Odette Hekster is the Managing Director of PSI-Europe. She joined PSI-Europe in 2012 and was in different roles before she became Managing Director in July 2020.

With a master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA, Netherlands) specialised in international relations, and a course in public health, Odette has over eight years of leadership and senior management experience and over 20 years of experience in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and related themes. Her work experience comes from working and living in East Africa (for UN-Habitat, Safer Cities Program to address urban sexual violence against women) and the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean (for UNFPA), as well as from working for the Dutch NGOs Aidsfonds and Rutgers.

Odette’s passion for SRHR started at a young age, when she was a youth advocate for the Dutch youth organization ‘Choice for Youth and Sexuality’, which promotes the SRHR of young people worldwide. She developed a special interest and expertise in ‘taboo subjects’ in SRHR including menstrual health and abortion, and is particularly driven to improve the health and other needs of the most vulnerable groups in society.