Odette Hekster

Odette Hekster is the Managing Director of PSI-Europe. She joined PSI-Europe in 2012 and was indifferent roles before she became Managing Director in July 2020.

PSI-Europe’s mission is to mobilize support and funding for the PSI network through shaping policies and priorities of European donors and stakeholders. One of PSI-Europe’s flagship projects is setting the agenda for menstrual health & hygiene (MHH), as an integral part of sexual and reproductive health and rights and water and sanitation; whereby PSI-Europe provides technical expertise on MHH to the PSI network and other actors in the community of practice and plays a key role in convening stakeholders to seek support for this theme.

With a Masters in Science of Public Administration (Netherlands), Odette has over eight years of leadership and management experience and over 20 years of experience in sexual and reproductive health and rights, including from living in East Africa (for UN-Habitat, Safer Cities Program to address urban sexual violence against women) and the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean (for UNFPA), as well as from working for the Dutch NGOs Aidsfonds and Rutgers.