6° Family

Founders

Spearheading the strategy, operations, fundraising and management of 6°.

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DEBBIE MIDDENDORP | Founder & Operations

Debbie was born in the Netherlands, but has always been fascinated by people from different countries and cultural backgrounds. Coming from a challenging childhood she learned to find her own path and these experiences empowered her to support others in finding their way in life.

She has a long history in the corporate world as a high powered Marketing, Branding and Communications executive and as an independent entrepreneur. She wants to use these skills together with her international working experience to set up a sustainable network that empowers, inspires and energises women to drive change.

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GITA PELINCK | Founder & operations

Gita was born in Nepal and adopted when she was 3 and a half years old, by loving Dutch parents. She experienced first hand the not for profit world through her family's lifelong involvement in helping developing countries. 'Having been given a chance to make something of herself', as she says, her lifelong passion and mission has always been to give back.

With a background in International management, Supply Chain and Project Management, Gita is driven to use her experience and expertise gained in the corporate world to achieve social impact by helping women gain financial independence through providing opportunties to learn new skills.

Our Team

Making 6° possible, our team contribute ideas and support the founders in all aspects ranging from project proposals, marketing, digital presence, finance, latest trends and strategy. Without them, 6° would not have taken off with such success!

AMRIT THAPa | BOARD MEMBER

Amrit Thapa was born in a small village in Gorkha, Nepal. When he was 9 years old his parents left their village for Kathmandu so that he and his siblings could receive a better education. When living in Kathmandu and working in tourism, he met his Dutch wife. They married in 2012 and lived in Kathmandu with their two sons until 2017 after which he moved to The Netherlands.

Over the past 15 years, Amrit has been involved in the tourism business, organising logistics for travelers, facilitating rescue missions, and setting up and managing a ground handling agency for charter flights. He still has a business in Nepal, focused on social enterprises where he supports and facilitates local artisans and craftsmen in selling their products.

As a Nepali, he has a very strong connection to his country and its people. He is passionate about helping the underprivileged in Nepal in any way possible. He considers himself lucky to have the opportunity to support 6° in their mission and use his background in tourism, his strong connections to Nepal to help empower marginalised women and facilitate income-generating initiatives.

Margreet Rijken-Snellaars | BOARD MEMBER

Margreet Rijken-Snellaars lives in Maarssen with her husband, three children and 4 chickens.
After working 20 years as a manager/director in banking and IT, she started her own company Mrs. Possible in 2019. She supports owners, in The Netherlands and The Netherlands Antilles, in organising their organisations so they can achieve their ambitions whilst enjoying being an entrepreneur.

Margreet strongly believes in empowering through networking. Together with one of her best friends she initiated the Vrouwenborrel Maarssen, to connect women with young children and provide the possibility to get to know other women in this extremely busy period in their lives.

She’s proud to be part of the board of 6°, providing her knowledge and network for the empowerment of women.

MELANIE SHUDOFSKY ǀ STRATEGIC ADVISOR

At a young age, Melanie started traveling to remote locations across the globe, setting the stage for her life: an independent woman always on the move for her work in international development and nursing, and for personal adventures of which mountaineering and writing are her greatest passions. Holding Master Degrees in Global Health and International Development, she has worked for INGOs such as AMREF as well at the Indonesian local government, where she focused on organisational strategy development.

Both in her personal and work life, Melanie is known for exploring boundaries and how to overcome these, creating possibilities and ultimately positive change.
Together with her much beloved Indonesian dog Senja, Melanie currently lives in the Swiss Alps.

“No matter the situation, there is always a possibility to explore, to create and to develop. Sometimes just a small spark is needed to ignite such a possibility.”

Orapan (tuk) | Communication & digital

Tuk is a Thai national, and not unlike other Thai women, has a strong character and believes in the power and voice of women.

She met and connected with Debbie and Melisse deeply during her time in Singapore through their post graduate studies at the Singapore Management University. The three share the same belief in empowering women by providing opportunities that lead to the ability to choose one's own life path.

Tuk is supporting 6° in strategy and digital presence.

Pema Tigelaar | Social Media

My name might give it away: I’m originally from Nepal. I was born in Langtang, Nepal and was adopted when I was one and a half years old. I was raised in Brabant, the Netherlands, in a very Dutch family. I moved to Utrecht for my studies and still live there with my husband and child(ren).

In 2007, I travelled for the first time to Nepal to visit my biological family. Since then I’ve had the urge to do something for Nepal. By coincidence, or perhaps faith, I heard about 6 Degrees Academy for Women.

Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, I travelled to Nepal and stayed in Chitwan at our local partner SVSI’s lodge. They told me about 6 Degrees and Gita, who is also adopted from Nepal. I was lucky to have a safari tour led by one of the wildlife guides from 6° women empowerment projects. Once at home I contacted Gita and Debbie right away.

Debbie and Gita are two very strong women who have good business instincts, a strong vision and look for sustainable solutions within their projects. Their candidates find jobs and also pass their knowledge onto their own community.

Laetitia Gruwel ǀ Communications

On her many travels to mainly Asian countries, Laetitia feels at home, like a nomad, although her love for Nepal is very special. The Himalayas, the culture and the diversity of Nepal are close to her heart.

In her daily life as an independent communications consultant, she feels comfortable and at her best. After 30 years of being an employee, she started her own business in 2017 and that has been 'the best decision of my life', says Laetitia.

'I had the choice to start for myself. It is so important to be able to make your own choices and thereby become successful and happy? That is why I support 6 Degrees Network for Women. “To give women a chance to become independent, so that they can ultimately make their own choices and become happier individuals.”

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Arjen Nauta | Fundraising

Arjen was born and raised in the Netherlands. He is married to Debbie and father of two beautiful boys.

He has a background in Business Administration and Education. With a long track record in business development and general management for international brands, he is always looking to open new doors and find new opportunities.

During his time living in South East Asia, Arjen saw with his own eyes the difference in people’s development opportunities and strongly believes that small initiatives to help people learn a vocational skill will make a sustainable difference in people’s lives.

‘With pride and honour, I support 6° Network for Women in their mission’

Daniël van Dijk | Communications

Daniël van Dijk is a Dutch national and proud husband of 6° founder Gita Pelinck.

Together they have two sons and shared passions for travel, nature, food and Nepal.

With a career in marketing and business development spanning the globe and various sectors, Daniël brings international business acumen as well as creative thinking and writing.

Daniël works for the water sector in the Netherlands as International Programme Manager and is involved in water cooperation programmes in various Asian countries.

Bernard Minderhoud | Business Development

My name is Bernard Minderhoud. I was born in 1975 and lived in different countries during my youth. I am married and have 2 daughters. My career spans both the corporate and public domain. For most of my corporate life I worked in sales and building high performing teams. In the public domain as alderman I learned a lot about the difficulties that people face to get things moving in the right way and in the right direction. I am honoured that 6 Degrees has asked me to support them in their mission to build an Eco Village in Nepal for underprivileged women. I am proud that my skills and network can be put to good use and hope to be able to contribute for a long time coming.

MAARTEN MUNTENAAR ǀ finance

Maarten lives in The Hague, is married to Astrid, has one son and a beautiful dog. Maarten has a long track record in the corporate world as a financial expert and is an advisor at ‘Cijfer & Munt’. Together with Astrid they represent Natulique The Netherlands, a beautiful and organic hair care brand from Denmark.

Maarten loves running and is also a part of the 6° running team. Maaten has been supporting us in our fund raising to support our cause. He believes in women empowerment through job training, allowing them to become financially independent.

Every beautiful project starts with an idea or a mission. To achieve this mission, money is needed. Maarten supports 6° by guiding and advising us on good financial management of our projects and our foundation. He also provides insight into our finances for our donors and the subsidy providers.

‘A mosquito in your bedroom makes you realise that you are never too small to make an impact.’

Our Supporters

Those who have helped us along the way since 6° inception in 2017. They contributed their time, experience, knowledge and enthusiasm without asking for anything in return and continue to believe in our cause.

DIANA MULDER

Diana is of Dutch origin and lives with her partner and son Syb in the Hague.

With her experience gained in the media and education industries, Diana helped 6° in the first two years of its operation with communication support, including events, social media content and multimedia production.

AMBIKA LUCASSEN

Ambika has a proven track record of 20 years as a fundraising and philanthropy advisor for International NGOs and local charities in the private, institutional and corporate sectors and has helped 6° in the initial start-up phase with partnership matching and networking.

MELISSE MING

An experienced Change & Communications professional in the banking industry, she enjoys writing and exploring new ways to connect with people. Melisse helped 6° in developing their communication strategy and editing their content on the website and with other communication initiatives.

Our Junior Supporters

As ambassadors of the future generation, our young Centennials help us spread the word to their friends and help raise funds through the charity activities at their schools and supporting us during our events.

TIES and KAI NAUTA

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Ties (born 2008) spent his early childhood in Singapore, where he learned about the caring and sharing principle. This has become part of his DNA. At the age of five his life was enriched with the adoption of his Singaporean-Malay brother Kai (born 2013), whom he loves deeply.

Ties is very open and always willing to help others. During his trips with his mother, Debbie, to rural areas in both India and Nepal he was deeply touched by the circumstances of other children and expressed his desire to make women’s and children’s lives better.

Kai was born in Singapore and raised in The Netherlands. He has a strong character and a disarming personality. Kai is following in his brother’s footsteps and is also socially engaged. His first trip to Nepal at the age of 5 made a big impression on him.

MILAN and ROHAN VAN DIJK

From an early age both Milan (born 2007) and Rohan (born 2009) have had the privilege to travel the world and have been exposed to the unfairness that exists and expressed their concern about the welfare of others less fortunate. The fact that their mother, Gita was born in one of the poorest countries in the world and that their grandparents chose a life helping others, have left deep impressions on them.

Being involved, on the sidelines, with the foundation, which is focused on improving the lives of women, makes them very proud.