Geert Vermeulen
FOUNDER
The Integrity Coordinator has been founded by Geert Vermeulen. His mission is to stimulate organizations to act in an ethical and compliant way.
Geert is an experienced and reputable Ethics & Compliance Officer. In 2020 he received the Nationale Compliance Award because of his contribution to the profession. The jury called him a figurehead of and role model for the compliance community. When he was nominated he was characterized as ‘The Compliance Guru’.
Geert has been launching and coordinating whistleblowing procedures since 2007. He has handled hundreds of cases, both at multinationals and at small and medium sized organizations. He regularly speaks and writes on the topic.
In 2019 the Dutch Whistleblowing Authority approached him to write the first version of the ‘Internal Investigations’ brochure, which has been published in 2020.
Geert is part of a network of independent investigators. When a whistleblowing report is submitted, he can quickly have it investigated by a specialist.
In the course of time Geert experienced that a good whistleblowing or speak-up procedure is an essential element of an effective ethics and compliance program. When employees or other business partners report anything that looks strange, wrong or suspicious at an early stage, problems can be detected and solved before they become a major issue.
As a result, substantial costs for legal assistance, fines and settlements can be avoided. Besides that, this also safeguards the reputation of the organization. Moreover, a good speak-up culture is part of an open, transparant and trustworthy work environment, which stimulates the sharing of knowledge and creative ideas. In the end this also generates better financial results!
