Tom van den Nieuwenhuijzen

Tom J.H. van den Nieuwenhuijzen-Wittens (born 18 July 1982) is a Dutch politician, who held a seat in the House of Representatives.

He is a member of the green political party GroenLinks.

After receiving an engineering degree, Van den Nieuwenhuijzen started working in the construction sector.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen was born in Weert in the Dutch province Limburg on 18 July 1982.

His mother worked as a secretary, while his father was not employed due to a disability.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen attended a high school belonging to the Philips van Horne Scholengemeenschap in that city between 1994 and 1999, earning a havo diploma.

Subsequently, he went to Franklin Pierce High School in the American state Washington for one year.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen studied architectural engineering at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg (2000–2005).

While studying, Van den Nieuwenhuijzen worked as a junior youth participation policy adviser at social work organization Kuseema (2003–2005).

He subsequently became a drafter at the Oisterwijk architecture firm Drijvers.

He started working in 2006 at Betonson, a company producing concrete, where he held the position of sustainability and energy account manager.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen has told that, while revalidating from a mountain bike accident, he realized that he wanted to be more socially committed.

When he wanted to resign, he was offered the new position of CSR and sustainability manager at Betonson's parent company, Van Nieuwpoort Groep.

He took the job and also joined GroenLinks during this time.

Under his leadership, the company developed cement-free concrete, and four of its subsidiaries received a level 3 out of 5 certification on climate bureau HIER's achievement ladder.

While having a job, Van den Nieuwenhuijzen studied business administration at Leergang Bedrijfskunde in Maastricht (2008–2010).

He served as a member of the Eindhoven municipal council between 2010 and 2016, a period during which he was named Mister Gay Netherlands.

During the 2010 municipal elections, Van den Nieuwenhuijzen was second on the party list of GroenLinks in Eindhoven.

He was elected councilman with 257 votes, while his party received four out of 45 seats.

He kept working at Betonson and was chosen political talent of 2010 in the Eindhoven "Council Member of the Year" election.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen had been chairing a committee since 2010 to bring the event to the city.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen stopped working for Van Nieuwpoort in 2012.

In October 2012, it was announced that Eindhoven would host the pride parade Pink Saturday in 2014.

However, all four companies would lose this certification in 2013.

He taught management and sustainability at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg between 2013 and 2018.

Simultaneously, he ran a sustainability consulting and project management company called "Avengers Way".

An earlier bid for the 2013 edition had been unsuccessful.

In the run-up to Pink Saturday, he announced that he had received an anonymous threat in his mailbox, saying "filthy faggot, fuck off with your illness and Pink Saturday".

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen filed a criminal complaint.

In 2013, he was voted Council Member of the Year.

Van den Nieuwenhuijzen was re-elected in 2014, when GroenLinks retained its four seats.

He had run for GroenLinks lijsttrekker in Eindhoven, but did not win.

He was also 32nd on the party list of GroenLinks in North Brabant during the 2015 provincial elections.

In September of that year, he won the last edition of the beauty pageant Mister Gay Netherlands.

He also received a Master of Science degree in business administration from Nyenrode Business University in 2017 after two years of study.

He subsequently worked as an alderman for the municipality Son en Breugel until 2019.

After resigning as alderman in early 2019, he was hired by the municipality Amsterdam to work as a project manager on its climate accord.

He left that position when he became an MP.

He was appointed member of the House in 2020 and lost re-election in 2021.

During his political career, Van den Nieuwenhuijzen focussed on sustainability and the acceptance of the LGBT community.