Our team

Suzanne Ehlers is an established non-profit executive leader with 25+ years of experience serving and connecting global populations including refugees, forcibly displaced people and the stateless. She is currently the Executive Director & CEO of USA for UNHCR where she leads a DC and NYC-based organization of 80+ staff that amplifies refugee voices whilst engaging millions of Americans in support of the work of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. 

Prior to joining USA for UNHCR, Suzanne served as CEO of Malala Fund where she worked closely with co-founders Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai to create a world where all girls can pursue twelve years of free, safe and high-quality education.  

Sarah is a Trustee of the First Light Festival in Lowestoft. She has previously been a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Horniman Museum and Gardens, a Trustee of the Spitalfields Festival and a Feoffee of Chethams Hospital and Library.

Sarah was Chief Executive of Trinity College London from 2008-2021. Prior to joining Trinity College London, she gained wide international executive and leadership experience in educational, arts and content organisations in both not-for-profit and commercial companies.

Having been a lawyer for an international law firm for a number of years, Chris then moved in the not-for-profit sector. He has worked within it for five years, for a human rights organisation based in sub-Saharan Africa and then global humanitarian agencies Save the Children and Merlin.

Most recently, following being asked to start up a new charity, Chris is the Director of Global Operations at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

He is passionate about equipping people in developing or vulnerable countries to survive and thrive and, in particular, the role played by women.

Chris is also a trustee of the Royal Pinner Educational Trust.

With more than 15 years working in international development, Christine has substantial global experience in women’s economic empowerment, private-sector development, financial inclusion, value chain development, entrepreneurship, cross-sector partnerships, and social enterprise.

Christine is a Director in BSR’s (Business for Social Responsibility) Women’s Empowerment practice and leads HERproject – a collaborative initiative bringing together global brands, their suppliers, and local NGOs to empower low-income women workers in global supply chains.

Prior to BSR, Christine was the global director of women’s economic empowerment at CARE International, leading the organization’s global work to support 30 million women. Christine also previously worked on building leadership training programs for sustainable development at Lead International and for the United Nations Development Programme in Nicaragua.

Winnie is a Partner at Axum based in Nairobi, Kenya. She co-leads the implementation team with a focus on rapidly deploying delivery units with top local talent to incubate and support initiatives that solve pressing social challenges and deliver meaningful, sustainable impact across the African continent.

Winnie has worked closely with leaders in the public sector, where she served as an advisor to two Cabinet Ministers in Kenya advising on youth empowerment projects and communication efforts. She has also held leadership positions in the private sector across the African continent and in North America.

Angela has extensive experience of leadership, governance, communication, change management, stakeholder engagement, and high profile events and personnel.

She is currently CEO of Girlguiding and was previously CEO of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation; Director of VSO UK; and Head of Nations and Regions at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

She has also worked as an independent consultant advising on organisational set-up for delivery, governance and philanthropy.

Andrew is Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, at ISC2. He is an accomplished global communications leader with more than 25 years’ experience working in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, specialising in technology and fintech industries, as well as non-profit and social impact roles. He brings substantial experience developing and driving global communications strategies that advance initiatives, including external affairs,  research, communications, and advocacy.

He previously held the title of Executive Vice President of Global Advocacy for Women’s World Banking, a global NGO dedicated to gender equality in financial access, where he led the organization’s first global Advocacy & Policy function, comprising Communications, Policy and Research as well as serving as senior advisor to the CEO on all communication and policy initiatives, including interactions with the UN, G20, Clinton Global Initiative and WEF.

Clare joined the Foundation as COO in May 2024. She has over 25 years cross cutting leadership experience in international development organisations most recently as Director of Strategy, People and Performance at Brooke. She has previously worked for the Cherie Blair Foundation between 2016- 2017 as Interim CEO and Director of Strategy and has also worked for the Fairtrade Foundation, Partners for Water and Sanitation and the Environment Agency. She is passionate about gender equality and is Co-Founder and Chair of the charity Equality Starts at Home and Vice Chair of Age International. She has a degree in International Relations and French and Masters in Information Systems.

Gail joined in July 2024 as our HR Business Partner. She comes with a wealth of experience in HR and has been looking to move into a purpose led organisation in the charity sector having volunteered for SOS Children’s Villages. Professional speciality areas include Recruitment, HR Operations, Employee Relations, improving HR Processes and Policies, as well as building leadership capability and culture by delivering people focused strategies which allow organisations to achieve success. On a personal level, she thrives on self-development and seeking new concepts for solution orientation and improvement. She enjoys understanding and motivating others to embrace their uniqueness and to discover their authentic self to realise their true potential. She loves travel, music, reading & hiking.

Yvette joined the Foundation in 2023 as our Business Support Officer. She has over 30 years of professional experience in administrative roles within various operational programmes in the NHS, WaterAid, and ACORD.  She has also worked in the public sector and the civil service. She is very passionate about Equality and Inclusion and Mental Health issues within our social climate.

Leah joined the Foundation in October 2024. With nearly 10 years of experience supporting top-level executives, she thrives in fast paced environments and is committed to driving productivity and project coordination. Previously she has worked in Local Government, Advertising, and Virtual Assistant businesses. She is extremely passionate about Equality, Mental Health and Alcohol Change.

Hayley joined us in 2019. Formerly the Head of Development at YouthNet, she has extensive experience working with Trusts and Foundations. Before this, Hayley was a Cabinet Member for Crime Prevention and Public Safety at Brent Council. She has a BSc in Psychology from University of Manchester and a Post Grad in Local Government from Birkbeck College, University of London.

Lulu started at the Foundation in Autumn 2019. She is a feminist and disability rights activist, and cares deeply about social justice. She holds a wealth of expertise in marketing, communications, fundraising, project management, audience development, events and curating. A Fine Art graduate, prior to joining us Lulu worked in the arts sector for over 10 years with a focus on social change and community projects, as well as founding and running her own non-profit art and writing platform.

Caroline joined the Foundation in 2024, bringing a wealth of experience and a passion for empowering women entrepreneurs. As the founder and manager of a successful business development consultancy for 15 years Caroline has a proven track record in fostering innovative, flexible work environments and driving business growth.

Her career spans both corporate and charity sectors.

Bree joined the Foundation in June 2024, with over 15 years of experience in marketing within the for-profit sector. Bree holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Warwick Business School and a BSc in Leisure Management with a major in Marketing from the Breda University of Applied Sciences. Her volunteer work with the International Rescue Committee inspired her transition to the nonprofit sector, where she aspires to create an impact.

Kristin joined the foundation in 2022. She is passionate about women’s empowerment and has a background working in communications and public relations roles for organisations with that focus. Her main area of interest has been sexual and reproductive health and rights. She also previously worked on a women’s entrepreneurship programme in Zambia, before moving to London in 2019.

Alicia joined the Foundation in 2024, bringing extensive experience in fundraising, including Trusts and Foundations, Corporate Partnerships, and Special Events. She has worked with Spread a Smile, a charity that provides entertainment for seriously ill children and their families in hospitals, and the Holocaust Educational Trust, which ensures that the lessons of the Holocaust are learned by people from all backgrounds.

Alicia’s appreciation for diverse cultures was cultivated during her BA in Comparative Literature and Culture, and she also has a passion for amplifying marginalised voices, as reflected in her Master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Emily joined us in 2019. Formerly the Head of Women and Markets at CARE International UK, she is experienced in leading global teams in markets, value chains and dignified work. She’s also done retail management, marketing and programme management in Indonesia, Myanmar and India. Emily worked as a VSO small business advisor in Tanzania and holds a MSC in Responsible Business Practice from Bath University.

Elizabeth joined us in March 2019. Elizabeth previously worked at Coffey International Development where she oversaw the delivery of governance and justice reform projects in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe for donors such as DFID and the EU. Elizabeth holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations and Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews and an MSc in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics.

Franziska Wilk joined in May 2022. She is an expert in programme management in the NGO sector and has held various positions with a number of UK and international NGOs over the last decade. She joined us from Prince’s Trust International, a leading global youth organisation where she was managing multi-stakeholder projects focusing on entrepreneurship, education and employability across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Franziska is passionate about tackling challenges that women face and adopts a gender-lens across her work. She also believes that EdTech has huge potential in todays ever more digital environment, as a supplementary tool alongside quality face-to-face support. She holds an LLM in Law and also an MSc in NGO Development Management.

Cristina joined the Foundation in September 2023. She brings a wealth of experience from her prior roles at the International Labour Organization’s Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme and the International Trade Centre’s SheTrades Initiative, where she worked towards advancing opportunities for women in the global economy. Cristina has a background in journalism and holds an MBA specialising in International Trade and Development.

Leanne joined us in April 2022. Previously, she was Director of Programmes at Tzedek, a small international development NGO working in Ghana and India with women, youth and civil society groups living in extreme poverty. Her journey into working in gender equality started when she spent six months in northern Ghana, leading British and Ghanaian young people working to promote girls’ education. On her return, she pursued an MA in Education, Gender and International Development from UCL during which she focused on how formal and informal education can be used to effect behavioural change around harmful gender norms and stereotypes.

Marion joined the Foundation in April 2024 and is a dedicated advocate for gender equality, with a background in the human rights, gender, and international development fields.

Prior to her role at the Foundation, she worked at Amnesty International on the Resource Allocation Mechanism. She also has experience working on gender-smart initiatives, notably participating in the delivery of a project by BRED Banque Populaire catering to Cambodian women entrepreneurs. Marion holds an MSc in Gender, Development, and Globalisation from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.

Efe joined us in 2019. Previously with Ambition Institute as a Programme Manager, she led on recruitment and delivery of their Governance Leadership Programme in partnership with the Confederation of School Trusts. Before that Efe worked for causes supporting trafficked women and human rights activists. She is passionate about women’s empowerment as well as youth and community development work.

Angela joined the foundation in June 2022, bringing extensive experience in mentoring and coaching in diverse communities in the UK and in Latin America. She holds an MSc in Globalisation and Latin American Development from the School of Advanced Study. Angela is especially passionate about women’s empowerment, and in her free time ran a social enterprise working with small-scale cooperatives in low and middle income countries around the world.

Saskia joined the Foundation in 2022 after working as a freelance writer as well as in management roles for social initiative businesses which aimed to provide work experience and social support to ex-offenders and vulnerable youth. Activism has always been at the forefront of what Saskia does, from her time in Women’s Studies at The University of Concordia in Montreal, to organising movements in support of inclusive sex education and indigenous rights in Canada.

Aradhana joined the Foundation in 2024.  She brings expertise in development research and policy analysis, aiming to drive impactful change through community-centred approaches. Her previous role included driving countertrafficking programmes in the Maldives and facilitating the development of a community to support survivors of gender-based violence.  She has a strong focus on applying intersectional strategies to advance gender equality. She holds dual master’s degrees in International Relations and International Development, from the London School of Economics and Sciences Po.

Rachel joined at the Foundation in March 2023 with nearly two decades of experience in the third sector and consultancy. Her expertise is in research, evaluation and programme management, primarily in programming and policy to dismantle barriers to access in education and employment in marginalised communities. Most recently, Rachel managed evaluation and programme oversight for a US-based foundation conducting intensive community development and leadership education for women and girls in rural Kenya. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Modern European History from the University of Cambridge and dual B.A.s in History and French from Arizona State University.

Dermot has a Master’s in Conflict Resolution and Governance from the University of Amsterdam. His thesis focused on cultural performances in contested spaces. He previously worked for a peace and reconciliation centre in Northern Ireland before management positions in the civil service and hospitality. While in Amsterdam he volunteered with Leger des Heils to help refugees integrate into Dutch society.