I’m Ken Veerman, a Belgian advisor and facilitator helping venues and mission-driven organisations across Europe thrive. My book Met Bescheiden Verander Je Niets (Modesty Doesn’t Change The World) on strategic storytelling and leadership came out in 2026 — in Dutch.

My English writing now lives on Impact Stories, where I publish articles on:

• Why the story you tell about your organisation determines your success
• The ABC Model — three layers of a successful organisation
• Turning your organisation’s catch-22s into strengths
• Audience development and community building for venues

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I help mission-driven organisations — venues, festivals, cultural centres, arts organisations and other not-for-profits — get better results without losing sight of their mission. After 15 years of leading cultural organisations myself, I work on the intersection of:

• Mission & strategy — I help organisations articulate a clear, compelling mission and translate it into sharp choices and sustainable plans.
• Strategic storytelling — The story you tell about your organisation determines the outcome. So why not tell in it in the form of a success story? I help leaders find that balance between ambitious visionary leadership and credible action.
• Team & leadership development — process facilitation, workshops and coaching for teams that work hard but risk wasting energy on scattered efforts.
• Audience development — Creating a good product or event is only half the work. The other half is developing audiences. I specialise in helping mission-driven teams connect with their audience.

Recent Work

• Author of Met Bescheiden Verander Je Niets (2026), a book on strategic storytelling and impact for leaders of mission-driven organisations — and of Vertellers, Geen Verkopers (2023) on management in the cultural sector.
• I helped develop the Crowdbuilder audience development methodology with Live DMA and am currently presenting it on European music conferences including Liveurope Milan, Reeperbahn Festival and MIL Lisbon.
• Regular speaker and workshop facilitator at European sector conferences on leadership, storytelling and audience development.

Speaking & Workshops

I regularly speak at conferences and lead workshops for cultural professionals, in English or Dutch, on topics such as:

• Mission-driven leadership — why modesty keeps organisations small, and what to do about it
• Strategic storytelling: how leaders build a success story that their teams and the outside world actually believe
• The ABC Model: three layers of a successful organisation
• Audience development and community building for venues and festivals
• Turning your organisation’s catch-22s into strengths

Writing in English

My book is in Dutch, but I publish in English on Impact Stories. You will find articles on leadership, storytelling and audience development for mission-driven organisations. Subscribe there

For Dutch speakers: my Dutch blog and biweekly newsletter “Aanpak” are here.

Let’s Connect

Are you looking for a speaker, organisational coach, workshop facilitator or strategic advisor? Let’s talk via ken@kenveerman.com.