Dr. Mitch Besser is a passionate professional who has dedicated his life to finding innovative strategies to help people deal with HIV/AIDS. His resume includes two decades of education and work devoted to domestic and international public health with a focus on obstetrics and gynecology.

Mitch moved with his wife and two sons to Cape Town in January 2000, joining the University of Cape Town’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He assisted with the development of initiatives to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to provide care to HIV-infected women. He established antenatal care programs and formed committees to coordinate hospital services for HIV infected pregnant women and their infants. Through his work with HIV-positive pregnant patients and mothers, Mitch recognized the need for services that would provide education and psychosocial support to pregnant and recently delivered women who were battling with an HIV diagnosis, allowing them to make healthy choices for themselves and their babies. This recognition was the founding principle behind mothers2mothers.

mothers2mothers was started by Mitch at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town in 2001. Mitch identified South Africa’s HIV-positive mothers as a valuable, underutilized resource for strengthening public health care systems in the fight for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.  mothers2mothers has developed from this single support-group in Cape Town to a multinational organization employing 1500 HIV-positive mothers who work in nearly 500 sites in 7 countries.

On behalf of mothers2mothers, Mitch has received numerous awards including the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, an Ashoka Fellowship and the Presidential Citizen’s Award.

Mitch has a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and graduated Magna Cum Laud with an Honours in Biology, and graduated from the Harvard Medical School as a Doctor of Medicine (MD).