, but believe that almost anything is possible. Together with those people, we are going to change the Netherlands.
Education
- Political science: transfer programme in European politics (course not completed), University of Amsterdam 2008-2009
- Preparatory secondary education, 'free school', Michael College, Prinsenbeek
- Social Work (social entrepreneurship), Avans Hogeschool 's-Hertogenbosch
Career
- Member of GroenLinks programme committee, House of Representatives elections 2010
- Chairman CNV Youth, since 2009
- Member of selection committee for GroenLinks party officials 2009
- Chairman of DWARS 2008-2009
- Secretary of DWARS 2007-2008
- Chairman of DWARS, GroenLinks Youth Organisation 2006-2007