Number 18 on GroenLinks’s candidates’ list for this week’s elections is Stephanie Bennett from Groningen. She was born in 1986 in a village called Heerde in The Netherlands, Stephanie is the daughter of an African American father and a Dutch mother. She left Heerde to study Psychology in Groningen. As of right now, she is a member of the provincial council in Groningen and she works as a Healthcare Psychologist. Stephanie is determined to take her experiences, her views and her ideals to the next level. She plans on doing so by entering the House of Representatives after the elections.

Even though she did not grow up in a very politically active environment, politics sparked Stephanie’s interest at the young age of 14. “Politics weren’t a huge part of my upbringing. My parents did not even vote up until recently. Politics had been something so distant to them, of course, they are more involved now. Me being on the candidates’ list and seriously active certainly helps. Besides my upbringing, I have been interested in politics for a very long time. Growing up, I could spend hours watching debates and became fascinated by the political game. This meant staying up all night on election nights and reading more and more about politics. I became actively involved with politics when I was seventeen, but more on an activist level. I was involved in certain actions against animal testing, market forces in healthcare and the housing shortage. Over time I realized that GroenLinks is the perfect fit for me. They have a good combination of a social agenda and a clear plan when it comes to inclusion and diversity in our society. And of course, they care a lot about the big climate crisis, which I think is extremely important.”

Driven and passionate are words that resonate with Stephanie. Subject matters that mean a lot to her are inclusion, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, accessible health care, women’s rights and the gas extraction problem in Groningen. Stephanie explains: “In politics, it is important to use your common sense. You should always check whether your plans are realistic or not, but ultimately politics are about people. It has to do with your identity and ideals as a person. This is why I think it is not bad to feel strong, intrinsic emotions and motivation towards certain topics. It is difficult to make actual change happen, so I believe that you need that motivation to keep going.”

Her personal experiences as a psychologist are the perfect example of driven motivation. “I believe my career as a healthcare psychologist can be of good use in the House of Representatives. When debating about healthcare, I think it is crucial to have someone in politics with close up and daily experiences from within the work field.

For example, I have experienced the unhealthy influence of health insurers. They have a lot of power and are acting from a profit motive. This is not fair. The workload is also way too high. The way the system is functioning right now is not right for either the clients or the healthcare workers themselves. We have to work long and heavy shifts to make sure that health insurers want to provide us with a new contract. This leads to things like less good attention towards clients even though they need it and overworked healthcare workers. Things need to change, and I want to be part of it.”

Stephanie’s goal is to be the politician that many people can identify themselves with and show them that she is committed to being representative of what these people need. It does not matter whether these people are women, younger generations, people of colour, citizens of Groningen or people who depend on the health care system, Stephanie is determined to make positive change happen in many ways.