Our people

Gurchaten (Nanoo) Sandhu (he/they) is the Director of Programmes at ILGA World. Born to Panjabi Sikh working-class migrant parents in the UK, Gurchaten is a widely respected LGBTI changemaker and community leader. At ILGA World, they work to strengthen and expand the organisation’s programmatic efforts while managing a growing Programmes team.

Prior to joining ILGA World, Gurchaten served as the Non-Discrimination Programme Officer at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch. There, they specialised in promoting social justice through decent and inclusive work for all, with a particular focus on enhancing LGBTIQ+ rights and economic inclusion. Additionally, Gurchaten was the President of UN-GLOBE, representing LGBTIQ+ personnel within the United Nations system.

Gurchaten is an advisory board member of The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics (LSE), a trustee for Open for Business, and a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum. They have also served as a steering committee member of the International Family Equality Day NGO, volunteered with Sarbat LGBT Sikhs, and were a trustee for We Create Space.

Gurchaten has been recognised as an OUTstanding LGBT Role Model from 2018 to 2021. They are also an Honouree of Out & Equal’s 2021 Global LGBTQ Corporate Advocate Outie Award, a winner of the British LGBT Award for Exceptional Inclusion in 2021, and the Pink News Award for Community Role Model of the Year in 2022.