Expat Spouses Initiative

ESI calls itself a social enterprise and a community driven movement rather than a charity or a public service. The people it works with, whom it calls Talents, are internationals looking for work in the Netherlands, and in particular the spouses and partners who came with a knowledge migrant and now want to work here themselves. Its activity falls into three strands. Accelerate covers career coaching, skill up courses, peer support teams and named programmes including Talent100 and Women for Women, for people restarting or changing a career in a new country. Connect covers professional meetups, recruitment events and social events where international job seekers meet regional companies, plus a member form that puts a job seeker into the recruitment pool ESI searches when partner organisations have vacancies. Advocate covers work with local government, companies and academic institutions to open up regional hiring practice to internationals, including dual career support that employers can build into their own human resources policy, and a diversity, equity and inclusion service called Including You. The focus is the Brainport region in Noord-Brabant, although ESI says its talent pool now reaches across the country.