Who we are
Peace Direct is an award-winning, international NGO supporting local people in some of the most challenging conflict environments worldwide.
We are based in London, UK, and have offices in Washington, DC and New York.
If you’d like to work for Peace Direct, visit our jobs page to see current vacancies for interns or staff.
Bridget Moix, US Executive Director
Bridget serves as Peace Direct’s US Executive Director, sharing our work and the work of our partners with the US peacebuilding community, funders, and policymakers. She has worked for 20 years on international peace and conflict issues, with a focus on US foreign policy. Prior to joining Peace Direct’s staff, she was part of its founding US board for four years. From 2013-2015, Bridget served as Atrocity Prevention Fellow with USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation. She spent nine years lobbying on US foreign policy and peace issues with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, where she developed and led the Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict program. She has also worked with the Quaker United Nations Office, Oxfam America, American Friends Service Committee, and the World Policy Institute. Bridget directed the Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City, a Quaker center of hospitality and international understanding, from 2006-2008. She also worked in Capetown, South Africa, with the Quaker Peace Centre during her graduate studies internship. Bridget holds a PhD with George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, where she focused her dissertation on understanding the motivations of local peacebuilders and how the international community can better support them. Her book, “Choosing Peace: Agency and Action in the Midst of War“, describes how local and global peacebuilders can work together. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and Quaker studies at a variety of institutions, including Haverford College, Columbia University, George Washington University, and Eastern Mennonite University. Bridget lives in Washington, DC, and has two sons who challenge her peacebuilding skills every day.
Contact: [email protected]
Contact: [email protected]
Christine Trillana, Development and Administrative Associate
Christine helps manage Peace Direct’s US-based public engagement and fundraising initiatives, including donor outreach and retention. She also leads Peace Direct’s Peacebuilder Allies Program for public education of the organization’s core values of local peacebuilding. In addition, Christine manages the systems that run Peace Direct’s Washington, DC office and contributes to its steady growth. She is an occasional contributor to Peace Direct’s blogs where she recounts her personal experience of supporting peacebuilders and recognizing the peacebuilder in herself. She earned her degree in International Studies from Fordham University and is happy to put this and her experience as an ambulette dispatcher to help build peace. Contact: [email protected]
John Guinan, US Director of Development
John Guinan serves as Peace Direct’s US Director of Development managing public education/engagement, development and partnership efforts. John has experience managing communications and development efforts for leading non-profit organizations. His background also includes working in peacebuilding and youth development both internationally and domestically in Northern Ireland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Chile, as well as Washington DC and New York City. He resides in Washington DC and is an accomplished visual artist. Contact: [email protected]
Vahe Mirikian, Peacebuilding Policy Officer
Vahe is Peace Direct’s Peacebuilding Policy Officer. He is leading Peace Direct’s US office with policy and advocacy where he focuses on youth, peace and security, atrocity prevention, countering violent extremism, and locally led peacebuilding. His regional focuses are Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. Prior to joining Peace Direct, Vahe interned with Search for Common Ground as a policy and advocacy assistant with the Global Affairs and Partnerships department. While at Search for Common Ground he focused on peacebuilding in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also has experience as a legislative intern working with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill. Vahe has an M.A. in International Affairs from the American University of Paris and a B.A. in Politics from Saint Mary’s College of California. Contact: [email protected]
Larisa Epatko, Senior Communications Officer
Larisa serves as Peace Direct’s Senior Communications Officer, helping with the organization’s media relations, social media strategy and platforms, public events and engagement. She previously worked as a reporter and producer for the foreign affairs team at the PBS NewsHour, reporting in places such as South Sudan, Pakistan, Haiti and Iraq. Her coverage includes writing profiles of remarkable people around the world who are working to improve their communities. Larisa also worked on Capitol Hill, covering Congress and administration policy for the nonpartisan Environment & Energy Daily. Contact: [email protected]
Dica Adotevi, US Finance Officer
Dica handles the finances for Peace Direct’s US office. She has more than 20 years of professional nonprofit accounting experience. Contact: [email protected]
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar, UN Representative
Gay is Peace Direct’s New York Representative where she interacts at the UN with Member States, UN staff and NGOs on efforts to support Peace Direct’s local peacebuilding partners in conflict affected countries. She worked at the United Nations for 25 years on conflict transformation and peacebuilding issues primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. She has been involved in: conflict analysis, capacity-building for mediation and dialogue, electoral violence prevention, and conflict-sensitive policy and practice. Gay has designed numerous peacebuilding programmes and co-founded the UN’s first cadre of peace and development advisors. Prior to that, she administered anti-apartheid capacity-building projects for refugees in southern Africa. In addition to representing Peace Direct at the UN, Gay is a senior advisor to Nonviolent Peaceforce and undertakes project formulation, analyses and evaluations of peacebuilding projects around the world. Contact: [email protected]
Annie Renas, Summer Intern
Annie serves as a Peacebuilding Research Intern at Peace Direct. She is assisting the US office with organizing a Platform4Dialogue consultation on peacebuilding in the United States. As a Political Science – Human Rights major and Africana Studies minor at Barnard College (Columbia University), she studies peace and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Congo. While pursuing her B.A., Annie also has developed an extensive professional history with nonprofits and international nongovernmental organizations, as well as research experience with Barnard’s faculty members. She looks forward to continuing to explore her passions for locally led peacebuilding in her work with Peace Direct. Contact: [email protected]
Amber Spalek, Summer Intern
Amber works as a Peace Mapping and Outreach Intern at Peace Direct. She is building Peace Direct’s network of local peacebuilding movements and organizations in the US and assisting with building digital campaigns for Peace Direct’s US supporter group, Peacebuilder Allies. When she isn’t working for Peace Direct, Amber is a student at George Mason University’s Honors College studying Global Affairs and Mandarin Chinese. In order to maximize the impact her work has, she has honed her skills in positions spanning from government agencies to small nonprofits and pursued intensive language study overseas supported by the U.S. government. She is excited to bring her skills and experience to Peace Direct with the goal of building a more just and sustainable future for all. Contact: [email protected]
Sahar Omer, Summer Intern
Sahar works as a Peacebuilding Policy Intern at Peace Direct. She is working to support research, advocacy and outreach in support of the Global Peacebuilding Act. She holds a A.B. in Government and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from Harvard University, where she wrote her senior thesis on the effects of state institutions on ethnicity-based class stratifications in Sudan from the Turkiyya Period to the Anglo-Egyptian Period. Her background in government and non-profit work stems from previous internships at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the U.S. Senate. . She hopes to hone her skills and interests in peace-building and conflict resolution by working with Peace Direct, as she as a strong believer in domestic peace being the root of international cooperation. Contact: [email protected]
Fabiola Shipley, Summer Intern
Fabiola works as a Peacebuliding Policy Intern at Peace Direct, where she supports the US office with policy and advocacy of the Youth Peace and Security Act. She is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she earned a B.A. in Political Science. Her undergraduate studies and research focused on atrocities prevention, transitional justice and peacebuilding. Prior to joining Peace Direct, Fabiola interned with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the US Department of State where she managed NGO partnerships and supported humanitarian programs across Africa and the Middle East. Fabiola’s passion for locally led peacebuilding stems from experiences working with local NGOs in Greece and Palestine, and she looks forward to working with Peace Direct to continue advancing local solutions to conflict. Contact: [email protected]
Staff in the UK
Dylan Mathews, Chief Executive
Dylan Mathews comes to Peace Direct from Y Care International a youth focused international development agency working in 20 countries around the world, where he was Director of International Programmes. His commitment to supporting local organisations in the global south spans over a decade. He has worked for a range of UK based international development and humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Landmine Action, the British Red Cross and Oxford Research Group. Whilst at Oxford Research Group he authored ‘War Prevention Works’ which profiled the role of non-state actors in conflict prevention and resolution – a publication that helped launch Peace Direct in 2004. Dylan has been a trustee of Peace Direct for six years. He holds an MBA from the Open University and an MSc in Development Studies from London South Bank University. Contact: [email protected]
Charlotte Melly, Head of International Programmes
Charlotte oversees Peace Direct’s International Programmes, providing guidance and strategic direction to the work, team and partners. She has worked in peacebuilding and human rights throughout her career, including as a human rights accompanier in Colombia and at Conciliation Resources, where she worked on programmes in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Charlotte has an MPhil in International Relations and a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages. Contact: [email protected]
Katarzyna Khider, Head of Finance and Operations
Kasia is responsible for financial management, HR, IT systems, information security and admin of Peace Direct. She is a CIMA qualified Chartered Global Management Accountant and has a MSc degree in Finance Management from AGH University in Krakow, Poland. She has over 12 years’ experience in UK charity accounting and was previously involved in work of Charity Retail Association. Kasia came to Peace Direct from Emmaus Greenwich, a charity running a residential working community for previously homeless people. Contact: [email protected]
Gemma Britton, Head of Fundraising and Communications
Gemma leads the Fundraising and Communications team at Peace Direct, helping to grow the funds we need to bring about real change in areas of violent conflict and to raise the profile of Peace Direct and peacebuilding in general. She has 13 years’ experience in the UK charity sector and holds a BSc in Economics from Loughborough University. Contact: Contact: Please note, Gemma is currently on leave, please direct any queries to Ryan Boyce at [email protected]
Neil Jarman, Head of Policy and Research
Neil is responsible for leading Peace Direct’s policy, advocacy and research work as well as supporting the work of Peace Insight. Previously he was the director of the Institute for Conflict Research, a Belfast based organisation working on peacebuilding and conflict transformation, primarily in Northern Ireland. He is chair of the Expert Panel on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly at the Warsaw-based Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, part of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He holds a PhD in Anthropology and is an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen’s University, Belfast. Contact: [email protected]
Charlotte Divin, Programme Funding Manager
Charlotte is responsible for helping our partners to develop their programmes and to liaise with government and other institutions to secure the necessary funding. She has been supporting Civil Society Organisations and networks around the world around thematics of peacebuilding, civil-military relations, international criminal law, human rights, and has provided organisational development support as an independent consultant. Charlotte also has experience in managing regional programmatic portfolios in West Africa. She holds a Masters in Bilingual Studies of the Laws of the EU States from University Paris X and an LLM in International Law and Security from Glasgow University. Contact: charlotte.divin@peacedirect.org
Jennifer Pobi-Browne, International Programmes Manager
Jennifer is responsible for supporting the International Programmes team in their day to day work with partners, and for coordinating our atrocity prevention work in Burundi and DRC. She has over 10 years experience working in human rights, with a particular focus on the rights of women, children and young people in Latin America. Before joining the Peace Direct team, she was Programmes Manager for an NGO working in Colombia, supporting local partners to build safer communities through youth advocacy, psychosocial support and rights education.
Jennifer has an MA in Human Rights from UCL and a BA in Law (Jurisprudence) from Oxford University.
Contact: [email protected]
Alice Coulibaly, International Programmes Officer
Alice works within the International Programmes team, focusing primarily on projects in countries such as Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia and DRC. She holds a Masters from SOAS University in Politics of Conflicts, Rights and Justice and a Masters in International Expertise from Sciences Po Aix en-Provence. She previously worked at Concordis International as a Project Intern, assisting the implementation of peacebuilding programs in Cote d’Ivoire and, CAR and Nigeria. Before arriving at Peace Direct, Alice was interning at the UN Department of peacekeeping Operations. Contact: [email protected]
Claire Payne, Senior Programmes Officer
Claire manages Peace Direct’s work on youth, peace and security currently in Mali, CAR, DRC and Pakistan, with a focus on supporting youth-led peacebuilding and promoting youth-led advocacy within the project. She previously managed projects in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey for the EU Commission, and has experience working with refugee populations from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. She has an MA in International Security and Conflict Resolution, and an BA in French and German.”. Contact: [email protected]
Henry Costello, Senior International Programmes Finance Officer
Henry manages all of the finances for the International Programmes team. He provides support to partners in their financial systems and processes including monitoring spend on projects, reporting to donors and applying for new grants. He also works closely with the Peace Direct Programme Development team helping to put new proposals together and reporting to donors, and the Finance team monitoring Peace Direct’s internal finances. Henry graduated from University College London with an MSci Theoretical Physics degree in 2015 and spent several months volunteering with the human rights organisation Liberty before spending two years working within the Finance team at Conciliation Resources. Contact: [email protected]
Sam Crocker, Senior Trusts & Foundations Officer
Sam is responsible for liaising with trusts and foundations to secure funding for Peace Direct and our partners. Having graduated with an MA in International Development from University of Sussex, he has since worked in Madagascar for the charity SEED Madagascar and for WWF, developing projects and seeking funding from various donors. Contact: [email protected]
Sofia Guevara, Programmes Intern
Sofia is a second year student majoring in Economics, with a minor in Social Research and Public Policy in New York University Abu Dhabi. She has experience working with non-governmental organisations such as Water Aid in London and interning for the Office of Community Outreach in my University. Her interest in peacebuilding comes from growing up and living in Colombia at a time when the peace negotiations and peace process was taking place. For one of her classes, Transitional Justice and Peace-building, her case study was around the Colombian peace process, the importance of justice, and the difference of its success in theory and practice. Understanding the crucial role of local peacebuilding. Contact: [email protected]
Rosemary Forest, Senior Advocacy Officer
Rosemary leads Peace Direct’s advocacy in the UK and EU, engaging with policy makers and building collaborations with other organisations. She has a diverse background in international development and peacebuilding, including recent work on on climate and disaster risk financing, as well as global disaster risk reduction policy. Rosemary holds an MA in Conflict Resolution from University of Bradford and a BA in Development Studies from University of Sussex. Contact: [email protected]
Megan Renoir, Research Manager
Megan manages two USAID-funded projects at Peace Direct, “Facilitating Financial Sustainability” and “Stopping As Success.” The aim of both activities is to identify how local organisations can move towards financial sustainability and local ownership, and to influence donor systems to be more supportive of local initiatives. Megan has previous experience as a researcher with Plan International. She holds a BA in Philosophy and International Relations from Boston University and an MSc in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics, where she focused on identity, land politics and root causes of conflict in the DRC. Megan is also currently conducting a PhD at the London School of Economics, which focuses on the politics of peacebuilding aid and land reform in the DRC. Contact: [email protected]
Dimitri Kotsiras, Research Analyst
Dimitri is responsible for coordinating the Local Voices for Peace report series as well as Peace Insight and the USAID-funded “Facilitating Financial Sustainability” research project. He has previously supported democracy strengthening programmes at Westminster Foundation for Democracy. He also acted as a researcher and campaigner with Crisis Action and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, and he previously worked at the United Nations reporting on the UN Security Council. Dimitri holds a BA in Political Science from Concordia University and an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London. Contact: [email protected]
Joel Gabri, Senior Peace Technology Programme Officer
Joel supports the web infrastructure and development of the Peace Insight and Peace Direct websites. He also leads on our work looking at how technology can support local peacebuilders, including advanced approaches to mapping and incident reporting and monitoring. Joel has a degree in Peace & Conflict Studies and Politics, with his final year dissertation focusing on how the Internet can be used to promote and assist conflict resolution. Contact: [email protected]
Aji Ceesay, Research Assistant
Aji is responsible for supporting Peace Direct’s research and advocacy work on locally led peacebuilding in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. Her work currently focuses on supporting two USAID-funded projects at Peace Direct: “Facilitating Financial Sustainability” and “Stopping As Success.” Aji has previously worked as a Junior Research Analyst at Zinc Network and M&C Saatchi World Services in strategic communications. In these roles, she provided research informing campaigns concerned with creating positive social change and counter-terrorism/extremism messaging. She holds a BA in International Relations and an MSc in Conflict Resolution, both from the University of Essex. Contact: [email protected]
Ryan Boyce, Interim Fundraising and Communications Manager
Ryan Boyce is our Interim Fundraising and Communications Manager and is responsible for overseeing all communications as well as unrestricted income from a range of sources. Prior to joining Peace Direct he was Communications Manager for The Young Foundation in London and Senior Manager for Development at Heart of England Community Foundation in the West Midlands. He also supports charities and social enterprises grow their brand and supporters as a freelance consultant and is an UnLtd mentor. Contact: [email protected]
Oscar Lester, Fundraising and Engagement Officer
Oscar is responsible for raising the charitable profile of Peace Direct and building strong relationships with our supporter base. He holds a BSc in Politics, Governance and History from Canterbury Christ Church University, and an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Manchester, where his thesis examined the contemporary limits of Euro-American Statebuilding in both theory and praxis. Contact: [email protected]
Melanie Moran, Digital Fundraising and Marketing Officer
Melanie is responsible for identifying and measuring Peace Direct’s digital activities, while developing engaging content to encourage people to get involved. Melanie has expertise in gender studies and gender-based violence, having recently worked in gender-based violence advocacy in the charity sector and as the Communications and Gender Advisor for STOP THE TRAFFIK Nederland. Melanie holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Film Studies from Queen Mary, University of London, and a MA in Gender Studies from Utrecht University. Contact: [email protected]
Sarah Phillips, Senior Communications Officer
Sarah is jointly responsible for Peace Direct’s digital marketing and communications. She manages the running of the Peace Direct website and social media channels, and produces print publications. She is jointly responsible for the blog content on the Peace Insight website. Sarah previously worked in Mexico with the British Council, and before joining Peace Direct was working for an international social justice charity. Sarah holds a BA in French and Spanish from Newcastle University and an MA in International Relations from the Central European University. Contact: [email protected]
Jo Dodd, Communications Officer
Jo is jointly responsible for Peace Direct’s outward communications, including writing blogs and stories, producing print publications and acting as the main media contact, ensuring that Peace Direct maintains a constant profile in the mainstream media. She has a background in communications with non-profits working to empower local voices; she spent three months in Guatemala interning with fair trade NGO Mercado Global, and as a student at Edinburgh University helped to set up and managed communications for a social enterprise that connects refugees in Scotland to local artists. Contact: [email protected]
Holly Spencer, Executive Assistant to the CEO
Holly is the part-time executive assistant to the CEO. She helps him to manage his schedule, as well as undertaking various support roles for him and the team. She holds a joint BA in International Relations and Development from Sussex University, as well as an MA from the same, in Conflict, Security and Development. She has campaigned for arms control since university and currently also works part time for Stop Fuelling War, a small France based NGO working on arms control and military spending. Contact: [email protected]
Áine Donnelly, Finance Officer
Áine is responsible for processing payments and maintaining accurate financial records, in order to support the Finance, Fundraising & International Programmes teams with reporting and financial management. Áine graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in Geography, and also holds a GradDip in Economics. Since graduating, she has volunteered with Teach A Child-Africa in Kenya, and has one year of experience as a Finance & Admin Officer at Restless Development. Contact: [email protected]
Katya Curran, Admin & HR Officer
Katya works to support and develop Peace Direct’s office systems and HR needs. Katya has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and International Relations from the University of Auckland. She has been involved with NGOs, local council and political movements in NZ. She previously also managed a small surveying company. Interested in peacebuilding, Katya has represented her university internationally in mediation and undertaken research around community safety in Bougainville (PNG), a vibrant island rebuilding from a decade-long civil war. Outside of work, Katya is interested in philosophy and religion, and enjoys the arts and the outdoors .Contact: [email protected]
Richard Andrew, Database Officer
Richard is responsible for data management at Peace Direct, ensuring supporter information and donations are effectively captured and processed, with a remit to further develop data systems. Richard graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with a BA in Media Arts and has a background in web, print and data management, with over 15 years’ experience working in the non-profit sector. He has previously worked with Kidscape, NHS Lambeth and Minority Rights Group, as well as smaller freelance projects, and volunteered for the Campaign Against Arms Trade. Contact: [email protected]
US Board
Stacey Haefele, Chair
Stacey is a Global Agency Lead at Facebook, where her work focuses on building out alliances with management consultancies. Privately, she is active in promoting non-dualism, civil discourse, sustainable development and the advancement of women’s, human and non-human rights. From 2008-2016 Stacey served as CEO of HNW, Inc., a marketing services and software firm focused on the high net worth segment. Previously, she was VP, Director of Digital Strategy at Digitas and a Consultant with CSC Index where her focus was corporate strategy and strategic marketing. She began her career in 1991 with Treuhandanstalt, the German privatization agency, where she aided East German companies in their efforts to be acquired by American businesses. Stacey holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she was a Fellow at the Institute for War and Peace Studies and a BA in International Relations from Wellesley College. Stacey lives in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.
Keith Johnson, Treasurer
Keith is retired from Deutsche Bank where he served as Vice-President for data processing Deutsche Bank. He serves as Trustee and Treasurer of Chatham Summit Quaker Meeting in New Jersey, as well as a member of the Personnel Committee and Supervisory Committee for the General Secretary of New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Keith serves as President of the 31-41 Church St. Condominium Association. He is an Emergency Medical Technician and Member of South Orange, NJ, Volunteer Rescue Squad. Keith holds degrees from Colgate University (B.A.) and Union Theological Seminary (M.Div.).
Quscondy-Mohamed Abdulshafi
Quscondy-Mohamed is a Regional Adviser at Freedom House, where he focuses on building and supporting grassroots human rights initiatives to amplify local voices and improve evidence-based self-advocacy. He was a Research and Advocacy intern in Washington with Peace Direct in the summer of 2017, where he implemented Sudan advocacy and research activities. Quscondy-Mohamed spent more than 10 years in the East and Horn of Africa Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda, working on peacebuilding, youth leadership, and human rights advocacy. He was the founding staff of Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG), a Sudanese advocacy and think tank organization, where he supported youth and women-led initiatives with leadership programs. Before joining SDFG, he was a Sudan Human Rights Monitoring Associate at the African Center for Peace and Justice Studies (ACJPS). Quscondy-Mohamed began his human rights and peace activism at Khartoum university in 2003, where he co-founded the Darfur Students Movement against the genocide in Darfur. He is the winner of the Civil Society Leadership Award from the Open Society Foundation in 2016 for his role in youth and civil society leadership for peace and democracy in Sudan. He holds dual masters in Sustainable International Development and Coexistence and Conflict Resolution at Heller School for social policy and management, Brandeis University. He did his BA in development studies at Kampala International University, Uganda.
Jackson Jeyanayagam
Jackson is currently Vice President and General Manager of the Nutranext Direct-to-Consumer business at The Clorox Company. Prior to Clorox, Jackson was the Chief Marketing Officer for Boxed where he oversaw growth, performance media, brand, above the line, CRM & loyalty, creative, SEO, CSR, Communications, CX and trade marketing. In 2018, Jackson was named to the Forbes CMO Next 2018 list. Previously, Jackson was Head of Digital for Chipotle responsible for leading all digital marketing efforts including mobile, social media, content, CRM, digital direct response and analytics. Before that Jackson was SVP, Digital at Taylor where he built and oversaw the digital marketing practice and supported a number of brands including Diageo, P&G, Jordan Brand, NASCAR and Starwood. At Citizen Paine, Jackson led social media integration and influencer marketing for Old Spice as well as Dentyne, working closely with each brand team to create and implement through the line campaigns. Personally, Jackson has served on the Board of Directors for the University of Oregon Alumni Association as well as the Arts & Business Council of New York. He is currently on Advisory Boards for three startups: Dynamic Signal, Paybear and Miles.
Anthony Smith
Anthony is the Chief Executive at Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Anthony joined WFD in August 2014. He is a member of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Board on Human Rights and of the Board of the European Partnership for Democracy. Anthony’s role in WFD builds on his international experience. He was previously a member of the Diplomatic Service and a Civil Servant. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1986, served in the Embassy in Madrid and worked on a range of European policy issues including the Balkans, trade policy and Common Foreign and Security Policy. In 1996 he moved to the Department for International Development (DFID) where he worked on Environment Policy, Europe and Southern Africa, as well as being Private Secretary to Clare Short when she was Secretary of State for International Development. Anthony returned to the FCO as Director for European Political Affairs from 2006-2008 before becoming International Relations Director at DFID from 2008-2014, responsible for DFID’s policy on EU development issues, DFID’s funding to the UN system and the Commonwealth, engagement with the G20 and G8, and relations with development partners.
Evelyn Thornton
Evelyn is a management and strategy coach to a diverse array of mission-driven leaders. Previously, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Inclusive Security, a Washington-based non-profit organization that increases women’s influence in preventing and ending violent conflict. During her tenure, she established an innovative shared leadership structure and dramatically expanded Inclusive Security’s impact through programs in seven conflict zones, a network of partners in 45 countries, and strategic communications and advocacy campaigns that influenced thousands. Evelyn also spent several formative years working in India for His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s Foundation for Universal Responsibility. She holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Virginia Tech. Evelyn lives in Washington, DC with her husband and their two vivacious young daughters, and frequently returns to the Blue Ridge farm where she was raised.
UK Trustees
Anthony Smith, Chair
Anthony is the Chief Executive at Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Anthony joined WFD in August 2014. He is a member of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Board on Human Rights and of the Board of the European Partnership for Democracy. Anthony’s role in WFD builds on his international experience. He was previously a member of the Diplomatic Service and a Civil Servant. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1986, served in the Embassy in Madrid and worked on a range of European policy issues including the Balkans, trade policy and Common Foreign and Security Policy. In 1996 he moved to the Department for International Development (DFID) where he worked on Environment Policy, Europe and Southern Africa, as well as being Private Secretary to Clare Short when she was Secretary of State for International Development. Anthony returned to the FCO as Director for European Political Affairs from 2006-2008 before becoming International Relations Director at DFID from 2008-2014, responsible for DFID’s policy on EU development issues, DFID’s funding to the UN system and the Commonwealth, engagement with the G20 and G8, and relations with development partners.
Belinda Bell, Trustee
Belinda is a social entrepreneur who is currently based at the Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cambridge. She runs programmes which provide training and support for social entrepreneurs, and also teaches social innovation on a number of academic programmes. Previously, she has established and grown a number of social enterprises and she sits on the board of several social organisations. Belinda holds a doctorate from Middlesex University, a master’s degree in community enterprise from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology from Goldsmiths College, University of London.
David Cutler, Trustee
David has been the Director of the Baring Foundation since 2003. The Foundation is one of the UK’s best known independent funders, giving grants on social justice issues in the UK and in Africa. Before that David has worked for a number voluntary sector organisations both at the local and national level. He is a trustee of the Equally Ours, a civil society collation on equalities and human rights and has been a board member of a number of charities including Amnesty International UK and THET (the Tropical Health Education Trust which links NHS organisations to health centres in the developing world).
Niamh Neville, Trustee
Niamh has 15 years marketing and fundraising experience and has worked with over 100 charities. She is experienced in a diverse range of fundraising disciplines and channels gained at creative agencies, directly for charities, consultancy and in the field as a volunteer fundraiser in Zambia. Most recently she’s acted as a senior level fundraising consultant but has previously held roles at The Scout Association and WaterAid.
Stacey Haefele, Trustee
Stacey is a Global Agency Lead at Facebook, where her work focuses on building out alliances with management consultancies. Privately, she is active in promoting non-dualism, civil discourse, sustainable development and the advancement of women’s, human and non-human rights. From 2008-2016 Stacey served as CEO of HNW, Inc., a marketing services and software firm focused on the high net worth segment. Previously, she was VP, Director of Digital Strategy at Digitas and a Consultant with CSC Index where her focus was corporate strategy and strategic marketing. She began her career in 1991 with Treuhandanstalt, the German privatization agency, where she aided East German companies in their efforts to be acquired by American businesses. Stacey holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she was a Fellow at the Institute for War and Peace Studies and a BA in International Relations from Wellesley College. Stacey lives in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.
Nick Whitacker, Trustee
Nick Whitaker is a Chartered Accountant with substantial experience in auditing, corporate finance and forensic services across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. A former partner of PKF(UK)LLP/BDO LLP, Nick is a Non-Executive Director/Trustee of: The Intellectual Property Law Regulation Board, Business Continuity Institute and the Refugee Council. He is also the of Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee for Housing Solutions, The Science Council and Leeds Beckett University.
Patrons
Scilla Elworthy
Dr Scilla Elworthy is a distinguished activist for peace and has worked on peace related issues for over 30 years. In 1982 Dr Elworthy founded the Oxford Research Group, dedicated to researching defence-decision making and developing effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their critics. For this work she was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003. From 2005 to 2007 Dr Elworthy helped to set up The Elders Initiative and acted as an advisor to Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Richard Branson. In 2002 she co-founded Peace Direct alongside Carolyn Hayman OBE.
Sir Mark Rylance
Sir Mark Rylance, Oscar winner, actor and former Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre, is a supporter of Conscience, Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), The Peace Pledge Union and World Development Movement (WDM). He was born in England in 1960 and raised in America until 1978. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he was given his first job by the Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow in 1981. Mark is also an Associate Artist of the RSC, a Friend of the Francis Bacon Research Trust and Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust. He is also a trustee of the Murray Cox Foundation, and an honorary bencher of the Middle Temple. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
More about us
