Thijs is the founder and managing director with Brighter Investment—an organization that invests in the university education of high-potential students in developing countries. While working for a Mexican project developer on real estate investments, Thijs pooled money with some friends to support a Mexican student through university. Witnessing the high financial and social returns of this student’s degree first hand, Thijs got an idea: Why not invest in high potential students instead of real estate to eliminate financial barriers to higher education? That is the idea behind Brighter Investment. Thijs holds a Master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering and in International Business. Before starting Brighter Investment, Thijs also worked on financing public private partnership projects and he set up the North American branch for a Dutch software startup.