Influencer Dimitri Cloose

Interview December 2023

“WE MAY NOT JUDGE THE PAST WITH THE KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE TODAY”

Dimitri Cloose up close and openly honest

By Angelica Parris and Ivan Kuster

We all have a journey and a destination. Whether you are 4 or 100, you can give receive, be stubborn, and still be an excellent role model. I met Dimitri Cloose about 15 years ago as a young professional. I wanted excellence and was eager to learn. In the era of time management, learning to be different, thinking out of the box, and all those smart quotes, I have to take time to listen, create, and be patient. Dimitri and I worked in so many committees, so many meetings and at the end, we just wanted to go home. We met again, after the Covid-19 era. When there were budget cuts, lockdowns, and frustrations of how to make ends meet. But this time, we were both older, tired, and had a family to take care of. I am so glad Ivan Kuster and I spoke to him. This was a real journey of popular teachings of the simpler things in life: like breathing!

According to Dimitri, development is an integral part of time. You learn as you develop over time. This is crucial to humanity. “You may have experienced things in the past, who you were or what you did: whether you fought the authority or broke the rules, it makes you who you are today. You must see that as part of your development. But, always refer to the sign of the times, back then. Do not judge your actions with your current knowledge, learn from it. We have to learn to deal with time and create an equilibrium between the past and the present. That is also something that I deal with in my line of work and certain historical topics. We cannot live in the past. We need to keep on developing ourselves and keep moving on!”

Dimitri Cloose Dedication to the Heritage

Dimitri is dedicated to passing on knowledge. Does it cost money, does it take time, and energy? Yes it does, but that does not mean it cannot be done! He was born in Curaçao to parents who are still alive and live on the island. He has an older sister and brother living in the Netherlands, and they have their families. “My mom is Curaçaolean and my dad is of Dutch Jewish descent. They were always open to our educational and career choices. I am very happy with my upbringing. I have been married for 23 years, and my wife and I have three sons: two are studying abroad and one is still at home. I am humbled that I was brought up in a small-knit family. As a child, lunchtime was always a very important and crucial moment in keeping that togetherness. Today, we still try to have that family moment during lunch.”

From Middle School to teaching, writing, and be creative

After finishing his secondary education in Curaçao, Albert Schweitzer and Maria Immaculata Lyceum, he went to college to earn his bachelor degree in teaching history at the Hogeschool Holland in Amsterdam. “Afterwards I went for my masters degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. My first job was during high school. In the afternoon, I would sit behind the drawing table as a cartoonist and graphic designer. My boss encouraged me to take this route, but I was stubborn and chose to study history”, he explains candidly. After his studies in The Netherlands, he returned to Curaçao to work. He was a history teacher at Jacques Ferrandi, Gouverneur Lauffer School and ultimately at Peter Stuyvesant College. While teaching, he also worked at Fundashon Material pa skol (FMS) and contributed to a schoolbook about ports, among others. He quit teaching and became the first collection manager at the NAAM (National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management) Foundation.

“During these first years he followed courses on management and curriculum development. A year later, he became the director of the Maritime Museum Curaçao. He stayed there for eight years. After a 6-month period as director of Fundashon Era Nobo, the port approached him with an offer. “From my days at the Maritime Museum, I have researched and written a great deal about our maritime history and the development of the port. The Curaçao Ports Authority thought I would be an asset and I became the Commercial and Marketing Manager of the port”.

After eight successful years, he consulted through his own company. But shortly after, he was asked if he was interested in becoming the director of the NAAM Foundation.

My heroes Mom and Dad

Beside his professional career he did a lot of voluntary work and helped initiatives and starting up foundations. “I’m still part of the editorial team of social-cultural magazine Kristòf”. Ivan found this very interesting. “You have a very dimensional career and I see you were raised well angled.”

“The creativity comes from my mother’s side of the family, being the artist in me. I don’t know where the interest in history comes into perspective. As a child, I was always very distracted and my thoughts would wander around. But I was always curious. My dad was always very up to date with general knowledge. Most likely he’s to blame.
You can grow in many aspects of life and admire people who inspire you. But I differ in popular opinion that famous people are the reason for my personal development or how I see the world. I think that the things we want to achieve in life are driven by our own egocentric worldview.”

Dimitri needs triggers: “I love new challenges in everything I do. It has to draw me in, so that the researcher in me stands out. I want to know why people do certain things. Life is about experiences and memories. These are your accomplishments and important for your personal development. It tells you who you are and what you did. Not from the social point of view, as having money or status, but from a humane approach. There are many things that I have done, but none for fame and fortune. Commitment to community and voluntary work is mostly an egocentric drive. Many people do it, but not for the sake of the community, but because they feel good about it. We all have our own motivations to do things, which is very normal. As long as it is egocentric and not egoistic.”

Altruism and the next 20 years or more

According to Ivan, we all have that instinctive push to give back. “Altruism is created when someone is triggered to help another as social beings. So what are your expectations for the next 5 years?

“I want to keep my own development on a level that I am happy with. I don’t have any career goals or big achievements that I need to accomplish. I know that people have social expectations, but that does not influence me anymore. What I have and have achieved is enough for me. It can only get better. My challenge is to find a balance between what I want, what I think people wish for me to do, and what people really expect of me. It is a personal dilemma. All other problems can be solved. What I want and what people expect of me is a huge difference. Social expectations and personal drive differ a great deal. That will never change. We live in a dualistic reality. I always use my inner voice. I’m stubborn and my inner voice is based on a righteous feeling of justice. It sets the ethics in my being and plays a crucial role in my decisions. If I have the feeling that something is not ethically correct, I will address it. I have been called stubborn, but that does not stop me. I move on.”

Knowledge Love and that Private Journey

“I read, but I’m a very selective reader. I seek knowledge and information. I like to brainstorm with many people. To me that is more relevant than just reading a book. I love the philosophical approach to social challenges and developments in the community. I prefer healthy discussions that elevate and keep knowledge in balance. You have to find an opening to create solutions”. Ivan asks if that does not create a paradoxical standpoint, but Dimitri emphasizes that it’s not the case. “Here and in social media we are ready to take point of views and opinions about certain issues, but it’s not necessary. It’s better to keep a free and open discussion and have everyone express themselves. I see everything from an integral standpoint. I really try to link everything together, good and bad, and get the right message or outcome from it. I try to connect the dots.”

Dimitri loves art. He likes drawing, painting and writing articles. “I love music. Not only the melody, but composition and lyrics. I enjoy movies and documentaries. I also play football, padel, cycle and love scuba diving, but lately, I have been wrapped up in time and very tired. Still, I try to keep everything in balance.” Time management comes into the picture. Dimitri is quite the traveler, and he introduces himself as ‘Dimitri’, that’s it. He will promote Curaçao, but not his career. “I am me. I don’t like to impress. If I had to describe myself in one sentence, I would say: I am a creatively stubborn guy. Be yourself and don’t follow the crowd to please anyone. I like to laugh and be funny. Life is serious enough.”

Inspiratory people in Dimitri’s’ life ‘Dad’

“My dad inspired me to be who I am. To date, people talk well about my father. He managed among others Human Resources as a professional and in that line of work, you are not always remembered for your decisions. That gives me a good feeling.”

“My dad inspired me to be who I am. To date, people talk well about my father. He managed among others Human Resources as a professional and in that line of work, you are not always remembered for your decisions. That gives me a good feeling. Everyone I knew and have worked with, from very good to really bad, gave me experience. Still, you learn from all of them. I don’t think there is an international figure or local bulwark who I can say inspired me over everyday people. . For me, sometimes it’s hard to say no to people, and sometimes I see projects that are so passionate to execute that I can’t reject them. But I have to keep my cool. I have to work on that and try to avoid overthinking. To me, these are the personal areas I need to work on.”

Defining moments? “I have many, to my first heartbreak, the loss of my grandmother, the Bijlmer disaster where I lived, getting married, being a father, seeing my children come into the world and growing up, a being a son, my different career choices and outcomes, etc. I can’t point to a single defining moment in my life that made more impact over the other.”

What would you want your Loved Ones, family, friends, and others to say about you let’s say 20 years from now?
“In 20 years from now, I will be in my early 70’s. As long as I am alive, healthy, in peace with everyone, and sane, I’m fine. I would like to be remembered as a good guy. Memories are important. People don’t remember what you achieved, but the feelings you gave them and the experiences you had.”

“In 20 years from now I will be in my early 70s. As long as I am alive, healthy, in peace with everyone, and sane, I’m fine. I would like to be remembered as a good guy. Memories are important.”

What makes you stay optimistic about the future of the world?
“Many people live to make money, be famous or have a social status, but that is not what life is all about. The world is not that bad as people say it is. There are always opportunities for all of us. That is why I remain optimistic about the future. We only tend to see negativity which pushes the positive away.”

One of the 250 Influencers

Dimitri Cloose is a curious, erudite, value-driven, humble, family-centered, skilled, and knowledgeable professional, with a dedication to heritage, humanity and our history. As a multi-interested person, he has gone through diverse experiences, like teaching, writing, and being creative. What makes him stand out is that on the one hand, he has family-centered and value-driven roots, instilled in him via his parents. On the other hand, he has a broad interest and curiosity. His drive: He loves triggers, as new challenges are always interesting as long, as they are part of his general interests. In that, he maintains his ground and tends to be called stubborn, as he authentically stays close to himself and his values, notwithstanding external pressures and expectations of others. In that sense, he stands out. In the end, according to him, life is all about experiences and memories. He loves a philosophical approach towards developments in the community and healthy discussions, looking for ways to find integral solutions, as he is a connector.

For all these reasons, we consider him one of the 250 influencers on the island, representing the “Cultural Sector”.  Look at the list of the Influencers we have interviewed or reported on, up to now.

The goal of the core group of Share2Uplift for 2023

The goal of the Share2Uplift movement is to: “Identify 250 leaders from all walks of life to connect, align and create impactful changes in all walks of life, which includes intergenerational collaboration by the end of 2023.” We will use interviewing Influencers, meet-and-greet events, “train-the-trainers”-programs on “Emotional Mastery” and “Intentionality “as national intervention strategies, to reach this goal on top of our goal to scale up the possibilities to connect, align and create impact via a virtual platform. We believe that by collaborating with Miguel Goede on the virtual Vision 2030 platform, we will accelerate the possibilities to connect the diaspora and others elsewhere in the world and on the island willing to constructively create impactful changes in Curaçao, to join.

As Share2Uplift, we are fully trying to align with this thinking of Center for Curriculum Redesign to promote this agenda in our educational systems and workplace. So, in that sense, we fully support any initiative to make our educational system 21st-century proof.

Share2Uplift aligners are those that:
– Create an inspiring vision of the future;
– Motivate and inspire people to engage with that vision;
– Manage the delivery of the vision;
– Coach and build a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision. These criteria are now being polished.

We also consider these 5 values the most important ones for Share2Uplift aligners. They are:

• Peace from within;
• Compassion;
• Respectfulness;
• Integrity;
• Responsibility.

As we will progress towards this goal, we will update you on the progress.