Isabelle Lebrocquy
Netherlands
Isabelle Lebrocquy, founder of oPuce, lost her job during colon cancer.
She discovered the Dutch social system had an unwanted side-effect: it made cancer survivors a risk on the labour market (under Dutch Law, employers are obliged to continue paying a sick employee 70% of his salary during the first 2 years of illness). She set up oPuce, a social enterprise, helping recovered cancer survivors finding work, and started talking with members of the Parliament about the problems employed- and unemployed cancer survivors meet. This resulted in a governmental plan of action for Cancer & Work. She now develops with a group of multinational corporations a digital matching tool to help unemployed cancer survivors finding work.