Rick embodies the focused mind of an engineer, the collaborative ear of a musician, the human connection of a philanthropist, and the eye for opportunity of an entrepreneur. People, culture, innovation, and finance are the common threads woven through Rick’s career spanning 30+ years in international business and social enterprise.

Rick brings a broad global network and wealth of expertise to Except, from strategy, public-private partnerships, finance, and governance to human centred innovation, and impact philanthropy. Rick has lived and worked in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Recently Rick’s passion for education along with his entrepreneurial drive led him to found a
primary school: Klein Amsterdam in Amsterdam. From co creating a compelling vision, to
translating the vision into space, to negotiating with builders, architects and city officials, to
installing the governance structure, to ending within two percent of budget and in record time, to seeing the joy on the faces of parents, children and teachers: this was a wonderful project that continues to leave an incredibly satisfying mark.

Rick’s success founding and building primary school Klein Amsterdam, and the pressing urban challenges he saw in building it, inspired him to commit his next working chapter to sustainable cities. Specifically, the catalytic power of social infrastructure, and how we can tap that power to together build social and environmental resilience into our cities.

Rick has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Rick was born in Philadelphia, PA USA. He currently lives in Amsterdam with his wife Carla, two teenage kids, and a Jack Russell terrier. Rick is fluent in Dutch and English.