“I HOPE EVERY SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVE WILL ENTER, BOTH BIG AND SMALL”

Yvette Watson has always been passionately committed to societal and environmental issues, even as a child. At the age of eight, she was already carrying a banner for Greenpeace. These days, she is less of an activist and believes more in being an ‘activator’. Through her companies PHI Factory and the online gamified learning platform The 2B Collective, Yvette hopes to inspire as many people and organizations as possible to be as sustainable and innovative as they can be. With these credentials, it’s little wonder that she was invited to be one of the judges for the first edition of the Zuidas Sustainability Award last year. And she was elected again this year, now as the panel’s chair.

Yvette’s mission is to enable people to make the right choices. These days, however, her approach is different. “I used to be more radical”, she admits with a smile. “But, over the years, I saw that activism can also cost you people, so now I’m focused on making connections.”

Spark

Just over seven years ago, Yvette started PHI Factory with her business partner Geerke Versteeg. The two clicked on sight.

“We were introduced by her old boss”, Yvette recalls. “He saw me speaking on stage and said, ‘you two need to meet’. There was an immediate spark of recognition, and I asked her if she wanted to start a company together that very same day. We share the same vision and ambition, but at the same time we’re complete opposites. She’s super organized and a real go-getter, while I’m creative and love developing new concepts for real systemic change.”

Fast forward to today, and PHI Factory has 18 employees and advises a range of companies and stakeholders on sustainability issues. “Our main focus lies on putting all those great government and industry sustainability ambitions into practice. In practical projects and solutions, with effects that have measurable impact. The only way you can change the system is by defining in concrete terms what you’re going to do differently tomorrow and the day after relative to yesterday.”

According to Yvette, there has been an overall change in approach over time. “Twenty years ago, getting organizations to move at all was difficult. Now, everybody’s moving, but all in different directions. We look at what an organization needs to achieve their objective and we make plans accordingly.”

2023 Sustainability Award

With her passion for sustainability, Yvette is thrilled to be on the judging panel for the second edition of the Zuidas Sustainability Award; as its chair, this time. Other returning members are Margreet van Gastel, chair of the Economic Affairs and Climate/Netherlands Enterprise Agency Advisory Committee on Heating and member of the national Green Business Club Advisory Board, Ruth Jansen of the Zuidas Today Talk Show, and Chahat Gawdi, MSc Global Environmental Governance, Sustainability & Climate Change and outreach manager for the Green Office VU.

“This award is important because it’s a way to inspire each other with all the amazing projects in Zuidas”, Yvette underscores. “The new AFC clubhouse is a great example. The sustainable building that the football club created here sets such a brilliant example! Another great initiative in Zuidas is the RAI. They are doing so much with sustainable and local suppliers through their ‘heart-warming Amsterdam’ project. But that goes also for young professionals who are striking out on their own here and organizations that are offering ecological walks in the district.”

Yvette can’t wait to see all the submissions and initiatives in Zuidas. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a big project or a small initiative. I’m hoping that projects which think they’re too small right now will actually enter the competition. My message to everyone is: don’t be shy, tell us what you’re doing! No matter how big or small. The more entries we get, the more we mau accomplish.”