Rob Houben is besides motivational speaker, an educational leader, entrepreneur, change-maker and change creator. He is the Founder of allLearners.org, Program manager Agora Schools, Founding member of Green School South Africa’s Board of Advisors. Rob Houben inspires about “How to treat every student unequal? Contact Assemblee Speakers to book Rob Houben as speaker at your next event.

Bio Rob Houben
Rob Houben began his career in education in The Netherlands in 2000. Since then, he has rightfully earned the many accolades that describe him, such as thought leader, advisor, innovator, change maker and visionary (the list will surely grow). 

Rob Houben specialises in personalising education – using the best parts of regular education to do so. He believes that exceptional learning begins first and foremost by building motivation, self-esteem and also by ensuring learner-access to a social network. Rob’s exceptional insights, leadership, management and pedagogical skills have taken him to schools and conferences around the world as an advisor, coach, facilitator, motivational speaker, policymaker, project lead, team lead and change agent. 

Rob Houben was an early adopter of new technology in schools in 2000. In 2010 he took initiative to replace the inventory of (old)-school PCs using cable internet with Chromebooks and Wi-Fi for all. This innovation cemented his reputation as a change maker and innovator throughout The Netherlands, with many schools following suit. During this time he was also invited to design new courses for the Dutch National Curriculum.  

In 2015, Rob Houben was contacted by the newly envisioned Agora School and invited to join the team. With just five colleagues and 60 students, they began working on a new school concept (working within the system) that did not follow traditional timetables, courses or age groups. At Agora, students managed their own learning process by beginning from a simple question: 

What do you want to make, do or learn? 

And whatever the answer was, they began from there. There are currently twenty-four Agora schools in The Netherlands and Belgium using this vision for learning. 

In 2022, Rob Houben founded allLearners.org to spread his ideas further by inspiring innovation and supporting schools around the world on their own unique transformational journeys. allLearners is currently working with schools in six continents. 

With his out-of-the-box analytical skills, infectious enthusiasm, open mind and practical approach, Rob Houben is a natural at observing, providing feedback and asking deep questions to inspire fresh and unique ideas for schools – no matter what the context. Most importantly, Rob Houben always offers practical solutions that can actually embed and sustain change. Schools such as Real World School (Costa Rica), Green School (South Africa), Torphichen and Westfield Primary (Scotland)are collaborating with him to support their own unique transformational journeys.