Print

Mette Holst, Head of Division at the Danish Trade Council, will assume the position as Managing Director of the HCA-abc Foundation on 1 October 2004. The foundation has recently set up office in Copenhagen at Nygade 7.

Mette Holst has held a number of different ministerial positions and her experience will serve her well as director of the newly established humanitarian foundation, the HCA-abc Foundation, where she is to head an extensive effort in addressing global illiteracy. According to the Institute of Statistics at UNESCO there are approximately one billion illiterate people worldwide of which 15 per cent are children. This makes illiteracy one of the world's most pressing social problems.

Mette Holst is 52 years of age and has an extensive business-related career within several Danish ministries, most recently within the Danish Trade Council under the auspices of the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has dealt with national as well as international affairs within the promotion of exports as well as business and energy policies. Her administrative experience makes her an ideal candidate as director of the HCA-abc Foundation.

Elvar Vinum, chairperson of the HCA-abc Foundation, states:
"With the appointment of Mette Holst as director, the HCA-abc Foundation is well prepared to take on the task of addressing global illiteracy. Her experience and character are major assets for the foundation, and I look forward to our future cooperation."

Without the ability to read or write it is becoming increasingly difficult for the individual to survive and function in society where communication is of rising importance. This is why the Bikuben Foundation has established the HCA-abc Foundation.

With Hans Christian Andersen 2005 as platform, the HCA-abc Foundation, which was established in April 2004 by the Bikuben Foundation, seeks to contribute to the worldwide struggle against illiteracy. The focus will be on children, the young, children and ethnical minorities within the developing countries. The HCA-abc Foundation will also support special projects, such as teacher training, schooling, exchange programmes, symposiums and projects that aim at securing professional expertise. 

With its major donation of DKK 80 million to the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation, the Bikuben Foundation enjoys the status of exclusive partner in the official celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen in 2005. The Bikuben Foundation has extended this exclusive status to the HCA-abc Foundation and the efforts it undertakes in raising money for its humanitarian cause ? an appropriate lasting legacy for the 2005 Hans Christian Andersen celebration.

To raise the necessary funding for the humanitarian initiatives, the HCA-abc Foundation has entered a formal partnership with the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation in exploiting commercial opportunities in relation to the 2005 celebration. All commercial enterprises seeking to adopt the official logo of the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation (or that of the HCA-abc Foundation) are to pay royalties to the HCA-abc Foundation on products that feature the logo. Contracts have already been signed with a number of Danish companies, and more are set to join.

These companies lend their support to the wider aim of the HCA-abc Foundation in supporting new as well as existing initiatives and programmes designed to combat illiteracy worldwide.

The HCA-abc Foundation will work closely with other humanitarian organisation to address illiteracy. Accordingly, the foundation has entered close dialogue with Unicef and UNESCO and several other organisations will also be involved in the near future.

Furthermore, the HCA-abc Foundation aims at initiating its own projects to combat illiteracy.

Mette Holst's CV

Mette Holst
52 years of age. Married to Permanent Under Secretary Michael Ditmer. She has a son of 19 years of age. 

Mette Holst has through out her extensive business-related career held many positions within the public sector dealing with both national and international interests within the promotion of exports and energy polities. 

Sep. 2003 - Head of Section, Head of Development, The Danish Trade Council.
Jan. 2000 - Sep. 2003 Head of Department, The Danish Trade Council.
Sept. 1994 - Dec. 1999 Head of Department of (former) National Exports Agency, (former) Ministry for Business Affairs
Dec. 1991 - Sep. 1994 Head of sales, information and products and Secretary to the Board of Directors at Danish Standards
Sep.1988 - Dec. 1991 Head of Section, (Former) Ministry of Energy 
Sep. 1986 - 1988 Energy Attaché at the permanent OECD delegation in Paris
Sep. 1981 - Dec. 1986 Head of Section, (Former) Ministry of Energy 
Jul. 1981 - MA in Political Science from Aarhus University

Print

Back