Jacqueline Vaessen was appointed as chair for the Top Sector Chemistry in September 2021. In that role, she is also chair of the Mission team Circular Economy, next to the interim director of NLHydrogen, the branch organization for hydrogen in the Netherlands. Vaessen, who has a master's degree in chemical engineering and a bachelor's degree in psychology, started her career in 1989 at Shell Chemicals. She worked for Syntens as an innovation broker and later as a regional manager for eight years. In 2004, she decided to become an independent entrepreneur, focusing on the energy transition. In February 2018, Vaessen was appointed as General Manager of the Dutch national platform for the reuse and decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure. Until September 2018, Jacqueline Vaessen was politically active as a member of the Provincial Council of Utrecht and acted as a spokesperson for energy and the economy.