World, join us to welcome Nathaniel Miller-Walraven as our Head of Programmes. Nathaniel will work closely with the Co-Executive Directors and lead the GNP+ programmes team, to implement robust community-led programmes that feed GNP+’s advocacy grounded in the lived experiences and realities of all people living with HIV and communities.
As a gay man living with HIV, Nathaniel made an active decision to shift his professional focus to working with and for the global HIV community when he was diagnosed with HIV before he turned 30.
“I had had enough of stigma, depression, and anxiety. I was done with the negativity that I was putting upon myself because of this diagnosis. In that moment of recognition, I made a conscious choice to turn this into something positive, to find a safe place where I could be myself and contextualise HIV.”
Nathaniel joins GNP+ after seven years of service at the Robert Carr Fund (RCF), where he managed three million USD annually to strengthen national, regional, and global networks and community-led organizations through participatory grant-making. He worked with over 80 partners from Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia Pacific regions. The core funding from this work enables communities shape policies and programs for improved HIV and sexual reproductive health services for inadequately served populations.
According to Nathaniel, “It’s not just about ‘bringing people to the table.’ It’s about ensuring that the table is set with everything that communities need, so that they have full ownership of the process.” His work at RCF has provided him with unique exposure and education in the field of human rights and HIV in the not-for-profit sector, engaging with regional and global community-led, community-serving networks and organisations around the world.
Nathaniel is very conscious of different aspects of privilege and is deeply committed to deconstructing colonialist legacies and challenging patriarchal systems. This applies both to ways of working and to language. He recognises that such mindset shifts call for significant dedication, time, transparency, and accountability from all parties. “To be both responsible and responsive, we have to build trust.”
Co-Executive Director Florence Riako Anam notes, “Nathaniel brings both lived experience and shared core values to our work. His extensive engagement with donors, ministries, grantees and other stakeholders on risk management, compliance, strategy, and relationship management will immensely benefit GNP+. His commitment to participatory grant-making and challenging systemic inequities aligns perfectly with our mission and values, ensuring that our efforts advance the health and rights of all people living with HIV worldwide.”
Nathaniel will be based at the GNP+ Amsterdam office, kicking off with an induction at the Cape Town Office for the first half of March. He is looking forward to the challenges that his new role will bring, as well as fresh opportunities to contribute to empowering the global HIV community.
“I approach this work to serve as well as to lead, to uphold the human rights and access to services of all people living with HIV, with the knowledge of the strength we have when we work collectively.”
We extend the warmest of welcomes to Nathaniel as he joins the GNP+ family.
