About
Founders
Pim Donkersloot
Founder ChildCenter
Secretary Pim Donkersloot started ChildCenter in 2001, an organization that provides treatment and guidance to children on the autistic spectrum on a non-profit basis. Pim is an educationalist (UvA) and specializes in autism and related disorders. Donkersloot, himself the father of 3 children, 2 of whom are on the autistic spectrum, is also the author of two books, including ‘Autism, a problem for the whole family’.
Saskia Maas
Performer, theater maker, teacher
Saskia Maas is co-founder of InterActing, an initiative that teaches children with autism social skills through improvisation. She is also the CEO of Boom Chicago, a creative comedy company in Amsterdam that she founded in 1994 with Andrew Moskos and Pep Rosenfeld.
The Education Team
Jake Lefebvre
Head Teacher
Jake is a teacher at the Boom Academy and head trainer at Interacting. In 2010, he ended up in Amsterdam as a Belgian and built a career on stage. He has gained experience as a performing artist within the dance, musical, club, music and theater world. In 2019 he dove into the Improvisation Comedy world and immediately joined Boom Chicago and InterActing. He enjoys working with the students to help them grow and achieve their full potential.
Theater Assistants
Djamali Jones
Theater Assistant
Djamali is one of the theater assistants at InterActing. He has an eye for creativity both in his work as a Visual Effects Artist and on the stage during improv. In 2019, he started the Intro to Improv course at Boom Chicago and subsequently completed the full curriculum. This led to his involvement with the house team Pointing at Fingers and InterActing! Where he joyfully guides the students in their comedy development.
Zoé de Bruijn
Child Psychologist
Zoé is a child psychologist who has worked as a counselor for children and adolescents with autism. She was responsible for creating creative projects for children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (autistic features) and has given lectures on this subject at universities and colleges. According to Zoé, theater is the way to playfully educate young people with autism, develop social-emotional skills, and increase self-confidence.
Zep de Bruyn
Assistant and Translator
Zep is an assistant and translator at InterActing. He works in the book industry and as an independent creative entrepreneur, primarily as an illustrator, writer, and videomaker. Since 2020, he has been actively involved in improv comedy and since 2022 as an English-language stand-up comedian. He is continually impressed by the students at InterActing and their growth on and off the stage.
Sinead Scanlan
Theater Assistant
Sinéad is a recent graduate from the University of Amsterdam who has been assisting at Inter-Acting since 2022. She began studying improvisation at Boom Chicago in 2019, quickly completing the entire curriculum, and has since performed as part of various student house teams. Sinéad, who has struggled with anxiety and stage fright since her childhood, has noticed that improvisation has been a tremendous help, and she enjoys witnessing how Inter-Acting students learn the same confidence-boosting skills.
Amy Lawrenson
Theater Assistant
Amy is a theater assistant and teacher at InterActing. She has been improvising for three years and trained at Boom Chicago and EasyLaughs – she loves playing larger-than-life characters and having a great time on stage. She has performed with the main cast and is a member of Boom Chicago Academy’s Home Party team. When she’s not performing, Amy is a well-being journalist and copywriter, working with brands such as Rituals, Kerastase, and Under Armour.
The Board
Inter-Acting was founded by Pim Donkersloot of the ChildCenter Foundation and Saskia Maas of Boom Chicago.
Irene Koel
President
Irene Koel is an entrepreneur in social innovation, teacher, speaker, volunteer at Women on Wings, her podcast MonkeyTalk about creativity has now been listened to more than 100,000 times. She spent the first 16 years of her working life in the advertising industry at FHV/BBDO. With her network organization The Zooooo, she now uses her extensive experience and network for social causes. “From gap in the market to gap in society,” as she says.
For more information: www.thezooooo.com
Tomer Zakai
Treasurer
Treasurer Tomer Zakai is director/owner of Consult&Co, a dynamic and creative administration and consultancy firm aimed at Dutch small and medium-sized businesses.
Tomer started his office to be an all-round financial partner for their clients and to offer services that encompass the entire financial business operations, from administration to tax advice and (corporate) financing.
Alexander Jansen
Secretary
Alexander Jansen works as a strategic communications advisor and manager for market-leading organizations and specializes in complex issues. In addition, as part of the LGBTIQ+ community, he is actively socially involved and multiple director for political and cultural associations and foundations. “Being different is difficult, that is why it is important to give young people the tools to find their place in society. It is fantastic to be able to contribute to this through InterActing.”
Davide Tararbra
Board Member
Davide has worked in IT for the past 15 years and has had experiences ranging from product and business development at Amazon.com to strategic partnership with Google, and expansion at Wolt. To deal with the unexpected and improvise in business, he came into contact with the power of stand-up comedy at Boom Chicago. He is excited about expanding the role of InterActing for young people to create a safe place where they can develop the skills to solve problems and build self-confidence!
For more information: www.thezooooo.com
Our Partners
Are the participation costs a problem? The Youth Fund for Sports and Culture is happy to contribute. Visit the website for more information or give us a call, and we will assist you further.
Our projects are made possible with the support of the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts), Janivo, Maurice Amado Foundation, and the AnBa Foundation.
