Houston Chapter

The Houston chapter was formed out of the chamber of commerce in 2017. Since we have been privileged to be part of the Netherlands America Foundation and all it stands for. The initial goal was to integrate all Dutch-American relationships within the greater Houston area. This included several social events like Queens and Kings days, National Heritage day, Soccer and Rice table, various networking events, Texas Chique Fundraisers and most recently a classical music inspired business networking dinner as part of Gastech, a major energy conference.

We have been blessed by the energy and devotion of several long term board members who have tireless organized all these event to bring the Dutch in Houston together. As we refine our strategy and align more closely with the national NAF organization, our focus for the coming years will be on internships and Dutch-American business networking.

Houston remains the Energy Capital of the world which provides an incredible business environment for young and ambitious students. Likewise, international oriented students from one of the many acclaimed higher eductions institutions in Houston are interested in a unique experience in one of the key cities in The Netherlands, like Rotterdam, The Hague, Tilburg or Amsterdam, to name a few. Our goals is to deploy the DUTCH2USA funds and facilitate a two way internship program. Due to Houston’s geographically distributed nature it will be important to collaborate closely with one of the educational institutions. To date we have had very positive conversations with the University of Houston Downtown which we hope will result in a formal cooperation program by the end of 2025.

Furthermore we will continue our business networking by organizing a few high quality networking events including a New Years Reception, like the on at the Porsche Dealership in Sugarland (owned by Pon) earlier this year. We call upon any current and past Fulbright students and academics, the Dutch companies in Texas and the Dutch community in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Auston to join us in supporting the mission of the Netherlands America Foundation.