Get acquainted with Antares Foundation. Meet our team.
Get acquainted with Antares Foundation. Meet our team.
Our Organisation
Antares Foundation
The Antares Foundation was established in 1999 by a committed group of professionals with extensive experience in international humanitarian organisations. They brought together backgrounds as managers, policymakers, psychologists, consultants, and researchers, united by a shared belief: that the wellbeing of humanitarian staff deserved dedicated, professional attention.
Over the past 25 years, the former leadership has built Antares into a vibrant and respected international community of specialists in staff care. Their vision was to create an independent NGO that could support other humanitarian organisations in developing strong, effective, and sustainable staff care systems. This vision has been realised.
Today, Antares is widely recognized within the international humanitarian field. Through their work, staff care has become a visible and essential topic on organisational agendas, supported by deep expertise and a strong global network.
In 2025 Antares has two managing directors based in the Netherlands and a global network of specialists from the field of mental health and psychosocial support for research, projects, training, policy development, individual support and consultancies.
Our managing directors team in Amsterdam:
David
David Veenman has been associated with the Antares Foundation for over 15 years. He has a background in psychology, specializing in coping with grief and stress. He also holds a master's degree in organizational science, specializing in social networks. David is married to Narmi, father of Lukas and Thijs.
Martha
Martha has a background in research and international public health and has experience working as a program and project manager for different NGO’s. She is a registered nurse, trained military platoon commander, a certified yoga instructor, and is passionate about mental wellbeing in all its aspects. Martha is married and lives in Den Bosch.
Board
The Antares Foundation’s Board meets twice per year to endorse the annual plan, annual report, quarterly activity reports and strategy and policy plans.
All staff of the Antares Foundation are responsible for the execution of the annual plan, and the directors of the Antares Foundation are responsible for the overall coordination of the planned activities.
The Antares foundation has an international board consisting of independent experts with a humanitarian background. The board consists of
Associates
The Antares Foundation co-operates with a global network of Associates from within the psychosocial field for research and other projects, working groups, field missions, consultancies, trainings, briefings and confidential end of assignment sessions. Voluntary contributions to our mission are also warmly welcomed for head office, administrative and other tasks, provided that the volunteer has the necessary expertise.
Our Associates
Funding
The Antares Foundation is registered within the Netherlands and officially recognized as a non profit organization (ANBI institute under number 8083.29.820) according to the Dutch law.
Institutional funding has enabled Antares throughout the years to support national and international staff of NGOs in conflict regions. Funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in particular contributed to the development of guidelines, training materials and models, which were made freely available to thousands of organisations and individuals include reference or link to resource.