The Key People
Better Globe is just like any other successful business run by people who want to achieve a lot, who have visions, and who are prepared to do the job.
In fact, we are proud to say that everyone who are involved in our business are extremely important to us and very driven within their area of expertise, and in accordance with their circumstances and capabilities. A few people clearly position themselves as key people for our operations.
Rino Solberg
Rino Solberg is Chairman of the Board Better Globe and also the founder and principal owner of the company. Rino is from Norway and has worked within a wide range of areas as an entrepreneur during his years there. Rino has some patents in the industry that still generate a bit of money, but it was around 1990 that Rino, together with his wife Julie Solberg, began to create what would among other things, lead to Better Globe.
Rino Solberg, Chairman of the Board of the Better Globe companies.
Rino founded “Solberg Children’s Help Organization” together with his wife, an organization that later became Child Africa, which is a major non-profit organization in Uganda. As Rino and Julie were increasingly in contact with the problems of poverty, corruption and crime, they got an idea of how to effectively counteract this. In 2006 this idea led us to see Better Globe planting their first trees in semi-desert areas in Kenya, where no other contractor so far had chosen to establish themselves.
Rino is determined that this is an effective way to combat poverty and fight corruption and crime.
Jean-Paul Deprins
Jean-Paul Deprins was born in Belgium, but has lived in Kenya for most of his adult life, and he has been with Better Globe since the start in 2006. Jean-Paul was previously working as the Managing Director of Total Quality Control in Nairobi, Kenya. Given his long experience from having worked with quality development and especially quality control within the Kenyan industry, he is very familiar to all levels of Kenyan society. It has always been important for Better Globe to counteract corruption and Jean-Paul’s experience and skills are a necessity in that work.
Jean-Paul Deprins, CEO of Better Globe Forestry.
Jean-Paul is a patient, empathetic and socially very experienced business leader whose experience is needed to be able to do business in a country like Kenya, without quaking in his boots. Without these principles and qualities, it is easy to be tempted to lubricate the machinery a bit with one or more bribes. For Better Globe, it is a matter of never taking or giving bribes, and Jean-Paul is the man who can manage the business work.
Jan Vandenabeele
Jan Vandenabeele was also born in Belgium, but he is a Kenyan citizen nowadays. Jan is a forest keeper and an agronomist by profession. He has more than 30 years experience in managing large projects in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, related to different kinds of agriculture and forestry. He has worked on projects that are nationally or internationally funded to assist the people and the environment in different ways. Jan has played a prominent role in these projects, in a managerial capacity and regarding the implementation of these large projects from both a management perspective and a technical perspective.
Jan Vandenabeele, the forest master of Better Globe Forestry.
Jan Vandenabeele has been a forest ranger since Better Globe was founded and he is responsible for the technical implementation of the plantation, their operation and everything else related to irrigation, ecosystems and sustainability. Jan chose to leave his assignments in the aid industry to work with Better Globe instead, and one of the reasons for that is that Jan values sustainability.
He wants to see the results of his and others’ efforts survive even after a project’s funding ends and unfortunately it has not always been the case during his past 30 years of work. Better Globes business model ensures sustainability and value to all involved over a long time, and that is great value to Jan.
Jan-Tore Øvrevik
Jan-Tore is one of the co-founders of Better Globe AS. He is born and raised in Norway but is now living in the US. Jan-Tore is responsible for many of the technical systems that Better Globe uses to efficiently run their operation and business development.
Jan-Tore Øvrevik, technical director at Better Globe AS
Jan-Tore has a degree from the Norwegian Business School in Oslo. Since 1993, he’s been working with technical development as a consultant as well as in-house for big Norwegian clients, such as DnB, Posten, Denofa, Borregaard, and others. However, it was his yearning to make a difference and make the world a better place that got him, as early as 2004, to deeply devote himself to Better Globes’ operation, and he has thereby become one of their key figures.
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Please feel free to read more here on the website, if you have other questions. We have a FAQ page with the 50 most frequently asked questions, and you can of course contact us at support@betterglobe.com.
Before I heard about Better Globe, I had long been looking for a way to have a sustainable and positive impact on the people and the environment in Africa, while generating an ethical income for myself at the same time. I am so grateful that Better Globe gives me this opportunity and reading the reports about the difference that has already been made for the people and the environment really warms my heart, at the same time as the return on my investment generates a passive income that is of great value to my life.
