Mitchell Warren was born and raised in Omaha. After graduating from Burke High School, Mitchell went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue degrees in English and History – a direct result of the influence of amazing Burke teachers, including Mike Young (history teacher) and Joan Hobart (English teacher), and his guidance counsellor Cherry Witham.
The plan was to go onto graduate school in English literature, but during a year in Washington, DC, in between undergraduate and graduate school, he ended up working on South African health issues. The work, including a few trips to South Africa just as the apartheid era was ending and the HIV/AIDS epidemic was accelerating, ended up leading to a new career path.
In 1993, Mitchell and his wife Alice moved to South Africa in 1993 to set up an HIV prevention project with Population Services International (PSI), just as country was preparing for its first democratic elections. Mitchell was in Soweto in April 1994 during the election and in Pretoria in May 1994 at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the country’s president. For the next five years, Mitchell designed and implemented condom social marketing, communications and health promotion activities in South Africa and throughout the region.
In 1998, Mitchell, Alice and their two children (Luke and Sam, who were born in South Africa) moved to London to continue his work in HIV prevention and became the Vice President of International Affairs for The Female Health Company (FHC), manufacturer of the female condom, helping to introduce the product in HIV prevention programs all over the world.
Mitchell and family moved back to the US in 2000 to continue the work based from New York (and be closer to family in the US). In 2004, Mitchell became the Executive Director of AVAC, where he continues to lead the organization’s strategic direction and partnerships across global HIV prevention and research. Under his leadership, AVAC expanded from HIV vaccine advocacy to a broader focus on biomedical prevention options and product access. He played a key role in developing the Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Guidelines and launching AVAC’s Product Introduction and Access program to accelerate introduction of new HIV prevention technologies.
In addition to his leadership of AVAC, he is co-chair of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition; a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council and the IAS Towards an HIV Cure Initiative; President of the TB Alliance Stakeholder Association; and Past President of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.
While Mitchell’s work has been global and taken him around the world, growing up in Omaha and studying at Burke provided the foundation of all that he’s done. He doesn’t get back to Omaha as often as he would like, but trips back to see family and life-long friends from Burke and Omaha continue to be highlights of his travels. Alice sadly and suddenly passed away in 2024. Luke is an architect in New York, and Sam works from community organizations in Vermont. Mitchell splits his time between New York and Brattleboro, Vermont, and continues to travel extensively to advance global health programs.
