Biography
Coen van de Steeg is the founder of WeHelpen – a platform cooperative that connects those in need of help with informal caregivers. It is a movement of people, by the people, for the people.
Coen has been active in the online world since 1996 and has worked for numerous clients in the government, housing and healthcare sectors, among others. He was at the core of various innovative products and concepts that have determined the change and development of industries. He founded WeHelpen in 2012 – a cooperative that currently has over hundred-member organizations.
WeHelpen started from the realization that our welfare state is shaped in a fundamentally different way. This major renovation is based, among other things, on the greater self-reliance of vulnerable people, including the wish that they will continue to live at home for longer. There is an important assumption underneath: people have their social network in order to be able to assist them if they themselves are no longer successful. And that is not a matter of course. The wehelpen.nl website focuses on reciprocity: everyone can be of value to another and can help another. Wehelpen.nl connects these people, offers them the opportunity to do their bit and challenges everyone to continue to participate in the society.
WeHelpen has won several awards in recent years, including “Most inspiring social enterprise 2014” (Rotterdam School of Management) and “European Connected Health Innovation Award 2016” (Zimmer Biomet).