Terms Of Reference Podcast

Sandra Sudhoff is Technical Manager at CartONG, a French NGO that enables emergency relief and development organizations and local governments to manage their own existing data, integrate other data sources and then use that data to plan programs and monitor progress and impact.

Sandra has worked for CartONG for nearly eight years, facilitating mobile data collection with Android phones; implementing remote and thematic mapping projects; developing e-learning and screencast capabilities for GIS applications, and developing information management and GIS UN Cluster Coordination and products.

In addition to her work as Technical Director of the organization, she has undertaken field work in Kenya, Bangladesh, Haiti, Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malaysia and Uganda.

Evert Bopp is a self-described "low-flying Dutchman" who has made Ireland his home. After 15 years in commerce- and revenue-driven fields in the tech industry, Evert founded Disaster Tech Lab in 2010 to provide rapid response communication networks for use in disaster relief and humanitarian aid work globally by responding organisations, as well as affected communities.

Christy Stickney is an international development consultant with over 20 years of experience designing, evaluating and documenting innovative, market-based development initiatives. She has developed particular expertise in housing micro finance, and worked as regional Director of Housing Finance at Habitat for Humanity International, overseeing the design and implementation of innovative projects in shelter finance and construction throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. She has published over a dozen studies, manuals, and practical guides in microfinance, affordable housing, and alternative technologies for water and sanitation. 

Nesreen Barakat has more than 20 years of experience in the area of economic and social development, working with government, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector in Jordan. Recently, she served as a Minister of Social Development, Minister of Public Sector Development and General Director of the National Aid Fund. Prior to that, she was a Council Member at the Greater Amman Municipality, Economic Advisor to the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and a Director of the Competitiveness Unit at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. 

As an entrepreneur, in 2005, Nesreen founded To Excel Consulting and Associates, a company focused on the provision of consulting services related to socio-economic, administrative and local development studies. Nesreen has extensive experience in managing and implementing result oriented technical assistance projects: she was the lead of the Enhancing Productivity Component (Economic Development Program) at SABEQ, a USAID funded Program, and previously held the position of the Manager of the Policy Support and Institutional Strengthening Component at EJADA, an EU-funded program. 

Nesreen is a member of the UNWOMEN NGO Advisory Group in Jordan, member of the Business and Professional Women Association (BPWA), board member of Amman Arab University, fellowship of Vital Voices and a founding member of the Jordan Corporate Governance Association, the Competition Association and the National Global Compact Network in Jordan. She served on the boards of Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), the National Fund for Enterprise Support (NAFES), and was a member in a variety of task force committees including the National Agenda Investment Task Force. 

Nesreen holds an MBA degree from the Business School at Durham University in the UK and B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the University of Jordan. She also received intensive international training at Harvard and Berkeley Universities on enhancing the competitiveness of nations, scenario planning, strategy development and implementation.

Timo Lüge is a Communications and Advocacy Consultant working mainly for UN agencies, NGOs and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. He has been working in the humanitarian sector for seven years and worked as a journalist for nearly ten years prior to that. During emergency response operations, Timo works mainly on public information and media relations. When in Europe or the US, he focuses on how digital technology can be better used to support emergency management and humanitarian relief operations. Timo blogs at http://sm4good.com.

Kyle Schutter is the Founder and Managing Director of Takamoto Biogas.

Trained as an engineer at Brown University, Kyle researched biogas in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana and the USA before in 2011 he founded a company that constructed individual biogas systems for small-scale farmers in rural Kenya. After two years of operations, Kyle invented the Takamoto Pay-As-You-Go Biogas business model and technology to enable more people to access renewable energy without a large up-front capital investment.

Kyle has received the Enjuba Young Entrepreneur Award, Heinberg Social Innovation Award, received “Special Recognition” from the Sankalp Africa Summit 2014 and took second place in the William James Foundation Business Plan Competition. He has lived in Kenya for the last three years and continues to search for innovative solutions to provide sustainable, modern energy for rural communities.

David Shorr has spent most of his career as an analyst working with leading think tanks, philanthropies and advocacy groups across a broad range of foreign policy issues, and is currently working to wind down the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation’s nuclear security program.

Before he was engaged on that project, he spent 14 years with the Iowa-based Stanley Foundation, developing constructive new approaches to the world's compelling challenges, including the evolution of the G-20, climate change, the roles of rising powers, US national security strategy, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 2005 initiative to reform the United Nations, and refugee protection and rights issues.

He was awarded a BA in religious studies from Brown University, and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Malini Patel is the Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa and Acting Senior Director for Economic Empowerment at Vital Voices Global Partnership. She is responsible for vision and leadership; day-to-day program and financial management; program design, quality and integrity; new business development; and internal and external relations.

With 20 years of international development experience, Ms. Patel has led teams globally in Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Pacific and has overseen technical programs in SME/MAGE growth, community development, democracy and governance, advocacy, local and regional economic development, micro-finance and organizational development globally.

Prior to joining Vital Voices, Ms. Patel worked at numerous non-profit, for-profit, educational, and government entities including CHF International (Global Communities) and Peace Corps. Ms. Patel received her Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan and Masters in Public Administration from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Erin Bourgois is Project Manager of Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC), a non-profit based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia that provides medical, legal, and psychosocial support to survivors of acid attacks, as well as working to eliminate acid violence through raising awareness, research, education and advocating for strict regulatory action at the national level.

Previously, she served as Programmes Manager for Acid Survivors Trust International in the U.K., and worked as Senior Financial Manager, Foreign Policy Program, and Project Administrator, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She studied Political Science at Shepherd University in West Virginia, USA.

Jonah Ayodele Obajeun is Chief Curator of Tolerance Academy, a Nigerian non-profit youth membership-based organization that he founded in 2010 with the aim of establishing peace-building and democratic systems that empower young people to make responsible decisions concerning their development. In addition to his efforts with Tolerance Academy, Obajeun works as a Customer Service Operations Manager for the Nigeria operations of a multinational consumer goods company, and is a multi-award winning writer and blogger whose first book of fiction will be published later this year. He was named a Finalist in the 2011 Echoing Green Fellowship, and has studied in Portugal and Nigeria.