Terms Of Reference Podcast

Dale Nirvani Pfeifer is changing the way we connect online. Her #donate software, found at GoodWorld.me, is unleashing the next generation of generosity by making giving easy through social media,. Her goal is to support the evolution of the human experience with money by creating a generosity-based financial system.

A native Kiwi, prior to going to the United States, Dale ran Victoria University's Center for the Study of Leadership. Her award-winning research took her to Harvard where she applied the theory of Allophilia to Maori leadership. This work demonstrates how the power of love and effective leadership can bring big diverse groups of people together.

Jeroen van der Sommen is the director and co-founder of Akvo, an organization that builds open source internet and mobile software which is used to make international development cooperation and aid activity more effective and transparent.

Jeroen helped to ignite the Akvo phenomenon after the Stockholm World Water Week in summer 2006 and has steered Akvo’s evolution to ensure it is relevant to, and supported by, a wide range of implementation NGOs, funding partners and global institutions. He started his career as a geologist, working throughout the 1980s in countries such as Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Niger, Mali, Indonesia and India, managing water supply and management projects on behalf of organizations such as the World Bank and the European Union. In 1998, Jeroen founded the Netherlands Water Partnership, where he built a dynamic network of over 200 member organizations that collaborate.

Laura Walker McDonald is the Chief Executive Officer of the Social Impact Lab Foundation, an organization that designs, implements and measures the impact of inclusive technology projects, and explores new ways that technology can facilitate and simplify project objectives.

Before joining SIMLab, Laura worked for the British Red Cross on international humanitarian policy and learning, focussed on quality and accountability, innovation, urbanization, cash transfer programming and civil-military relations, as well as strategic planning.Drawing on her expertise in humanitarian aid, human rights law and international development, she brings a cross-disciplinary approach to communications, innovation and information management.

Andrej Verity is a disaster responder and information management officer for the United Nations (OCHA) and co-founder of the Digital Humanitarian Network. He has deployed to many high-profile emergencies over while also leading innovation around humanitarian information management and managing the UN’s collaboration with the volunteer and technical communities. Most recently, his work has supported and focused on how big data in crisis, microtasking and artificial intelligence can improve disaster response.

Andrej openly shares his ideas in the hope of finding energetic collaborative partners to help move the humanitarian community forward at http://blog.veritythink.com

Dr Peter Bradley is the Director of Public Health Development at Public Health Wales. He is committed to improving and protecting the population’s health, by reducing health inequalities, maintaining excellent public health services and making health information and evidence accessible and relevant.

Peter has worked in public health for many years in the UK and abroad. For 5 years he worked as a senior medical advisor for the Norwegian government, advising on clinical policy, health technology assessment and was the acting head of the Norwegian equivalent to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.

He has a strong commitment to using evidence and promoting its use in practice. He has a ten year history of international/national teaching on evidence-based practice and completed a PhD focusing on medical education.

Deirdre White is a globally recognized leader in building tri-sector partnerships to address the world’s most pressing challenges. As CEO of PYXERA Global she has led the transformation of the organization to one that maximizes impact through strong and strategic partnerships through cutting edge programming like Global Pro Bono, Local Content Development, and Integrated Community Development.

Deirdre’s expertise spans private, public and social sector experiences.  Her social sector tenure at PYXERA Global is complemented by early career roles at the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and American Councils.  She has also served on the Boards of Directors of the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) and the US Center for Citizen Diplomacy (now a signature initiative of PYXERA Global.)  Prior to joining PYXERA Global in 2002, Deirdre was a Senior Manager in the Public Sector Practice at Arthur D. Little, Inc., leading projects focused on strategy and organization for the US Agency for International Development, the US Trade and Development Agency, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, along with numerous government agencies across Eurasia.  Deirdre began her career in the private sector, working with Welt International, a niche consulting firm engaged in non-conventional means (barter and countertrade) of financing international trade ventures.  She later expanded her private sector experience as a Senior Manager in Arthur D. Little’s Moscow office, leading post-privatization restructuring efforts for large manufacturing enterprises in Russia and Ukraine.  She also served as an organizational development advisor to several of the Eurasian oil and gas sector’s largest firms.

Sean Martin McDonald is the CEO of FrontlineSMS. Frontline technologies is used by thousands of organizations to reach tens of millions of people, saving lives, improving healthcare and building inclusive societies. Frontline was named the #1 Technology NGO in the world and was listed by the Nominet Trust Social 100 in 2014.

Sean is a Trustee of the Awesome Foundation DC and an affiliate with Harvard University's Berkman Center. Sean is an advisor to Digital Democracy, DoSomething.org, ECPAT USA, the Law Without Walls Program, TechChange, and UNDP. Sean is a lawyer, barred in New York. He also holds an M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University.

Linda Raftree is a co-founder of Kurante a company dedicated to helping organizations better understand how technology can improve development outcomes.

Linda has worked at the intersection of community development, participatory media, youth, gender, and information and communication technologies since 1994. She has advised The Rockefeller Foundation’s Evaluation Office on the use of ICTs in monitoring and evaluation and worked with Plan International USA on youth engagement, innovation, transparency and strategy. She has also conducted research on adolescent girls and ICTs for UNICEF, the role of ICTs in child/youth migration for the Oak Foundation, the use of mobile technologies in youth workforce development for the mEducation Alliance, and ICT-enabled monitoring and evaluation for Rockefeller.

Linda is also a co-founder of Regarding Humanity, which encourages debate and dialogue around the portrayal of ‘the poor’ in the media, social impact work, and non-profit marketing. She coordinates Technology Salons in New York City and advocates for greater dialogue and discussion around the ethics of ICT use and data privacy in the humanitarian and development space.

She also writes ‘Wait… What?,’ a blog about new technology and community development.

Jacob Korenblum is the CEO, President and Co-founder of Souktel. Souktel designs and delivers custom mobile solutions that connect job seekers with employers, and help development implementers get information to and from the people they serve.

Prior to Souktel, Jacob worked managing economic development and emergency relief projects for USAID and the Canadian International Development Agency. Fluent in Arabic and French, Jacob has worked in the emergency aid sectors in the Middle East, East Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. He is a frequent panelist on technology, development, and labor markets--with speaking engagements ranging from the GSMA Mobile World Congress to the World Bank Human Development Forum. He has co-authored a chapter in the sector publication “Mobile Technologies for Conflict Management” and has written articles on mobile technology for the MIT Innovations Journal, CNBC Online, and the Overseas Development Institute. His work as a Souktel co-founder has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company and the UK's Guardian newspaper. Jacob holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University, where was a Harvard Reynolds Foundation Fellow in Social Enterprise.

Djordje Vdovic has over 20 years of progressive experience with the United Nations in the fields of management, logistics and procurement in more than dozen different duty stations across four continents.

Djordje is a proven trouble-shooter with a list career credits that include delivery of fast and effective support services in emergencies and rationalization of the World Food Programme's largest and most complex Purchase for Progress program in Afghanistan.