Unislip AS for 13 years, with daughter companies in USA, Japan, and Germany and with agents in 20 countries, before successfully selling it. He was well known as one of the most dynamic motivational speakers in Norway for over 30 years and is also an author of 12 books on personal development, leadership and sales. As a Total Quality Management trainer, he has coached over 150 companies to get certified to the ISO 9000 series quality standard. He founded the Better Globe Group in 2004 and has been its Chairman to date.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rino Solberg
Chairman of the BoardRino is an international entrepreneur from Norway, with 50 years of experience in different fields. As a young man he invented a grinding machine for valves and got patents for it in 12 countries. He built and ran his company
Ben Chikamai
Board memberDr Ben Chikamai is the Executive Secretary of the Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA), a Pan African organization based in Kenya. He is also a Member of the Commonwealth Forestry Association (CFA) Advisory Board representing Africa since
January 2018. Dr Chikamai is a former Director of the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). He served in leading and advisory positions in various international forestry research organisations. He has extensive experience in Leadership and Management, is a Leader in Research in Forestry and allied Natural Resources and in Fostering Partnerships and Networking. Arising from own research and supervision work for students (PhD, MSc), he has published over 80 peer reviewed publications, including books and book chapters.
Jean Doyen
Board memberJean was Division Chief and later Regional Director with the World Bank. He was also a senior advisor for infrastructure policies and programmes before he retired. He is now an independent consultant. His field of expertise is program planning, management,
and evaluation, as well as institutional assessments and policy reviews. Further, he advises on linkages between infrastructure and overall development and poverty reduction.
Jean-Paul Deprins
Managing DirectorJean-Paul, hailing from Belgium, has dedicated twenty years to his role as the Managing Director of Better Globe Forestry Limited in East Africa. He brings a wealth of expertise from his extensive senior management experience in
both European and East African contexts. Jean-Paul is a staunch proponent of ethical and transparent business practices, highlighting the importance of a systematic and evidence-driven approach to addressing challenges. He is also acutely attuned to the social issues intertwined with forestry in the East African drylands, emphasizing the need for resourcefulness and creativity in overcoming anticipated and unforeseen obstacles associated with pioneering forestry in this region.
Jan Vandenabeele
Senior Director and board memberJan is a Belgian forester and agronomist with 40 years of experience in management and technical implementation of locally and internationally financed projects in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. As a senior director in BGF his wealth of experience and his high level contacts
in the forestry world are invaluable and have opened many doors such allowing us to be the pioneers in dryland afforestation in East Africa. As the Editor-in-chief of Miti, he is the driving force behind the magazine with editorial boards in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.