Ms. Maha AlHemsi has over 30 years experience with UNICEF, including as Chief of Child Protection in Jordan and Syria, and advisor for East Asia and the Pacific. Ms. AlHemsi’s experience concentrates on strategy planning, policy development and programming in the areas of child rights, child protection, social policy, gender-based violence and early childhood development as well as evaluation of programs and their impact. Despite the highly complex political and social context in the countries served, she built a robust child protection programme that has made huge inroads in the prevention of and response to violence, exploitation, and abuse of all children, including through policy change and systems development. Ms. AlHemsi holds a master’s degree in Child Rights from Fribourg University and Kurt-Bosch Institut Universtaire, Switzerland and has authored of several journal articles on the subject.
Kristine Anderson
Kristine Anderson has more than 10 years experience working in humanitarian settings, and is specialized in protection, gender-based violence, safeguarding, and gender equality and inclusion. She has worked extensively in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean for numerous clients, including UNHCR, UNFPA, IFRC, International Rescue Committee, Plan International, and Mercy Corps. She has a specific focus on GBV programmes for adolescent girls, and protection in migration contexts.
Julie Bara
Julie is a global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) specialist with over 15 years of experience supporting governments, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to improve safety, dignity and well-being in fragile and crisis-affected settings across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Asia. Her career spans field operations, regional advisory roles and global coordination, combining technical expertise with strategic leadership, facilitation and partnership development.
Julie's work is grounded in a human-centred approach. She focuses on designing and strengthening WASH systems with the meaningful participation of communities, particularly women and marginalized groups, while promoting inclusion, accountability and gender equity in sector coordination and programming.
From 2021 to 2026, Julie served as Global WASH Cluster Deputy Coordinator at UNICEF in Geneva, where she advanced localization, climate-resilient WASH and anticipatory action within the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. She supported more locally led coordination models and contributed to research on women and women-led organizations in the WASH sector with Tsunagu and Tufts University.
With a background in chemical engineering and drinking water treatment research, Julie brings engineering rigor, systems thinking and collaborative leadership to advancing equitable and resilient WASH systems.
Emanuela Bianchera
Emanuela specializes in research, knowledge management, and development communication. She has served UNICEF in both staff and consultancy roles since 2015.
Her work at UNICEF has centered on making evidence on child and girls’ rights accessible for policy and programs through publications, evidence reviews, and online platforms. Among her responsibilities, she managed the “Best of UNICEF Research” report and communication campaign, coordinating with about 50 UNICEF offices annually to feature research best practices.
Before joining UNICEF, Emanuela worked for 10 years as a social researcher, focusing on gender, family care, and intergenerational relations. She served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Surrey, and trained in Communication for Development (C4D) through UNICEF.
Mathilde Bienvenu
Mathilde has 13 years of experience in child protection, child rights and early childhood development with the United Nations, NGOs and foundations in humanitarian and development contexts. She has worked in Côte d’Ivoire, the DRC, Ethiopia, Uganda and at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. She has hands-on expertise in child protection programme design and management with a focus on prevention and response to violence against children, children associated with armed forces and armed groups, as well as family separation in emergencies. She has strong advocacy, coordination, networking, and partnership building skills, excellent presentation, and communication skills in both French and English.
Alicia Cabero
I am an Independent Gender and women’s rights Specialist, who helps international NGOs and governmental organisations through advisory, research, project design and training. Over fifteen years of professional experience in programme design, implementation, management and M&E of projects, gender mainstreaming in key development sectors (environment/climate change, food security, migration, health and human rights – GBV) and gender technical advice. I have also developed strong training and mentoring skills, i.e. in addressing gender issues within projects and programs and raising awareness. This experience has been gained globally (Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia), combining field experience with headquarters positions. I have collaborated with bilateral institutions, national and local governments, as well as international and local NGOs, including women organizations. I have worked with several donors: AECID, UN, AFD, UE, decentralized cooperation. I hold a Degree in Environmental Sciences and a M.Sc. in Strategies, Stakeholders and Policies in Development Cooperation, coupled with other courses on Gender, Fundraising, Training…Languages: Spanish, English, French (Full Professional Proficiency). Portuguese and German (Intermediate)
Vanessa Cardamone
Vanessa is a disaster risk management expert with 18 years of experience advancing disaster risk reduction, emergency response (food security and livelihoods, WASH, shelter, protection and inclusion), locally led climate adaptation, and inclusive and just resilience building. Her background spans program management, strategy development, capacity sharing, advocacy, fundraising, and research. An independent consultant since 2023, she currently collaborates with ACAPS and NRC as a Climate Change Advisor. Previously, she served with WFP on climate, policy, and disaster risk management in Ethiopia and Lao PDR, and with several NGOs—including Oxfam, Solidarités International, and Humanity & Inclusion—leading emergency response, disaster risk reduction, and preparedness programs across Lebanon, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Kenya. Vanessa is an experienced training and workshop facilitator and has developed and delivered a wide range of adult learning materials. Her policy and research work explores how climate and conflict intersect with vulnerabilities driven by gender norms, age, disability, and socio-economic inequality. Vanessa brings strong expertise in foresight, multi-risk analysis, and scenario building, honed through years of work in complex crises. Committed to principled action, trust-based collaboration and localisation, she builds partnerships and drives solutions that bridge humanitarian response and long-term resilience. Vanessa holds a BA in Political Science (International Relations) and a Master Degree in Development and Environmental Economics, specializing in urban disaster vulnerability, and is fluent in English and French.
Aurelie Chaudieu
With a 10+ year-experience in education, social justice, and advocacy, as well as a 4 year-expertise in mental health and psychosocial support, Aurelie has been dedicating her career to the resilience of both communities and individuals in development and post-crisis contexts. Aurelie is an expert at developing strategies and policies, as well as building successful stakeholder’s networks to advocate for intersectional issues at the EU and UN levels. Amongst her achievements is the contribution to the recognition of worldwide volunteers in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as to the development of the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps. Aurelie has also been engaged in projects involving art modalities as powerful tools to build resilience in people as well as catalysts to promote human rights and global sustainability. She has, for instance, designed and facilitated dance therapy programs for urban refugee populations in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sytske Claassen
Currently, I am seeking a fresh challenge as an EMBA24 student. I’ve recently concluded my tenure in Ukraine, where I served as a versatile humanitarian aid worker. My experiences span various remote locations, including DRC Congo, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Kyiv. I specialize in Emergency Response, Shelter, Cluster Coordination, WASH, Community Based Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Risk Management, and Climate Change Adaptation in the Asia-Pacific region and Middle East. Over the years, I’ve honed my skills in management, program coordination, cluster coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and research. My enrollment in the EMBA program at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) has been instrumental in enhancing my communication and management skills while significantly improving my planning abilities.
Sabbiana Cunsolo
Sabbiana is an independent research and evaluation consultant and has expertise both in qualitative and quantitative research methods. In the last years she has mostly worked with UNICEF Innocenti, managing research on practice initiatives targeted at disabled children, Roma children and migrant children. She holds a PhD in Sociology of Education and an MSc in Development Economics at the University of Florence. She has experience with various NGOs and organizations, Save the Children and Oxfam, with a particular focus on vulnerable children, social inclusion and support to civil society organizations. She has field-based research experience in Ecuador, Liberia, Palestine, Ethiopia. From 2017 to 2019 Sabbiana has also worked as Child Protection Specialist with IOM responding to the migrant emergency in Italy, in the protection of refugees and migrants, with a special focus in the protection of unaccompanied children victims of trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. Previously she was a practitioner working for various NGOs to support the social inclusion of Roma children, migrant unaccompanied children (girls victims of trafficking) and people with disabilities.
Marie Cusick
Marie is a strategic communications specialist and facilitator with extensive experience supporting global health, nutrition, and social-impact organizations. Most recently, she served as Communications Lead for UNICEF’s Global Nutrition Cluster, guiding strategic messaging across 60+ countries, aligning partners, and translating technical insights into clear narratives that strengthened emergency response. Her background includes leading a USAID-funded behavior-change communication project for maternal and child health in Cambodia, managing cross-agency content development, and advising nonprofits and social enterprises on visibility, stakeholder engagement, and organizational storytelling. Marie brings a collaborative, human-centered approach and proven expertise in strategic communication, digital content, and facilitation.
Luana de Souza
Luana is a Protection and GBV specialist with more than a decade of work experience. She has worked with various INGOs and UN organisations both at the field level (Nepal, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Argentina) as well as in regional and HQ positions. After several years as a GBV Specialist for UNFPA and the GBV AoR covering Eastern and Southern Africa, she has been working extensively on humanitarian cash assistance, supporting cash actors to integrate gender as well as identify and mitigate risks, especially those related to GBV and child protection. Fluent in English and French and able to work in Spanish and Portuguese, she has excellent capacities when it comes to mapping risks, supporting frontline workers, contextualising and developing field-oriented tools, and delivering training and capacity building.
Kate Denman
Kate has worked in education, international development and humanitarian programming for more than 18 years. She has a strong focus on gender and inclusion as well as programme and project management. Kate has designed and delivered capacity building courses and programmes for many organisations including UNICEF, RedR UK, UNRWA, British Council, Plan International UK, HelpAge International, IOM, the Alliance for Child Protection In Humanitarian Action. She has developed self-paced (asynchronous) and synchronous learning programmes and conducted large scale learning needs assessments for organisations and in emergency response initiatives for the sector. Kate has also worked with various research projects in gender equality in the humanitarian sector and attitudinal change programmes using Photovoice methodology. She holds an MA in Education, Gender and International Development from Institute of Education, London and has worked in a diverse range of countries including Venezuela, Tanzania, Syria, India, Sudan and South Sudan.
Nathalie Duveiller
Nathalie Duveiller is a Child Protection and Education in Emergencies Specialist with over a decade of experience in humanitarian and development contexts across Latin America, Africa, and Europe. With a background in program design, strategic planning, and technical advisory roles, Nathalie has worked with NGOs and UN agencies to strengthen safe and inclusive programming, child safeguarding, and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA). As a former Education Cluster Coordinator, she has led multi-agency coordination efforts to enhance education responses in emergencies. Expertise includes counter-trafficking, child protection case management, and education for displaced populations. An INEE Minimum Standards Certified Trainer, her skills include capacity building, policy development, and donor engagement with a strong commitment to strengthening education and child protection systems in crisis settings.
Angelica Fleischer
Angelica has over 15 years of experience in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), working in over 20 countries with a range of INGOs (Humanity & Inclusion, Oxfam, ACF, Save the Children), as well as USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). This includes experience in rapid onset disasters, chronic emergencies, and resilience programming.
Her educational background includes a dual Masters in Public Health and Nursing and she is completing a Certificate in Program Evaluation. Her current areas of interest include inclusion (focus on people with disabilities and gender), increasing coherence between emergency and development programming, WASH in infectious disease preparedness and response, and program evaluation.
Lubna Ghneim
Lubna Ghneim has over 15 years experience managing humanitarian and development programmes. Lubna has led the supervision, monitoring and implementation of private sector development, humanitarian and climate change projects and coached programme managers in Sierra Leone to build their capacity in programme management including monitoring, risk management and finances. She has worked in Palestine, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. She’s developing her skills in permanent agriculture and in painting and drawing. She’s interested in programmes that integrate food sovereignty and sustainable living with education and women empowerment.
Michelle Godwin
Michelle is a planning and coordination specialist, with expertise in public health, protection, and child rights. Michelle brings decades of experience with the United Nations, civil society and research institutes; currently with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Between 2015 – 2019 she served in the director’s office of UNICEF’s global research office in Florence, Italy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Michelle was asked to join the Global Education Cluster, in Geneva, guiding teams in over 25 countries. Her time working with remote Indigenous community teams with the Australian Red Cross was formative for her. Her insights on topics related to children and armed conflict in Asia, adolescence, and community development have been published in peer reviewed journals and books. A founding associate of Tsunagu, she is interested in feminist approaches, interdisciplinary work, indigenous rights and ethics, and the use of evidence in different contexts. She has lived and worked in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Australia.
Mira Gratier
Mira is an expert in humanitarian assistance and disaster preparedness, with a focus on climate and conflict-related risks. She has 25 years’ experience carrying out qualitative research and assessments, developing partnerships and engaging widely with stakeholders in complex environments. Having completed a post-masters at a Belgian business school to build on her experience in developing innovative partnerships with the private sector and social enterprise, she is keen to support private sector actors with sustainability, business & human rights and social impact objectives.
Claudia Guidarini
Claudia Guidarini holds an MA in Education, gender and international development and a master in Gender equality in international aid. She has 15 years of professional experience in promoting gender equality in development and humanitarian contexts, GBV, GBViE, child protection, school related GBV, GBV risk mitigation with NGOs as well as in the framework of the design and implementation of bi-multilateral projects. She has extensive experience at global level and with specific focus on WCA and LAC regions. She has extensive capacity in designing and delivery capacity building and trainings in GBV mainstreaming and safe and ethical research. She is experienced in designing tools and implementing gender and GBV assessments and GBV audits, in the development of sectoral and action plans including GBV concerns, in GBV programming and implementation with focus on CEFMU, adolescent girls, women’s and girls’ safe spaces, school based mechanisms for preventing, mitigating and responding to GBV. She also has experience in building GBV evidence, including collecting and managing data, in feminist MEAL and in the promotion of localization based on feminist principles.
Julia Hollaender
Julia has over 7 years of experience in Gender, GBV prevention & response and Protection in development and humanitarian settings, working with grass-root level CSOs and INGOs, coordinating with government stakeholders and the UN. Her experience encompasses working with refugees, IDPs and stateless populations. Julia has set up and led Protection, including Child Protection and GBV prevention and response programs with a strong focus on capacity building, training of staff and partners and developing tools and guidance. She has experience co-leading the national GBV Sub-Sector Working Group in Libya alongside UNFPA.
Alex Horowitz
Alex Horowitz is a humanitarian information specialist and writer/editor. Alex graduated with a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and worked for 10 years as an editor in digital media, most recently for Thomson Reuters in New York. She joined the humanitarian sector in 2017, working on Communicating with Communities projects related to the European refugee crisis. Since then she has worked as a consultant on accountability and information-as-aid projects for UN agencies and major INGOs, with a special focus on digital interventions, including two-way communication through social media and through artificial intelligence.
Fabiola del Carmen Ibarra Ramos
Fabiola holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in International Migration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has international experience in providing support for migrants, refugees and other vulnerable population groups, specifically regarding legal aid, education, and social and cultural integration. She co-authored the article: ‘A Deep Wound: The Hell on Earth in which Migrant Workers and Their Families Live’, published in the academic journal Xipe Totek; and the book “El Paraíso de la Impunidad en México”.
Hannah Jay
Hannah is a consultant and subject matter expert on prevention and response to violence against women and children. She has more than 15 years’ experience providing thought and technical leadership to the United Nations, national governments and leading non-government organisations. Hannah previously led the GBVAoR in developing their strategic plan and setting priorities at for addressing gender-based violence in emergencies. She has worked on global technical guidance documents and led international human rights reporting for several states. She has worked on large and complex consulting contracts including recent work leading GBV prevention with adolescents in Vanuatu, multi-country initiatives addressing child marriage in refugee contexts and developing safe spaces and crisis accommodation. Hannah is a board observer with Respect Victoria, a senior expert for the GBVAoR help-desk and an expert investigator for international justice mechanisms addressing crimes against children. She previously led research on the experience of adolescent girls in complex emergencies, on the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality in the Pacific and on child marriage in humanitarian contexts.
Afreen Khan
For more than sixteen years Afreen has been working in the national and international non-profit social development and in humanitarian sectors (Bangladesh and Germany). She is experienced in working with UN platforms, IFRC, local and international NGOs, and research organizations; working in project management and implementation, design monitoring, evaluation, and research, as well as development of knowledge and communication materials. Core areas of experience include community-based climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, humanitarian action, gender-based violence, economic empowerment of women, refugee camp management and inclusive practice (gender, children and diverse backgrounds). Afreen holds a Master’s in International Humanitarian Actions (NOHA) and in Women and Gender Studies, and a Bachelor is on Geography and Environment, from Bangladesh.
Elfriede MF Kormawa
Elfriede MF Kormawa holds a Master of Science degree in Health and Society: Social Epidemiology from University College London, and a Bachelor of Science degree with honours from the University of Plymouth. With over 8 years of experience in staff and consultant roles for the United Nations organizations (the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund) and International non-governmental organisations, Elfriede has provided technical support to GBViE program implementation in conflict settings across 17 countries globally. Her expertise lies in data management, information management, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination for GBV, Health, and Nutrition programs, in humanitarian and development contexts. Additionally, Elfriede is adept in GBV program design and management, capacity building, technical guidance development, and advocacy.
Philippe Kouadio
Philippe Kouadio is an agro-economist engineer with 10 years of professional experience in the whole field of sustainable agriculture and economic development with a focus on farmers’ associations (GAP, financial and management diagnosis, and coaching…), environment and certification (UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, 4C), child labor (CLMRS, pesticide issues, community development activities…) and women and youth empowerment (entrepreneurship, VSLA, incubator…). Throughout these years, Philippe has been in constant contact with the rural environment in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa. He has carried out projects and consultancy work for traders, manufacturers, NGOs, and the public sector in various sectors such as cocoa, coffee, cashew, vegetables. Since 2019, Philippe has been a teacher and researcher at the National Polytechnic Institute INP-HB in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
Julie Lafrenière
Julie has a background in law, and over 25 years’ experience in Gender and GBV prevention and risk mitigation working mostly in international humanitarian settings. She has extensive experience in providing long term vision and strategic planning, organizational representation in global forums, feminist leadership, and research, writing and analysis. Her experience includes working for governmental, non-governmental and the United Nations (UNFPA and UNICEF) organizations. Her achievements include co-writing the Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based. Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing risk, promoting resilience and aiding recovery.
Heidi Loening-Voysey
As a Social Worker, Heidi Loening-Voysey (BSoc Science Honours, MM in Public and Development Management, MM in Social Security) has had 35 years of varied work experience in child protection, alternative care, gender-based violence, early childhood development and disability inclusion. Heidi spent some time in academia, teaching social work, supervising students in practical training and developing a keen interest in reflective practice, applying acquired knowledge, data and skills to enhance service effectiveness. Her work experience includes seventeen years with UNICEF working in child protection and latterly in research, applying international conventions, legislative and policy frameworks, learning about duty-bearers and rights-holders and the centrality of reliable data in monitoring the domestication of all the states parties’ commitments. This has helped position her local research initiatives within a global perspective. From a social worker in a small children’s home to assessing national accomplishments against international conventions, Heidi now works as a consultant on individual assignments, where her skills and knowledge contribute to positive social change for vulnerable communities.
Catherine Maternowska
M. Catherine Maternowska, medical anthropologist, author, and academic brings 30 years of global experience in socio-medical research, evaluation, and programming. Her work managing donor-financed national, regional and global programs has focused on child protection and sexual and reproductive health with expertise in gender-based violence policy, prevention, care, and treatment. Dr Maternowska works at the interface of research and practice-based knowledge generation, translation and mobilisation working across academia, the UN and civil society in over 40 countries globally to innovate new approaches to data collection, evidence generation and learning.
Chizu Matsushita
Certified coach and facilitator with 20+ years in humanitarian aid, human rights, and treaty implementation with UNHCR, OPCW, and other UN agencies. Supports individuals and organisations in the social impact sector with a focus on inclusive spaces, resilience, and nature-conscious leadership. Lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Supervisory Board Member of The Hague Humanity Hub.
Camille Maubert
I am a Research and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist in gender and protection, with over ten years of experience designing, leading, and evaluating evidence-based research and programmes in humanitarian, development, and fragile contexts. My work sits at the intersection of rigorous qualitative and mixed-methods research and applied MEL, bridging gender analysis and social norms research with the design, assessment, and scale-up of culturally sensitive, gender-transformative interventions.
I specialise in understanding and measuring change in gender norms, attitudes, and behaviours that underpin gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices, and wider patterns of exclusion and inequality. A core focus of my work is on engaging men and boys in conflict-affected settings, examining how masculinities, violence, displacement, and everyday insecurity shape power relations, behaviour, and opportunities for social change. I bring strong expertise in feminist, participatory, and human-centred methodologies, and in developing qualitative and quantitative tools that capture complex, non-linear social change across diverse contexts.
I have led and contributed to multi-country research, evaluations, and learning processes for UN agencies, international NGOs, research institutions, and donors, including UNICEF, UNHCR, the World Bank, EIGE, and Plan International. My experience spans protection, GBV prevention and response, sexual and reproductive health and rights, social protection, education, climate and socio-economic resilience, and digital humanitarian action.
My approach is collaborative, ethical, and grounded in the meaningful participation of crisis-affected and marginalised populations, including refugees, migrants, indigenous communities, youth, and persons with disabilities. I am committed to producing policy-relevant and practice-oriented evidence that strengthens accountability, informs adaptive programming, and supports locally driven, sustainable pathways to gender justice and transformative social change.
Outside work, you’ll most likely find me gardening in the allotment, experimenting with DIY projects, and steadily accumulating a pile of books I may never have time to read.
Natasha Mulji
Natasha is an operations and finance expert and provides operational, financial and logistical support to consultants and organisations in the international development sector. Natasha’s career includes accounting and finance services, in the private and not for profit sectors, including as Chief Accountant for the Italian subsidiary at Leco Europe.
Joseph Munyandamutsa
Joseph is a consultant in Disability Inclusive Development with 9 years of experience in the field of Disability Inclusion in the humanitarian and development sector in Rwandan and international contexts. He holds a master’s degree in Child Development that he obtained in 2018 from the University of Haifa in Israel. His work focuses on Early Childhood Development and Community Based Inclusive Development in Rwanda, Togo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is a founder of CECHE Foundation, a local NGO operating in Rwanda to promote access and participation to inclusive and essential services to children with disabilities and their families.
Tamah Murfet
Tamah Murfet is a Gender-Based Violence specialist with more than 15 years’ experience in designing, implementing, evaluating, and providing technical support to large and complex programmes for the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls.
Tamah has led and supported a wide range of GBV programmes, coordination mechanisms, and advocacy initiatives, working with women’s civil-society organisations, local and international non-government organisations, and UN agencies. She is an experienced facilitator, and has developed and delivered a wide range of adult learning materials and processes. Tamah is a subject matter expert across varied technical areas including GBV case management, psychosocial support, women’s economic empowerment, supporting adolescent girls, and engaging men and boys in violence prevention. Tamah has worked in varied humanitarian, post-conflict, and development settings in the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South-East Asia, and Pacific Island Countries.
Tamah holds a Master’s degree in International and Community Development from Deakin University in Australia. She is passionate about upholding the rights of women and girls to live a life free from violence, and committed to ethical practice based on feminist principles. She has a particular interest in transformative programming focusing on changes in social norms and power dynamics.
Mays Nawayseh
Mays Nawayseh is a Global Protection and Gender Advisor with more than seventeen years of experience in the humanitarian sector. Currently consulting at ACAPS, she leverages her expertise in protection, sexual exploitation and abuse prevention (PSEA), gender-based violence (GBV), and gender mainstreaming to advocate for the rights and well-being of crisis-affected populations. Throughout her career, Mays has trained over 3,000 humanitarian actors, sharing knowledge and best practices to strengthen the capacity of organizations and individuals responding to crises. Highly skilled in program design, she has successfully acquired over $30 million from donors for protection programming over the last eight years.
Mays has worked with leading organizations including IOM-UN Migration, World Vision, the International Rescue Committee, UNFPA, GIZ, and UN Women. She has also partnered with major institutional donors such as BHA/USAID, BPRM, ECHO, BMZ, AFD, GAC, and DFAT on various projects. Mays plays both global and regional roles, contributing to policy development, response coordination, and advocacy initiatives at multiple levels. She is dedicated to ensuring that protection and gender perspectives are integrated into humanitarian assessment, response, and coordination, and has contributed to various publications, trainings, and tools that support evidence-based humanitarian advocacy and decision making. Fluent in Arabic and English, Mays is recognized for her commitment to advancing the dignity and rights of women, girls, and vulnerable groups across challenging contexts.
Chantal Neuweiler
Chantal is a Child Protection Specialist. Over the past 15 years, she worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, national and international NGOs, OHCHR and UNICEF to enhance child protection systems with a focus on violence prevention and response, demobilize and reintegrate children associated with armed forces and groups, develop child friendly justice systems, monitor human rights and respond to crisis, including in South Africa, Palestine, Myanmar, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Ethiopia. Chantal holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and an L.L.M in Public International Law from the University of Leiden.
Meghan O’Connor
Meghan O’Connor MPH, LMSW. Meghan has been working domestically and internationally on the issue of violence against women and children for 20 years. Her experience across Africa, Asia and the Middle East in humanitarian contexts in women and children’s protection includes program design, implementation and evaluation; training and resource development; and supervision and coaching. In additional to technical work focused on violence against women and children in emergencies, she currently also works on organizational culture and development that is rooted in intersectional feminist values and practices. She is a highly skilled facilitator, trainer and leadership consultant.
Lucinda O’Hanlon
I’m a U.S.-trained lawyer with over 20 years of global experience championing human rights—particularly women’s rights and economic and social justice. Much of my career has been rooted in the UN system, including the UN Human Rights Office, the World Health Organisation, and the UNICEF hosted Sanitation and Water for All global partnership. In these various roles, I’ve been especially effective in building strategic and multistakeholder partnerships, identifying and pursuing opportunities to enhance awareness of and respect for human rights, and supervising rigorous human rights research and analysis. I bring strong strategic leadership, sharp political insight, and a deep commitment to multilateral diplomacy. I am proud of my ability to communicate, whether distilling complex legal concepts for broad audiences, or designing persuasive messaging for high level political engagement. My ultimate passion is contributing to meaningful progress in upholding human rights, whether at local, national or global levels.
Gloria Puertas
Gloria is a medical doctor with long experience working in humanitarian contexts in Latin-America, Africa and Asia, in the field of public health. She has been working with MSF, UNHCR, UNICEF and ECHO in a variety of programs and countries, with focus on primary health care, mental health, epidemic preparedness and access to basic health services. She is passionate about working with multi-disciplinary teams to promote evidence-based policies and strategic planning. She is interested in the social determinants of health, social inclusion and local strategies to address climate change.
Raquel Pujadas
Raquel Pujadas is experienced in peace and security, peacekeeping, humanitarian and European Union affairs, with a keen interest in child protection, youth, gender, transnational organized crime, migrations, and counter-terrorism. She has collaborated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Deloitte, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Spanish Mission to the United Nations, Science Europe, and the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). She has carried out evaluations, has extensive experience in report drafting, data collection, policy analysis, project management, proposal writing, and advocacy. Her communication and negotiation skills have afforded sustainable relationships building in multicultural environments. She holds a MA in European Political and Governance Studies (College of Europe, Belgium), and a BA in International Relations (Ramon Llull University, Spain). Fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Catalan, Raquel makes things happen, through analysis, hard work, and an enthusiastic problem-solving mentality.
Francesca Rivelli
Francesca is a multilingual facilitator and programme coordinator with over 20 years of experience in gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, safeguarding, and inclusive training. She has worked with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, and several international NGOs to design and deliver programmes that protect survivors, promote accountability, and support cultural change. Her work includes policy development, training design, and strategic communication. She creates safe, practical spaces for learning and reflection—whether working with frontline staff, managers, or women participants. Fluent in English, French, and Spanish, Francesca brings a cross-cultural approach to every project. She adapts content to local contexts and ensures that safeguarding becomes a lived practice.
Francesca is skilled at turning complex ideas into clear, engaging formats. Her trainings use case studies, visual storytelling, and participatory methods to help people connect, reflect, and take action. She also develops monitoring tools that combine data with narrative, making it easier to track impact and improve practice. She works closely with teams to co-create solutions that are ethical, inclusive, and effective.
Francesca is a strategic thinker who values feedback and collaboration. She supports organisations to strengthen their safeguarding systems, improve staff capacity, and respond to GBV with care and clarity. Her recent work includes adapting training for different regions, supporting inter-agency coordination, research and assessment on GBV, and helping teams measuring gender norms as barriers and levers for advancing gender equality
Alexina Rusere
Alexina is a humanitarian and community development practitioner with 20 years of experience working with camp-based refugees, internally displaced persons and marginalised communities in rural and urban settings. She has worked with Save the Children (Norway) UNHCR, OCHA and UNFPA and has served as Regional GBV in Emergencies for Middle East, GenCap Advisor Somalia and GBV Coordinator Somalia, the Philippines and Palestine.
She has acquired experience in developing and strengthening systems in preventing and responding to GBV including gender mainstreaming in programs and activities. Alexina is an advocate for gender equality; in 2005, she received an Award for promoting gender equality from the UNHCR.
Elayn M Sammon
Elayn holds two Masters’ Degrees (MSc.) in Disability Studies and MSc. in Equality and Social Inclusion. She has more than 20 years’ results oriented international development experience in social policy (child protection systems, child-sensitive social protection, health, education) in low and middle-income countries, fragile states and humanitarian contexts. Elayn has extensive experience in both leadership and technical expert roles with NGOs and as a former staff member with UNICEF, and consultant in a range of low-, middle- and high-income economies of East and Southern Africa, Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific, and South Asia regions.
Laetitia Sanchez
Laetitia brings over 10 years of experience in protection, child protection, coordination, gender-based violence, advocacy, and PSEA . She has worked with UNHCR, UNRWA, Action contre la Faim, and Plan International in diverse contexts, including natural disasters, mixed migration, refugees, and IDPs. Her assignments have taken her to countries such as Indonesia, Haiti, South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Libya, Jordan, Niger and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Laetitia holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and a Master’s Degree in Humanitarian Action from the NOHA network. She is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.
Julie Sauerwein
As an illustrator and graphic designer for social change, Julie likes to connect artistic practices with development and education. With a background in Art History and curatorial experience as well as a passion for lifelong learning and research in creative processes, she has been collaborating since 2010 with government ministries, INGOs and UN agencies, creating culturally resonant communication tools for diverse humanitarian sectors. Through her visual work and graphic skills, she helps provide clear communication tools in the fields of migration, women’s empowerment, gender-based violence education, children’s rights, child protection, WaSH, environment sustainability, waste management & urban development (in South India, Pacific Island State Vanuatu, Berlin and now Brussels). Her designs span manuals, flipcharts, presentations, gifs, screen-printed fabrics, public space campaigns, posters, theater sets & costumes — all purpose-built for humanitarian causes.
Aseel Shakboua
Aseel is a humanitarian expert and trainer from Jordan. With 14 years of professional experience, she specializes in humanitarian and emergency settings. She’s worked extensively in emergency contexts across various international NGOs and UN agencies, with assignments spanning the MENA region, East and West Africa, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. She has also worked in humanitarian-development nexus programming.
Aseel provides technical advisory services in Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), safeguarding, and safe programming. She is an experienced humanitarian leader with diverse roles in managing multifaceted projects and large teams, in addition to navigating various donors and budget scales.
Aseel is passionate about training, adult learning, and capacity development, in the humanitarian sector, with a strong foundation in learning and development for humanitarian program, she’s firmly believes in the power of knowledge sharing and its profound impact on the humanitarian field worldwide, she’s also adept in designing and delivering different training programs in humanitarian interventions, emergency coordination, gender-based violence, PSEA, safeguarding, Safety and security, adding to this developing blended learning approach combining face-to-face, synchronous and asynchronous online learning elements, or online courses.
Ewa Spasowski
Ewa has worked for over a decade on rule of law, human rights, governance and development issues in academic research as well as for governmental and non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and in conflict and post conflict as well as transition contexts. Her educational background is firmly rooted in human rights (Masters in Law from Lund University, Sweden, including studies at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian law). As Human Rights Officer for the UN system in Uganda and Switzerland and for the OSCE in Bosnia and Hercegovina and Ukraine, as well as Rule of Law Adviser for the EU in Ukraine and a coordinator against violent extremism in Sweden, Ewa has operational field and headquarters level experience as well as an understanding of the more global political aspects of human rights issues. She also has an interest in human rights and the health sector and has worked with WHO. Her work has afforded insight into monitoring, analysis, reporting, advocating, advising and training good governance, development and security.
Taisei Suzuki
Dr. Taisei Suzuki was born and raised in Japan and came to the United States at the age of 15 as an international high school student. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Portland in Oregon and completed a Master’s in International Public Health at the University of Sydney in Australia. Prior to medical school, he spent nearly eight years working as a humanitarian aid professional with non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, serving in countries and regions affected by both natural and human-made disasters, including Liberia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. His work focused particularly on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives and overseeing complex project management efforts, reflecting his deep passion for supporting vulnerable communities in need.
Driven by his commitment to service and osteopathic medicine, Dr. Suzuki attended A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in 2015. He completed his Family Medicine residency in 2018 through the Wright Center National Family Medicine Residency Program, training at Federally Qualified Health Centers in Washington, DC, and Tucson, AZ, where he served as chief resident.
Dr. Suzuki is a board-certified Family Medicine physician through the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. He is the former Associate Program Director for the Wright Center National Family Medicine Residency Program at the Unity Health Care training site. He also serves as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona and as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the George Washington University Department of Medicine.
Until October 2025, Dr. Suzuki provided comprehensive primary and osteopathic medical care at Unity Health Care’s Parkside Clinic. He now serves as a PRN physician with Unity Health Care and continues caring for incarcerated patients within the DC Department of Corrections. He is also the Medical Director for three county jails in Maryland, overseeing correctional health services. In addition, Dr. Suzuki recently joined a small private practice in North Bethesda, Maryland, where he works part-time providing osteopathic manipulative medicine and acupuncture treatments.
Dr. Suzuki remains actively engaged in professional leadership, having served as President of the Maryland Association of Osteopathic Physicians (MAOP) for two years and continuing as Immediate Past President. He is a certified acupuncturist in Washington, DC, and Maryland, and earned the Certified Correctional Health Professional – Clinical Provider (CCHP-CP) credential through the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in 2022.
Phan Thi Lang Huong
Phan is a senior lecturer at Hanoi Law University in Vietnam. She received a Doctor of Law Degree from the Graduate School of Law (Nagoya University, Japan) in 2012. Human rights and rule of law are her key research interests, especially the protection of the rights of disadvantaged groups in Viet Nam. Significantly, she has conducted a number of research projects on the rights of vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, sex workers, ethnic minority women, and children in comparison with international standards. Phan also works as for UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNDP in Viet Nam on themes including Child Justice and Gender equality.
Eri Uchimura
Eri is a sustainability and responsible business conduct specialist with over fifteen years of experience across international organizations, governments, and the private sector. She has worked at the ILO on decent work in global supply chains, at the OECD on responsible sourcing in Asia, and at The Global Fund on partnership development for the Market Shaping Initiative. Earlier in her career, she worked as an ESG analyst in London advising multinationals on ethical sourcing and sustainability reporting.
Eri is passionate about building bridges between private sector and non-profit actors, believing that the knowledge each has accumulated over decades — if shared — holds enormous potential for addressing global challenges. A UK Chartered Management Institute-certified Sustainability Practitioner, she holds three Master's degrees in Social Anthropology, Political Science, and Responsible Management. She has lived in Japan, the UK, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and Switzerland.
Karin Ulin
Karin is an expert in Child Protection, refugee response and integration, with over 15 years of experience working with child protection, children’s rights, emergency management and integration in Europe, Africa, Asia. Karin has designed programs focusing on providing protection to children in emergency situations, in refugee settings as well as IDP settings. She has a solid background in coordination of emergency response both as emergency coordinator for UNICEF in Kurdish region of Iraq as well as Child Protection cluster coordinator in South Sudan, Nepal, and Ukraine where she has developed strong strategic and analytical skills with UNICEF
Irina Urumova
Irina Urumova is an expert with over 15 years of international experience, with specific expertise in gender integration and countering sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). In her progressively responsible appointments with the OSCE, she worked on a wide array of justice reform issues. In her subsequent career as an independent expert on justice and law enforcement reform, Irina has worked with a range of international organizations, including UNICEF. As recently as May 2024 she, jointly with another trainer, developed and delivered training on countering SGBV for Kyrgyzstani justice sector practitioners.
Irina is rostered by Justice Rapid Response as an international criminal investigator on SGB crimes and crimes against children. She has been previously deployed as a SGBV investigator with the OHCHR Examination of the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, as well as with the International Criminal Court. Her geographical expertise spans Central Asia, Europe, South Caucasus and parts of the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia. Irina is fully bilingual in English and Russian, and speaks Armenian, Kurdish, Polish and Spanish.
Mark Van Dorp
Mark has a background in economics, with 25 years of experience in sustainable economic development in fragile and conflict-affected settings, private sector development, conflict- sensitive and peace-promoting business, conflict analysis and peace building, security and human rights, economic opportunity mappings, value chain development, corporate social responsibility, child labour, living wage and other SG (environmental, social and governance) issues. Mark has used this experience in projects in various fragile settings, including Lebanon, Iraq, Colombia, Cameroon, DRC, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan.
Giovanna Vio
Giovanna is a child protection and children’s rights specialist with over 15 years of experience working in humanitarian and development contexts. She has worked for many years with INGOs, including Save the Children, and UNICEF before becoming an independent consultant. Throughout her career, she has covered roles as Manager, Technical Advisor and Coordinator in field-based, national, and global positions across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Her technical expertise and portfolio encompass providing technical support and designing, implementing, evaluating programmes on all areas of child protection in humanitarian action, with a particular focus on the protection and wellbeing of children affected by conflict, those who are refugees, internally displaced, and migrants. Giovanna has broad experience in case management, cross-sectoral collaboration, needs assessments, evaluations, field-based research and data collection, design and delivery of capacity strengthening packages, development of programme tools, technical guidance, and the facilitation of workshops. She is passionate about working with children and ensuring that all programmes place an emphasis on accountability to children and to affected populations. Giovanna has a background in International Development and holds a MA in Human Rights. She is fluent in English and Italian, and can work well in Spanish and French.
Miho Watanabe
Miho is gender and gender based violence (GBV) specialist, skilled in gender mainstreaming and creative communication. With her passion for translating complex development topics into easy-to-understand materials, she uses stories and illustrations that inspire readers to view social issues through a human lens and invite them to be part of the solution. She has worked with the UN and INGOs since 2009.
Kim Watson
Kim Watson is a senior impact research and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist with over 20 years of experience supporting international development, global health, and evidence-based decision-making. She works with academic institutions, NGOs, UN agencies, and donor-funded programmes to design evaluations, theories of change, outcome frameworks, and learning systems that strengthen programme quality and accountability. Kim has led mixed-methods research and MEL strategy for multi-country initiatives across sectors including mental health, infectious disease, nutrition and food systems, gender, social protection, governance, and environmental sustainability, with experience spanning Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. She is known for her collaborative, human-centred approach, combining rigorous analysis with capacity strengthening and practical tools that support adaptive management and data use. Kim holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brandeis University, and is proficient in analytical and data systems including Stata, NVivo, REDCap, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, DHIS2, SAS, and SPSS.
Blain Worku
Blain Worku is a passionate social development expert trained as a human rights lawyer. With more than 18 years of experience working in the areas of Gender, Safeguarding, PSEA, GBV, child protection,youth engagement and legal drafting in development and emergency contexts, both at technical and managerial level, she brings in a unique blend of experience in the area.
She has experience consulting UN agencies, government, CSOs, Women Led Organizations and INGOs on a range of areas focusing on empowering vulnerable groups. Working for UNICEF, she managed the World Bank funded, GBV prevention and response (3R-CACE project) in Ethiopia. She led on the development of Femicide report in Ethiopia, generating the first ever statistical report on Femicide in the country. She was regional safeguarding advisor at Funder Safeguarding Collaborative, running a monthly community of practice session for over two years. She developed various guidelines, drafted legal documents, produced reports and led on researches. She is an experienced facilitator delivering capacity building training and training of trainers.
Before becoming an independent consultant, Blain was an advisor to the President of Ethiopia, leading on multiple multi million dollar projects of the Presidential Gender Initiatives including the flagship presidential women leaders program and the Master Card foundation’s economic empowerment of women in conflict affected areas of the country. In addition to project management, the role involves supporting the President in her bilateral and multilateral engagements and coordinating the President's engagement with GAVI, UNESCO, AU and other organizations. Before working for the President, she worked at Girl Effect as a senior manager for Impact, leading on Gender, Safeguarding and evidence teams of the organization. Prior to that she served as a Child Protection National Program Manager at Save the Children International leading on a national program of FGM and has also worked with world vision Ethiopia, as a social protection and advocacy specialist.
She began her career as a Public Prosecutor for violence against women and children cases at the Ministry of Justice and subsequently served as Head of the Justice Office, where she led the Office’s investigation and prosecution activities and participated in different legal drafting assignments. She also has an extensive experience in the civil society policy and legal framework of the country , drafting and co-drafting more than 15 directives and regulations for the proper implementation of the country’s civil society law.
Maki Yamagishi
Maki is a development specialist with over 15 years of experience. She managed the oversees development aid of the Japanese Government, focusing on livelihood improvement of rural populations in fragile contexts such as Sri Lanka, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Philippines. She designs and runs projects that deliver both the immediate impacts and sustainable solutions along with peace promoting efforts. She provides consultancy services for the public and private sectors and NGOs in design for the improved supply chain management to promote responsible sourcing. Maki holds an MBA and master’s in Agriculture.
Masumi Yamashina
Masumi brings more than 15 years of experience mainly in Child Protection, gender-based violence), gender, PSEA, social protection and livelihoods with UNICEF, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Japanese Red Cross and the Japan Centre for Conflict Resolution. She worked in both development and humanitarian contexts such as Afghanistan, China, Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Zimbabwe and at the global post in Geneva. She has been mentoring start-ups and non-profit organizations in Google SDGs accelerate and the impact challenge for women and girls since 2020. She holds a Master of International Law.
