About Mrs. drs. Ank Bijleveld-Schouten

On 22 February 2007 Ms Bijleveld-Schouten was appointed State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the fourth Balkenende government.

Anna Theodora Bernardina (Ank) Bijleveld-Schouten was born in IJsselmuiden on 17 March 1962. After completing her secondary education she went on to study public administration at Twente University of Technology, graduating in 1986.

From 1986 to 1989 she worked for the municipality of Hengelo in the Policy Planning Section and as project leader for the Computerised Office Project.

From 1986 to 1989 Ms Bijleveld-Schouten was a member of the municipal council of Enschede for the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA) and, from 1989 to 2001, member of the House of Representatives of the States General. From 2001 to 2007 she was mayor of Hof van Twente.

As mayor Ms Bijleveld-Schouten held a large number of public positions. She was also deputy crown-appointed member of the Social and Economic Council, member of the supervisory board of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), chair of the Dutch Probation Service, member of the board of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and member of the Election Process Committee (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations), the Safety Region executive committee and the Municipalities and Constitution Committee (both Association of Netherlands Municipalities, VNG).