Anke van Dam has a medical background. She started her career as a general practitioner and moved on as a public health specialist in the Netherlands. In the 90-s she began her international work for the Red Cross, World Population Foundation and Rutgers, Dutch expertise centre on sexuality, and specialised in sexual and reproductive health and rights. From 2008 till 2021 she worked for AFEW International, first as programme manager and for the last 9 years as executive director. The focus of her work was to increasing and improving access to information, treatment and care for key populations with a higher risk for HIV. Since October 2021 she works as a strategic advisor for digital health at Pharos, Dutch expertise center on health.