Dr. Inge Hooijen founded Regional Capital in 2020. Inge has national and international experience in practice, education and research. She has a background in Social Work and worked for several years as an independent professional, among others in disability care and psychiatry. She later obtained a Master’s degree from London Metropolitan University (MA in Comparative European Social Studies) in 2012 and then a second Master’s degree from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (MSc in Sociology and Demography) in 2014. During this time, she collaborated on research projects for various knowledge institutes. In 2014, Inge started as an academic tutor and PhD student at the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University.
In early 2021, she defended her PhD thesis, which focused on the determinants that play a role in why certain places are attractive and have the potential to attract and retain new residents. At the end of 2021, Inge won the prestigious Kremers Award for her dissertation on socio-economic restructuring.
In addition to her position as director and researcher/consultant at Regional Capital, Inge is also an independent researcher at the Research Centre for Employability at Zuyd University and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Centre Neimed. Due to her diverse background in education and work, Inge has a large professional network.