The President and Board of Governors with mixed emotions have said goodbye to Bosk House in Opeinde, NL as it was recently sold. It had accommodated many conferences, held meetings of some of the major leaders in social change, and was home base for many learners. It was not only the birthplace of this Foundation but also its “think tank” and the entire IOUF family came to love the beauty and grace of this tranquil headquarters in the Dutch countryside.
Since listing the property in 2008, IOUF has been maintaining a temporary address in Drachten, Netherlands. In 2009, it opened an office in Arden, Delaware (USA) along with registering as a non-profit foundation. In 2011, the USA government gave it a charitable foundation status based on its work for the betterment of the human condition.
The President and Board of Governors felt that it was important that IOU Foundation establish a stronger European presence and voted to open an office in Granada, Spain. The Foundation has started the process of registration as a non-profit foundation in Spain. IOUF will continue to maintain its Dutch registration mainly as an historical one out of respect for its founders, Jan R. Hakemulder, PhD, and Fay Hakemulder, PhD.
The Board of Governors agreed that the USA and Spain presence would add to its position as an international distributed educational foundation. IOUF has at times experienced difficulties in that it has been often mistaken for a Dutch university, and as a result, its global foundation presence is often diminished. This issue has given IOUF considerable difficulties in that the Dutch (Dr/dr) title cannot be used by a Dutch university that does not have approval from the Norwegian and Flemish Accreditation Organization. As an international foundation for social change, IOUF does not have membership in NVAO, and instead relies on its Hextlearn Validation from the the EU Commission on Education along with the accreditation for our dual degree offerings with the Universidad Azteca and the Universidad Central de Nicaragua.