Safina de Klerk resigns as Vice President of NITO
After two years, de Klerk chooses to resign from his position as vice president and member of the board of the Norwegian Association of Engineers and Technologists.
She was elected vice president by NITO's congress in 2024, where Kjetil Lein was elected president. De Klerk cites the collaboration between her and Lein as the reason why she is now resigning.
"I enormously appreciate the trust I have received from the members and the organization. I have been very motivated to do the job I was elected to, but over time I have experienced that I have been given limited room for manoeuvre as vice president. I have brought this up several times and also asked for assistance from several organizational levels to improve the cooperation. When the situation has not changed, I believe the right thing to do is to resign," says de Klerk.
De Klerk emphasizes that even though the cooperation between her and the president did not work, she has great faith in the organization and is grateful for the support she has received in the attempts to improve the cooperation.
"I am really impressed by how many skilled union representatives and professionals there are in NITO. Each and every one of them highlights the importance of engineers and technologists for the development of society in Norway. The commitment to science as a basis for technology is more important than ever, and I am absolutely sure that NITO sets the direction for this work going forward," says de Klerk.
President Kjetil Lein thinks it is a great shame that de Klerk is resigning.
"She has been an incredibly important voice in NITO and inspired many, both members and decision-makers outside the organization. I think it's sad that we didn't manage to find the way forward together," says Lein.
NITO has decided to have a president who is one hundred percent bought out and a vice president who is partially bought out.
"We are a robust organization with many skilled union representatives who work hard to ensure that the voice of engineers and technologists is heard, so I am very confident that we will ensure a good representation of our members in the future," says Lein.
On Tuesday, the Executive Board of NITO will hold a board meeting to decide on the further process.