Marieke Van Der Velden is the Northern Canada Program Manager for Veterinarians Without Borders.
Marieke joined Veterinarians without Borders in December 2021, with ten years of experience in the animal welfare field. Following a communications degree and volunteering at initiatives across the globe, she has led the strategy, program development, and execution of community outreach initiatives in Canada. Now at Veterinarians Without Borders, she thrives working on creative initiatives that focus on collaboration and community-led approaches in addressing One Health issues. In 2022, she grew the program from four community partners to ten, and launched an awards-program to provide animal-related education opportunities for northern, Indigenous community members.
Outside of her VWB/VSF work, she volunteers a mentor at the YWCA High School program, film reviewer for the International Mountain Film Festival and the City of Vancouver's Animal Emergency Response . In her spare time, Marieke hikes the woods of North Vancouver with her best friend, a golden lab named Jake, and jumps into any body of water she can find.
In an effort to continue building animal welfare capacity in Ukraine, VWB/VSF is hosting monthly webinars for Ukrainian veterinarians, veterinary technicians, animal shelter workers, students, and more. They will be simultaneously hosted in both English and Ukrainian.
Through our VETS program, our volunteer gender specialists are supporting women in Kenya by increasing their farms' dairy production and animal health knowledge.
Together with our on-the-ground partners, we recently celebrated our 1,000th telehealth appointment in Ukraine. This service connects veterinarians and pet owners in Ukraine, providing virtual veterinary evaluations and recommended treatments.
