Towards this end he has been a (co-)initiator, (co-)creator and (co-)financier on a wide range of projects and over 15 Foundations in both the Netherlands and abroad since 1983. The projects as well as the Foundations encompass the fields of healthcare, environment, conservation, peace and global transformation.
The main themes of his work are the encouragement of inspiration, co-creativity and harmony:
- within the individual
- between people
- between people and their environment
- re-balancing the equilibrium of the ‘male’ and ‘female’ principles in humans
Born into a Dutch family of modest means and raised within the frugal post-war environment, Matser later went on to head one of the, at that time, largest, independent real-estate development companies in the Netherlands and later on to devote most of his time to set up inspiring charitable projects both at home and abroad to empower people.
Fred had responsibility and leadership thrust on him from an early age. When only in his mid-twenties he was already responsible for a staff of over 150 and a multi-million pound turnover, having been appointed Chief Executive Officer of his fathers’ real estate development company and supervising subsidiaries.
He was also appointed to leadership roles in various other business and sport associations both nationally and internationally and did studies in economics and business management, as well as in parapsychology.
Fred experienced tragedy from a young age with the death of two of his brothers and the long-term serious illness of his father, who suffered from diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Through his travels and charitable work he has also extensively witnessed poverty and different types of human suffering. These experiences, amongst others, led him to develop a strong sense of compassion and deep awareness of the suffering of others.
In his life Fred has also had some unexpected ‘paranormal’ and transcendental experiences which expanded his awareness and produced a major shift in his worldview. These have inspired him to devote much of his time to increasing his understanding about life and to contributing towards the betterment of society.
Fred is a keen communicator and creative thinker. In his real estate development work he and his team have created a number of unique, innovative, large-scale projects that have been widely acclaimed.
In his humanitarian work he has initiated or contributed to a number of pioneering humanitarian projects including Peace Child, The Fred Foundation, Peace Flame and Child Alive. This was a programme that he established while working as a volunteer for the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Organizations (now Federation) in Switzerland in the 1980´s. It contributed to the reduction child mortality in developing countries due to dehydration from diarrhoea by helping and educating people at a grassroots level and by the introduction of Oral Rehydration Therapy.
Most recently, Fred was honoured to be invited to head the Dutch campaign for ‘Malaria No More!’ The campaign’s goals include increasing the supply of ‘bed nets’ (mosquito nets for beds) to help eliminate malaria in a sustainable way and contributing to increased awareness of malaria in the context of primary healthcare.
On several projects he has had the privilege of working in close association with many inspiring people including several well-known people, such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruud Lubbers, Jane Goodall, Patch Adams and Jerry Jampolsky. He has also participated in various international events for global transformation including the State of the World Forum and, in September ´06, in the Table of Free Voices in Berlin, an initiative created by Dropping Knowledge.
Fred Matser has been honoured to receive several awards for his work including the first International Caring Award (1992, Washington , USA) and the Van Emden Award (1995, The Hague, The Netherlands). His work has also been featured in influential author, Charles Handy’s latest book,,´The New Philanthropists´ (Heinemann, October 2006).
Fred’s book ‘Rediscover Your Heart’ has a Foreward by Mikhail Gorbachev and an Afterward by Deepak Chopra. Rediscover Your Heart weaves humorous anecdotes with heartrending tales and stories of personal transformation of hope. This inspirational book contains 7 Keys that Matser believes could help transform ourselves and our world.
Please visit: http://www.FredMatser.com