As Executive Director of NIMD since January 2019, Thijs Berman is responsible for NIMD’s overall strategy, vision, and mission.

Thijs has more than 30 years of experience in media, politics and international development. He began his career as a journalist, and then became a Member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Labour Party. As an MEP he was a member of several committees, including the Subcommittee on Human Rights, and has also headed several European election observation missions. In the two years before joining NIMD, Thijs worked as the Principal Advisor to the OSCE Representative of Freedom of the Media.