Tista has joined Awareways following an impressive international career. Over the past few years alone, she has worked as a lecturer, senior consultant, and learning development lead. The nearly two decades before that were spent in New Zealand, where she contributed to the development of educational programs, the implementation of professional development training for teachers and school leaders in Australia (as well as in the Netherlands, the UK, and Scandinavia), and a global evaluation framework to ensure the quality of learning programs.

She describes herself as having a “passion for fostering transformative learning experiences.” “My expertise lies in coaching, mentoring, and developing impactful learning programs in complex environments.” With strong analytical skills and a PRINCE2 Agile certification, she bridges the gap between learning strategy and organizational goals – helping teams and individuals unlock their full potential through innovative, results-driven learning solutions. “I’m particularly fascinated by the impact of learning interventions. In other words, I love figuring out what really works – and that fascination aligns perfectly with learning solutions aimed at influencing behavior. This makes my new role at Awareways a great fit.”

Given her impressive CV, she could have easily ended up in the Learning & Development department, but the role of Program Manager makes a lot of sense as well. “I come from the world of educational consultancy, which is essentially a form of project management. You’re organizing and facilitating much more than you’re working on content. At the same time, program management offers the opportunity to actively engage with L&D products at the client level, which is an exciting challenge. I find behavioral change in security awareness and cybersecurity particularly intriguing. In New Zealand, for instance, I worked alongside social psychologists on a program to help young people become financially competent, with a strong focus on behavioral change. There are many parallels.”

“In my first few months, I’ve been very impressed with how well Awareways is structured in terms of project management. The business processes are very solid and, especially for a scale-up, remarkably mature. It’s a combination of established processes while still embracing flexibility to ensure alignment with the client’s needs. That client relationship is a crucial factor for program managers: how can we best support them?”

“My background in teaching is incredibly useful in this regard – how can I roll out our solutions in a way that maximizes results for teams and entire organizations? There’s plenty of evidence that Awareways’ approach and programs truly work, and it’s up to us to ensure they’re implemented as effectively as possible.”

Daan Verwaaijen, Account Executive

Given his work experience, background and his education from the Hotel Management School in Maastricht, Daan is truly a hospitality professional. “I’ve always worked in hotels and the hospitality industry. I enjoyed it from a young age, so choosing that path educationally was an easy decision.” His career quickly expanded beyond front office roles, leading him into various sales and business development positions. “Hospitality and Sales – two fields where having the gift of the gab is half the battle.”

Looking for a new challenge and an opportunity to combine Sales and Hospitality, Daan found his way to Awareways as an account executive. A specialist in security awareness learning programs – perhaps an unexpected twist in his career. “The subject matter was mostly new to me, but the approach was exactly what I was looking for: sales, but with a highly personal touch. Plus, I’ve landed in a warm and welcoming environment – a close-knit team with a great atmosphere and a strong sense of cohesion.”

“Security awareness was still a relatively new topic for me. Though I’ve always found it interesting, it’s about much more than just firewalls. If you’re not paying attention—even as a consumer—you’ll eventually run into security risks yourself. Fortunately, the onboarding process here is excellent. There’s a lot to learn to master the field and ensure you truly know what you’re talking about. At the same time, being new to it also helps – you can put yourself in the client’s shoes, ask lots of questions, and work together to find the right solution.”

In his free time, Daan enjoys strength training, hiking, cooking, and optimizing healthy nutrition. “I also run a small import business specializing in Mediterranean products. So if you’re ever looking for high-quality wine, pasta, or other delicious specialties, let me know!”

Learning specialist Sander strongly believes in lifelong learning. “It provides new insights, new energy, and sometimes even new behavior. But learning has to be inspiring.” Fortunately, he is particularly skilled at making that happen. “Explaining difficult topics in an easy way, both in words and visuals, in a playful manner and with a good dose of humor. And those just happen to be the very elements I can fully apply at Awareways!”

About ten years ago, Sander completed his studies in social psychology. “In high school, I was already fascinated by human behavior. So choosing psychology as my field of study was an easy decision. With a focus on social psychology, I delved into human behavior. Where does it come from? What role does the environment play? And how do others influence your actions? Absolutely fascinating.”

It was a logical step for him to join Awareways, where social psychology is one of the foundational pillars. “In my previous work (Sander spent about eight years working for two digital learning agencies), I developed e-learning programs, designed onboarding experiences, and tackled major strategic learning challenges. In my new role, I can combine that experience with my academic background to create learning programs that focus on behavioral influence. This truly brings me full circle in terms of designing behavior-focused learning programs and thinking about how we – as individuals or as a society – can adopt behaviors that benefit everyone. It feels like my creativity, studies, and work experience are all coming together here!”

“In my free time, I work as a bird guide (what’s in a name), enjoy drawing, or cook something delicious with my girlfriend. Creative, social, and analytical are words that describe me well.” If you’re looking for him, you’ll find him on the Awareways Learning & Development team.