Iris' career in education in lower and middle income countries started in 1994, when she left Belgium for a position at the National Economics University in Hanoi, with VVOB. She then managed education projects for the Belgian Technical Cooperation (now Enabel) in Vietnam and Cambodia. She traded South East Asia for Africa in 2011, where she was posted at the DFID-office in Rwanda to advise Belgium's support to the joint education sector budget support programme. She was then appointed chief of education at the UNICEF country office in Rwanda, and later also at the UNICEF offices in Mozambique and, leaving Africa behind after 10 years, in Jordan. She joined the education team at the Belgian Cooperation again in 2018, where she has been contributing to developing and advising education projects in Africa and the Middle East for both the Belgian government and the EU. Iris has a passion for education and there is nothing that motivates her more than helping to nourish, foster and unleash the potential of generations of children and youth.