Early life and career
Van Huffelen was born in 1968,and her father was a clinical neurophysiology professor. She studied public administration at Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam,and she began her career at the Ministry of Housing,Spatial Planning and the Environment. She started working for energy company Essent in 2000,eventually serving as sustainable energy director. Following a drop in employee rationale,an internal evaluation pointed to her leadership style as the cause. Van Huffelen later stated that she had learned from the experience,and she acknowledged having exerted excessive pressure to achieve cost reductions. [1]
In 2010,she was appointed alderwoman in Rotterdam,responsible for sustainability. She served on behalf of D66,which she had joined in 1989. Van Huffelen was a proponent of urban agriculture,and she advocated for green roofs and narrow strips of plants along façades. She ran for party chair of D66 in 2013,but she narrowly lost the member election. She has served as chair of the D66's fundraising committee and as treasurer of the party's Rotterdam chapter. [1] In 2014,she became managing director of GVB,Amsterdam's public transport operator,where she was tasked with absorbing a €65 million reduction in government subsidies over ten years. The organization prioritized its busiest and most profitable lines,with the newly opened North–South Line playing an important role. Less busy stops and bus and tram lines were discontinued. Alongside her role at GVB,Van Huffelen started serving as a member of the Senate in June 2019. [2] [3]
She became State Secretary for Finance in the third Rutte cabinet on 29 January 2020,where she worked to compensate victims of the childcare benefits scandal. Under Van Huffelen's leadership,victims received €30,000 payments to ease the compensation procedure's backlog;however,the number of applicants for the procedure increased. [1] Her position changed to State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation on 10 January 2022 when the fourth Rutte cabinet was formed. Van Huffelen's term as state secretary ended on 2 July 2024,when the Schoof cabinet was sworn in. [4] She announced her candidacy for party chair of D66 in September 2024 following the stepping down of Victor Everhardt [ nl ]. [5] Van Huffelen was elected to the position with 65% of the vote,and she assumed office on 23 November 2024. Besides,she is planned to succeed Daniël Wigboldus as president of the executive board of Radboud University Nijmegen in February 2025. [1] [6] [7] [8]
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