Board of the Dekeyser&Friends Foundation
Composed of friends from around the world with various fields of expertise and a wide network, the Dekeyser&Friends Board is responsible for the general oversight over the foundation’s work and the strategy and development of its programs and activities. The members of the board also support the foundation with their wide network of friends and contacts.
Daniel Borer
Member of the Board
Daniel Borer grew up in Switzerland. He received degrees in both medicine and business administration and works part time as a general practicioner. In addition, Daniel advises various companies and start-ups from the hotel and airline industries and is a DEDON shareholder. Before being on the Dekeyser&Friends Board, Daniel was a member of the foundation’s Council of Inspirators.
Daniel lives with his partner Claudia and their patchwork family at the Lake Biel in Switzerland. In 2009 Claudia and Daniel, who says of himself that children are his greatest inspiration, celebrated the birth of their daughter.
Bobby Dekeyser
President of the Board
Bobby spent his childhood in Austria, Belgium and Germany. At the age of 15, he got up and left school in the middle of an English lesson after having decided to become a professional soccer player. By the age of 19 he was goalkeeper at FC Bayern Munich. Having married his high school sweetheart Ann-Kathrin, he was forced to quit his soccer career at the age of 26 after a severe face injury.
In 1990, while still in the hospital, he founded the design company DEDON with a business plan that had little more to it than the idea of working with family and friends to produce beautiful and creative handicraft products. Inventing the outdoor fiber, DEDON soon revolutionized the outdoor furniture market and is today the market leader in the outdoor luxury segment in over 80 countries, employing more than 3,000 people. In 2009, Bobby founded the Dekeyser & Friends Foundation. Bobby lives with his three children Carolin, Yannick and Marie in Hamburg.
Hervé Lampert
Vice-President of the Board
Hervé Lampert grew up on a farm close to Strasbourg, France. In his youth he was a very successful Judoka.
Hervé began working in the Marketing Division of the US company CASE in Paris whilst still finishing his business degree from the Graduate School for International Business Administration in Strasbourg.
In 1997 he met Bobby and moved to Lüneburg, Germany to help build DEDON.
In 2000, at the age of 24, he made a big leap into unknown territory, and moved to Cebu, Philippines to set up DEDON’s manufacturing facility, which would address the recurring problems with the company’s quality. Starting with 7 employees, Hervé grew DEDON Cebu within a span of 8 years, providing fair and gainful employment to 3,600 employees in a part of the world where such ethical practice is an exception rather than the rule. Today, Hervé is considered by Cebuanos to be one of their own. He is currently Chief Technical Officer of DEDON Group and President of DEDON Cebu. Herve lives with his wife Tess, his daughters Véïa and Maori and his brother Vincent in Cebu.
Oya Ogurcu
Member of the Board
Oya Ogurcu was born and grew up in Istanbul, Tukey. She studied Interior Design at London Metropolitan University in the UK. During her studies, she intensely travelled the world. After graduating she worked in different London based design offices before reutrning to istanbul in 1982 as one of the first female Harley Davidson drivers.
In 1984 she opened one of Istanbul’s biggest Interior design showrooms and started to import indoor and outdoor furniture from all over the world. This is how in 1990 Bobby and Oya started working together. Since then they have been sharing common inspiration and visions as well as a growing friendship. Oya opened an Interior Design office in 1997 in downtown Istanbul and since then has been designing houses, restaurants, hotels, offices and customized furniture together with her team from “O Design”.
Oya lives with her husband Faruk and their lovecat Princess in Istanbul.