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 Senior Representative and Head of Advocacy
Bridget has worked for 20 years on international peace and conflict issues, with a focus on US foreign policy. Prior to joining Peace Direct as Senior US Representative and Head of Advocacy, 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. 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: bridget.moix@peacedirect.org
Contact: bridget.moix@peacedirect.org
Christine Trillana, Administrative and Development Assistant
Christine is responsible for ensuring both UK and US offices act unilaterally and have a unified voice in public outreach. She is also in charge of the US databases and general office management; adapting these systems to Peace Direct’s continued growth and exposure in the US. She received a BS in International Studies from Fordham University and is happy to put this and her experience as an ambulette dispatcher into good use. Contact: christine.trillana@peacedirect.org
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar, New York Representative
Gay 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: gay.rosenblum-kumar@peacedirect.org
Lynn Erskine, Communications Consultant
Lynn Erskine has directed media and advocacy campaigns for a variety of U.S. and international organizations, including Center for Economic and Policy Research, UN Millennium Campaign, Council for a Livable World, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. She is an expert in coalition-building and media outreach on nuclear nonproliferation, environment, economics and consumer protection issues. Her consulting clients have included Fourth Freedom Forum, Arms Control Association, Win Without War Coalition, Friends Committee on National Legislation and the documentary film “Uncovered: The War on Iraq.” She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa and lives in Washington, DC. Contact: lynn.erskine@peacedirect.org
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: dylan.mathews@peacedirect.org
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: charlotte.melly@peacedirect.org
Ruairi Nolan, Head of Research and Engagement
Ruairi manages Peace Insight, including the Tomorrow’s Peacebuilder Awards, and leads on identifying new partners and supporting them in the early years of the partnership. He joined Peace Direct as Insight on Conflict Project Manager in 2009. He has an MSc in Latin American Studies and has worked in rural development in Central America, at Irish Aid and at the UNESCO Centre at the University of Ulster. Contact: ruairi.nolan@peacedirect.org
David Jones, Head of Finance and Administration
David has extensive experience in both the charity and commercial sectors. His experience also includes developing the strategic direction and financial policies of organisations. David lived and worked in Sub-Saharan Africa for many years spending six years as Group Finance Director of an international NGO focusing on the advancement of education in developing countries. David is a qualified Chartered Accountant (FCA) and also holds an Advanced Management Programme diploma from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town and has lectured at the University of Zimbabwe. Contact: david.jones@peacedirect.org
Claire May, Head of Programme Development
Claire is responsible for helping our partners to develop their programmes and to liaise with government and other institutions to secure the necessary funding. She is an English Literature graduate who has worked in a fundraising capacity for Orchid Project (working to end FGM through grassroots initiatives) and NAT (National AIDS Trust). Contact: claire.may@peacedirect.org
Daniel Tamene, Finance Manager (Programmes)
Daniel works with our programmes team and field partners on financial reporting and management. He trained as an accountant in Ethiopia and has ten years of experience in different finance roles. From 2011 -2012 he worked as a Field Finance Officer in South Sudan with Intersos. He has a first degree in Political Science from Addis Ababa University, a Masters from Bradford University in Peace Studies, and is a candidate for an MA in HR and Conflict Management from Scuola Superiore Sant’ Anna, Pisa. Contact: daniel.tamene@peacedirect.org
Scarlett Kassimatis, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Adviser
Scarlett is the lead on Monitoring and Evaluation for all projects, helping build the capacities of local partners and ensuring projects have a strong M&E focus. Scarlett also oversees organisational learning and has come from a programme management background, mainly focused on the Middle East but in particular on Iraq and Palestine. She has an MA in Human Rights Law from SOAS and has written for Open Democracy, Middle East Monitor and the International State Crime Initiative. Contact: scarlett.kassimatis@peacedirect.org
Laura Vermeer, International Programmes Officer
Laura supports the International Programmes team which manages all Peace Direct’s relationships and projects. She manages narrative and financial reports, logistics and event organisation and supports communication internally with partners. With experience working and studying in the Netherlands, Belgium, China, South Korea and the DRC, she joined Peace Direct after completing a BA in European Studies, a MA in Political Sciences and a MA in International Conflict and Security from the University of Kent, where she focused on armed groups and the role of local actors in Eastern DRC. Her other areas of interest include security in the Asia-Pacific region and Sino-Africa relationships. Contact: laura.vermeer@peacedirect.org
Léo Vuillermoz, International Programmes Officer
Leo works within the International Programmes team to manage relationships with partners abroad and helps prepare narrative and financial reports and proposals. Prior to Peace Direct, Leo worked as Finance Officer for Renatura, a Congolese NGO. From 2014 to 2016, he was the Coordinator of the Moroccan branch of Le Partenariat, working mainly on WASH and environmental projects. He has a BA in Political Science from the Jean Moulin University and an MA in Humanitarian Affairs from the IRIS research centre on international relations. Contact: Leo.Vuillermoz@peacedirect.org
Farzana Ahmed, Senior Research Officer
Farzana works on the USAID-funded “Stopping As Success” research project, which looks at exit strategies of international development actors. She has a BA in Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies and an MA in International Conflict Studies from King’s College London. Previously she worked for the Africa Directorate at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, an international NGO based in Yemen and a research consultancy in South Sudan. Contact: farzana.ahmed@peacedirect.org
Megan Renoir, Senior Research Officer
Megan works on the USAID-funded “Facilitating Financial Sustainability” research project, which aims to identify how local organisations can move towards financial sustainability and away from foreign aid dependency. Megan has previous research experience in Cambodia and Ethiopia 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 focussed on identity, land politics and root causes of conflict in the DRC. Contact: megan.renoir@peacedirect.org
Dimitri Kotsiras, Research and Advocacy Officer
Dimitri is responsible for supporting Peace Direct’s research projects, including Peace Insight and Local Voices for Peace, and runs Peace Direct’s advocacy activities in the UK. He has previously supported programme research and design at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), acted as a researcher and campaigner with Crisis Action and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), and spent a year at the United Nations reporting on the agenda of the UN Security Council. He holds a BA in Political Science from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London, where his dissertation focused on the nexus between peacebuilding and natural resource governance in South Sudan. Contact: dimitri.kotsiras@peacedirect.org
Joel Gabri, 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: joel.gabri@peacedirect.org
Nathan Louise, Database Officer
Nathan is responsible for processing all the donations we receive, data analysis and office logistics . Previously he was a Warehouse Manager for Foodbank and has research experience in the connection between public ill health and violent conflict. He holds a Mathematics degree from the University of Warwick. Contact: nathan.louise@peacedirect.org
Sara Torrelles, Programme Development Officer
Sara helps our partners secure funding from Trusts and Foundations and supports the development of their programmes. Before joining Peace Direct, Sara worked for the Commonwealth Foundation and the Catalan Government in London. She also spent two years in Sweden, where she worked for the Spanish Embassy in Stockholm. She holds a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Barcelona, a postgraduate course in African Studies from Uppsala University and an MSc in International Development from Birkbeck College London, where she focused on gender issues in complex humanitarian emergencies. Contact: sara.torrelles@peacedirect.org
Lizzie Helps, Fundraising Officer
Lizzie has over four years experience as a fundraiser and spent five years teaching in Brazil and Japan. Lizzie holds a BA in Sociology & Education and an MA in Development Studies from Leeds University. Contact: Lizzie.Helps@peacedirect.org
Lena Elhibir, Communications Officer
Lena is responsible for Peace Direct’s digital marketing and communications. She manages the running of the Peace Direct website and all social media channels, and produces all print publications. She is jointly responsible for the blog content on the Peace Insight website. Lena holds a BA in International Relations from Queen Mary University of London, and spent a year studying political science at the University of Miami in the US. Before joining Peace Direct Lena worked as Senior Marketing Executive at Shard Financial Media, and had previously worked in Brand Communications for the De Beers Group of Companies, and other leading private sector firms. She has several years of experience in varied communications in different sectors. Contact: lena.elhibir@peacedirect.org
Sarah Phillips, Communications Officer
Sarah is jointly responsible for Peace Direct’s digital marketing and communications. She manages the running of the Peace Direct website and all social media channels, and produces all 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 as Communications and Projects Assistant. She has over three years experience writing and editing for online communications. Sarah holds a BA in French and Spanish from Newcastle University and an MA in International Relations from the Central European University. Contact: sarah.phillips@peacedirect.org
US Board
Michael Ryder, Chair
Michael began his career in diplomatic service with the British Foreign Office in the 1980s, when he focused on East-West relations during the Cold War, and then was the UK’s Special Representative on International Drugs Issues. More recently, he was the UK’s Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan during the period of South Sudan’s independence; the UK’s Senior Civilian Representative in Helmand, Afghanistan; and Deputy Ambassador in Kabul. In 2010, he ran the London Conference on Afghanistan. Michael has also worked as head of the Foreign Office’s Security Policy department, dealing with international defence and security, and as the UK’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, where he was responsible for the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
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.).
Carolyn Makinson
Carolyn Makinson was Executive Director of International Rescue Committee UK 2010-2014; executive director of the Women’s Refugee Commission 2004-2010; and executive director of MIT’s Center for International Studies 2002-2004. Before joining MIT, Carolyn spent 15 years as a program officer for population and forced migration at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In these roles, she advocated for reproductive health services for displaced populations, for education in emergencies, for programs to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in conflict zones, and for greater attention to the needs of displaced populations in urban settings. Carolyn has lived and worked in Belgium, Burundi, Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda. She studied Arabic for several years, spent a year living with an Egyptian family in Cairo, and retains a strong interest in the Middle East. Carolyn has a PhD in Sociology and demography from Princeton University.
Jen Rubio
Jen is Co-founder of Away, a direct-to-consumer luggage company that is reshaping travel retail. Jen’s passions lie in the intersection of commerce and emerging technology and creating meaningful, integrated experiences between people and brands. Previously, Jen led innovation, marketing, social media, and strategy for a range of corporations in the UK and US. Jen’s speaking engagements have included TEDx, Women’s Wear Daily Summit, Google Atmosphere, the Inc. 500 conference, Social Media Week, SXSW, Decoded Fashion, Social Retail Summit, iMedia Brand Summit, and Brand Innovators. Teaching experience includes Miami Ad School and guest lectures at Hyper Island, NYU, UPenn, Northwestern, and Harvard. Jen is also an angel investor and startup advisor, serving in the inaugural class of Levo League mentors and as a mentor/judge during multiple Startup Weekend and Decoded Fashion hackathons. In 2015, Jen was named on Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Marketing & Advertising. She lives in New York.
Stacey Haefele
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 potential American partners. 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.
UK Trustees
Michael Ryder, CMG, Chair
Michael began his career in diplomatic service with the British Foreign Office in the 1980s, when he focused on East-West relations during the Cold War, and then was the UK’s Special Representative on International Drugs Issues. More recently, he was the UK’s Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan during the period of South Sudan’s independence; the UK’s Senior Civilian Representative in Helmand, Afghanistan; and Deputy Ambassador in Kabul. In 2010 he ran the London Conference on Afghanistan. Michael has also worked as head of the Foreign Office’s Security Policy department, dealing with international defence and security, and as the UK’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, where he was responsible for the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
Eleanor Harrison, Trustee
Eleanor Harrison is Chief Executive of GlobalGiving UK, a digital charity working with 487 grassroots charities in 89 countries. Previously she was Executive Director of Action for Children in Conflict, a grassroots charity working with street children in Kenya. Prior to this, Eleanor worked for the Refugee Council developing and implementing office and community projects for refugees and asylum seekers (West Midlands, UK). Other experience includes working with young people in Uganda (HIV/AIDS), peace and conflict work in Kenya, Bosnia and Australia.
Carol Hodson, Trustee
Carol Hodson has over 25 years of charity and NGO senior financial and general management experience, before which she worked in industry in the UK and Canada. Her most recent role was as Deputy Director of UNA-UK, where she had responsibility for upgrading all the financial, IT, legal, HR and governance systems. Carol has also worked in similar roles for other charities (WRVS, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and The Princes Trust) and for NGOs concerned with regional government and health issues. Carol was a trustee of The Fawcett Society and continues to be involved on a voluntary basis in the management of other small local voluntary organisations.
Daniel Jones, Trustee
Daniel is a qualified accountant. After training at the world’s largest consumer goods company, he is now following his passion for food and drink as a finance manager for Innocent Drinks. His interest in working with the charity sector began at university, where he wrote his Masters dissertation on how private and public sector organisations can work together to share skills and knowledge and further each other’s ability to meet their financial and social objectives. Since then he worked with the charitable arms of both his current and previous companies.
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.
Karen Triggs, Trustee
Karen is a senior communications and engagement advisor, who works with public servants, from the centre of government to the public services frontline, helping them show that their organisations are accountable to the people they serve. She adopts an appreciative, solution-focused approach, looking to build on the best work organisations are currently delivering. Notable assignments include Director of Communications at the Legal Services Commission and provision of strategic communications advice to the Government of Somaliland.
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.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Helena Kennedy is one of the country’s leading barristers. She has been involved in a large number of prominent cases, including the Brighton Bombing, the Guildford Four appeal and the bombing of the Israeli embassy. She has also acted for many battered women who have killed their husbands. As a life peer, she also participates in the House of Lords on issues concerned with human rights, civil liberties, social justice and culture. From 1992 to 1997, she was chair of Charter88, the constitutional reform group, which persuaded the government to make devolution and human rights legislation central planks of their manifesto. From 1998-2004 she chaired the British Council, the most successful cultural organisation in the world, which she has led through a period of dynamic change. She is author of two books, and is also on the board of The Independent newspaper.
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal has been at the centre of Middle East Politics and diplomacy for many decades, in the course of which he has won exceptional respect for drawing attention to humanitarian and interfaith issues and the human dimension of conflicts. In the field of religion, His Royal Highness’ contacts and meetings have evolved into a systematic interfaith dialogue. In November 1999 at the 7th World Assembly of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), held in Amman, Prince El Hassan accepted the position of Moderator of the WCRP. His Royal Highness has initiated, founded and is actively involved in a number of Jordanian and international institutes and committees. Amongst his many positions, the Prince is President and Patron of the Arab Thought Forum, and one of the founders of the recently formed Parliament of Cultures. Prince Hassan is the author of seven books, which have been translated into several languages.
Dame Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby is an English soprano singer with over 100 recordings. In 1999 Classic FM Radio listeners voted her Artist of the Year, and in 2007, BBC Music Magazine placed Emma tenth in a survey to find the greatest sopranos.
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