Our Founder
Expat Valley was founded on March 19, 2021 in the Netherlands by Karlijn Jacobs.
Karlijn’s international career began in 2009, with a text message from her now-husband that read “What about Shanghai?” They had the weekend to decide whether they wanted to go on a two-year international assignment, as soon as possible. After an initial positive decision over that weekend, the assignment start date and duration changed multiple times. Eventually it became a split-family assignment, and Karlijn’s husband left for Shanghai for five months. Karlijn continued her career in private practice as a Children & Family Therapist.
At the end of March 2010, Karlijn found herself bawling her eyes out on an airplane bound to Shanghai. It was not until that very moment that her emotions caught up with the reality of their decision: she had just quit her job, left friends and family behind, and was bound for nothing but uncertainty and adventure. The previous year had been a roller coaster ride, with several loopings in the weeks before. The offer was extended to a two-year assignment, and the decision was made knowing that they would forever regret not trying for this international adventure.
Unmarried (and thus not eligible for a dependent’s visa), Karlijn’s plan was to learn Mandarin and then study Traditional Chinese Medicine at 上海中医药大学 (Shanghai TCM University). This approach would give her a residence permit and a sense of purpose. Despite her efforts, the realization soon hit that this plan was not going to work out. It was a valuable lesson in cross-cultural communication. When the question “Will my learn Mandarin fast enough to start the new academic year in a Mandarin-taught study?” is answered with “Maybe”… it actually means No. Karlijn had to come up with a new plan before her visa expired.
(It was right around this time, three months into their assignment, when Karlijn found herself standing on Zhaojiabang Road, on the overpass above a 14-lane street. Taking in her environment, processing the events of the day and how those drained the energy away. The thought that crossed her mind: “Everyone is crazy. That must mean I’m the crazy one.” It was the day that she told her husband that she wanted to go back home. It was the day they activated the cooling down period of their Emergency Plan for exactly this situation. Less than a month later, life already started to look much better.)
Karlijn then joined ELG as a freelance therapist. Back then, the organization focused on catering to the special educational and neurodiversity needs of international children. Over the years, she became ELG’s Clinic Director, overseeing a team of 15+ international and multidisciplinary therapists and mental health professionals, and contributed to the development of a number of new initiatives (i.e. Social Skills Trainings, Early Intervention Program, Professional Development for International Educators, Child Safeguarding Initiative). Her key learnings of that period: 1) while globally mobile children and families have access to top-notch international education and healthcare services, they lack support for navigating the major change and many transitions in their lives; and 2) this frequently leads to problems, but employers are willing to invest in solutions for the resulting complications if that means their employee will remain on assignment.
In 2013, her oldest daughter was born. Karlijn became a mother far away from her trusted support system: almost repatriating over a broken washing machine, giving birth in
an international hospital, co-parenting with a Chinese nanny, managing distance relationships with grandparents back home. Today, her oldest daughter is a smart blond-haired girl that identifies as half-Chinese, despite her Dutch parents and passport. When Karlijn and her husband found out they were expecting their second daughter, it was time to repatriate.
The year of 2015 signifies another whirlwind of experiences in Karlijn’s life: a first attempt at starting a business to support globally mobile families was made and failed. The context of another split-family assignment (Karlijn’s husband worked and resided in Germany during the week), two young children at home, and the realities of repatriation and readjusting to the presence of a support system all played a role.
In 2016, Karlijn joined an International Education Consulting firm. They specialized in Dutch language lessons for students abroad. Upon request of their corporate clients the organization offered educational continuity and schooling advice. Karlijn was hired to support the globalization of their services to meet the needs of families of other nationalities and to implement new technologies for the consulting team. She became the organization’s CEO in 2019, and assisted in the successful onboarding of new corporate clients, quality assurance efforts, and the company’s ongoing need for digitalization and internationalization.
The combination of Karlijn’s personal drivers (children’s rights & DEIB & world peace), her life experiences, and professional career ultimately led to the realization that if she wanted better care for globally mobile children and families, she would have to start it.
With Expat Valley and its team, she is building the World’s Happiest Ecosystem for Global Families. A large part of her work consists of advocacy for the needs and wellbeing of globally mobile children and families. She has worked with over a thousand families from all over the world, experiences that she translates into articles and digital resources. Karlijn is frequently invited by multinational organizations to support the design and implementation of family-friendly global mobility programs. She loves working with service providers in the relocation industry, as such partnerships contribute to systemic change benefiting global families.