1. IntroductionandBackground
The ORTEC Foundation (or the “Foundation”) was established in 2025 by ORTEC B.V. (“ORTEC”) and two of ORTEC’s Founders, Aart van Beuzekom and Gerrit Timmer, with the aim to leverage the power of analytics, optimization and technology to societal challenges.
Over the past decades, ORTEC has developed into an internationally operating organization in the fields of analytics, optimization and applied mathematics. These capabilities have helped organizations improve planning, efficiency and decision-making across a wide range of sectors.
ORTEC and its founders believe that the power of analytics should also be applied more widely to societal challenges, to improve decision-making and create positive impact.
2. Mission & Vision
The mission of the ORTEC Foundation is to support societal initiatives and organizations worldwide that contribute to a better and more just society through the application of mathematics / optimization, analytics and technology.
The Foundation believes that societal organizations and initiatives can significantly increase their effectiveness and impact when decisions are supported by data, analytical insights and technological innovation.
By combining analytical expertise and collaborative partnerships with financial support, the Foundation seeks to contribute to sustainable and measurable societal impact.
The Foundation operates exclusively for the public benefit.
3. Areas of Activity
The Foundation supports initiatives that aim to strengthen systems, improve decision-making and increase societal impact by applying analytical thinking and quantitative methods.
The Foundation is not limited to specific sectors or themes and wants to maintain flexibility in identifying relevant societal challenges and opportunities. Themes in which the Foundation may be active are education, science and health.
4. Budget
ORTEC has agreed to allocate € 410,000 to the ORTEC Foundation in 2026 for charitable purposes and to cover operational expenses.ORTEC intends, subject to business circumstances and priorities at the relevant time, to continue this support to the Foundation in the coming years.
Aart van Beuzekom and Gerrit Timmer have committed to a joint contribution, in accordance with an agreed allocation ratio, of € 410,000 for the coming five years, up to and including 2030.
For the year 2026, the total budget will be around € 820,000. At the end of each calendar year, the budget will be established for the next calendar year.
5. Projectsand Partners
Approach
The Foundation’s aim is to not only provide financial support, but especially to use analytical expertise, optimization and technology to help organizations that are active in the societal field improve their decision-making and create positive impact.
The Foundation believes that it best achieves this in collaboration with other parties, for example with academia, non-profit organizations, and business / industry. This may also include the potential involvement of ORTEC employees and their expertise when deemed relevant and appropriate. The Foundation’s website provides more details with respect to involvement of ORTEC employees.
The Foundation prefers to collaborate with organizations that share the ambition to apply analytics and optimization to societal challenges. The Foundation already has a partnership with ABW, which connects researchers, industry data science experts, students and NGO’s working on solutions for societal impact, in various areas.
The Foundation will proactively look for (charitable) organizations that contribute to the objectives of the Foundation. At the same time, the Foundation remains open to proposals from external organizations whose initiatives align with the Foundation’s mission.
ProjectAssessment
Projects supported by the Foundation are assessed based on - among others - the following criteria:
- alignment with the Foundation’s mission;
- the role of data, analytics or optimization in the proposed initiative;
- the expected impact;
- the feasibility, scalability and sustainability of the project;
- the governance and credibility of the organization involved;
- the alignment of the requested donation with the Foundation’s budget;
- the responsible and effective use of financial resources;
- the monitoring & evaluation approach (what is being measured and how) .
The Foundation’s Board retains full discretion as to whether or not to grant an application.
Approval Process
If the project proposal is approved, the applicant will receive a Grant Letter setting out the agreements relating to the donation, such as the payment schedule, arrangements regarding the monitoring and evaluation of the project, and communication approach.
In the event that the project proposal is rejected, the Foundation will inform the applicant as soon as possible and provide an explanation for the rejection.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Foundation’s Board uses several ways to monitor and evaluate a project. Throughout the execution of the project supported by the Foundation, the Foundation’s Board deems it important to maintain regular contact with the partner organization/ applicant, be it in person, by telephone or digitally.
At the end of a project, the organization is required to submit a final report. In the case of multi-year donations, the organization must also submit interim reports before the Foundation will release the next instalment of the donation.
The reports should contain at least the following:
- The actual activities carried out compared to the project plan, including the actual impact versus the expected impact;
- Challenges, lessons learned, and any possible follow-up steps;
- Financial accountability.
6. What makes the ORTEC Foundation unique
The ORTEC Foundation distinguishes itself through a data-driven approach to philanthropy. The Foundation focuses on initiatives that apply analytics, optimization and technology to address societal challenges. It combines financial support with analytical expertise and supports initiatives with the potential to create scalable societal impact.
The ORTEC Foundation does not focus on one specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) or a limited number of SDGs. Instead, the Foundation supports initiatives that use analytics, optimization, and technology to help address societal challenges more broadly. In doing so, the Foundation aims to contribute to accelerating progress across all SDGs.
In addition, ORTEC employees may, where appropriate and where their expertise can add value, provide advice or become involved in the implementation of supported projects.
Governance and integrity
Board
The Board of the ORTEC Foundation consists of at least three and no more than five members. Board members are appointed for a maximum term of four years and may be reappointed for one additional four-year term. The Board appoints from among its members a chair, and may appoint a secretary and/ or a treasurer.
The currentBoard consists of the following three members:
- Alexander Rinnooy Kan - chairperson
- Gerrit Timmer - treasurer
- Michael van Duijn - member
Gerrit Timmer is one of the founders of ORTEC and of the ORTEC Foundation, Michael van Duijn was CEO of ORTEC from July 2017 to December 2024, but left ORTEC in 2025.
Foundation’s Board members are appointed for a maximum term of four years and may be reappointed for one additional term of four years.
The Foundation’s Board is responsible for the (execution of the) strategy, selection of projects, governance and financial management of the Foundation. Board members do not receive remuneration for their activities. The Foundation’s Board may decide that directors are entitled to reimbursement of expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties and attendance fees, subject to the ANBI requirements.
The Foundation’s Board periodically evaluates its own functioning and that of its individual members.
Advisory Foundation’s Board
The Foundation is supported by an Advisory Foundation’s Board, the members being:
- Aart van Beuzekom - chairperson
- Georgios Sarigiannidis - member
- Anke den Ouden - member
Aart van Beuzekom is also one of the founders of ORTEC and of the ORTEC Foundation, whereas Georgios Sarigannidis is the current CEO of ORTEC.
Anke den Ouden was CEO of Microsoft Netherlands until July 2025.
Advisory Foundation’s Board members are appointed for a term of four years and may be reappointed. The Advisory Foundation’s Board advises the Foundation’s Board, both solicited and unsolicited, on strategy, programs, expenditures, and other matters related to the Foundation's objectives. Its advice is non-binding. The Advisory Foundation’s Board does not have a supervisory role.
Advisory Board members do not receive remuneration for their activities.
Other
Foundation’s Board and Advisory Foundation’s Board members act solely in the interest of the Foundation and its mission.
In selecting the members of both bodies, particular attention was given to identifying individuals who are able to assess the extent to which analytics, optimization and applied mathematics can make a meaningful contribution to potential projects.
Furthermore, the Foundation has appointed an operational director who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Foundation within the framework established by the Foundation’s Board. The director is accountable to the Board of the Foundation.The director is remunerated on the basis of an hourly rate.
Regulations
The Foundation’s Board has drawn up regulations for the Foundation’s Board and for the Advisory Foundation’s Board with respect to their respective duties and powers. In addition, the Foundation’s Board has established an integrity policy, including a conflict-of-interest section, that must be adhered to by the Foundation’s Board members, the members of the Advisory Foundation’s Board and the operational director. The regulations and the integrity policy were adopted by the Foundation’s Board in its meeting of 25 March 2026.
Individuals involved in decision-making must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and refrain from participating in decisions where such conflicts may arise.
8. Strategy 2026 – 2028
As 2026 is the actual ‘launch’ of the Foundation, the coming years will primarily serve as a phase of development and exploration. During this period, the Foundation aims to further refine its strategy, partnerships, selection criteria and methods for evaluating societal impact.
Each year, the Foundation’s Board and Advisory Foundation’s Boardwill jointly evaluate the Foundation’s functioning and impactand will make adjustments where necessary, taking into account experience gained, societal developments, and other relevant changes.
Version 1.0 – Adopted by the Foundation’s Board of the ORTEC Foundation on 25th August, 2026