About Us

As Senior Advisor, Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy of Christian Aid, Jane works on humanitarian response and peace building.  Previously she worked in the Red Cross, UN, EU/ECHO, and NGOs in countries affected by conflict and severe poverty, in operational, senior management, advocacy, and community protection roles.

Jane believes in the power of local and international alliances, including ICVA, to shape this reform: she has set up NGOs and NGO coalitions, has served on several boards, as ICVA Vice Chair and Chair of ICVA Board’s Policy, Programme and Advocacy Committee , VOICE, the European humanitarian aid network, the European Peace building Liaison Office which she co-founded, chaired the Civil Military Working Group with UK line ministries.

She believes it is the renewed and emphatic focus on local leadership and the respect of international law that will make current reform efforts powerful.

Christian Aid is leading a flagship campaign to influence COP26, building on decades of work on climate justice

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Ignacio is the Executive Director of ICVA since January 2018. He strengthens the impact and collective voice of ICVA and leads its engagement with the highest levels of the U.N., governments, philanthropies, and civil society actors.

He has been working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for over 30 years,  the past 10 years in CEO positions at international aid organisations. Ignacio has worked for Terre des Hommes, the Swiss Tropical Institute, the European Association for Development and Health and Médecines Sans Frontières. As a strong supporter of inter-organisational collaborations, he has led strategic partnerships with these organisations.

He is an expert on human rights and social issues and has been strongly engaged in global advocacy on protection frameworks for people on the move with a focus on children and youth.

Mirela joined ICVA in 2019 as Director of Policy where she leads a policy team focusing on forced migration, humanitarian financing, and coordination.

As a human rights lawyer from Albania, she has 15 years of professional experience on humanitarian and development issues working for both NGOs and UN Agencies. She worked with UNICEF as advocacy coordinator on the rights of refugee and migrant children in Europe. Prior to UNICEF, Mirela served as global protection adviser for Terre des hommes, covering programmes aiming at preventing child exploitation, trafficking and other forms of violence against children. For few years she provided direct legal services to vulnerable families and Albanian children exploited or living in the streets of Albania and Greece.

She holds an LLM degree and has authored various publications on human rights and migration law.

Michael is responsible for supporting the development of ICVA’s strategy at regional and national levels. He supervises the management of the regional hubs (in Asia, MENA and East Africa) and the implementation of programmes and activities at regional and national levels.

As primary focal point on topics and issues related to internal and cross-border forced displacement, Jerome particularly leads ICVA’s support to NGOs’ global engagement in the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, with a specific focus on protection and durable solutions. Jerome’s work focuses on supporting NGOs’ global advocacy and policy analyses, fostering interactions a range of stakeholders (States, UN Agencies (particularly UNHCR), the World Bank). He also leads on disaster (climate change) displacement and represents ICVA on the Advisory Committee of the Platform on Disaster Displacement and the UN Network on Migration.

Since joining ICVA in xxxx Jeremy, based in the US,  has focused on the harmonisation and simplification of donor conditions for humanitarian financing.

Jeremy has worked with NGOs over the past twenty years in roles linked to accountability, capacity assessment, and audit. Prior to joining ICVA, he spent eleven years with World Vision International where he led the operations audit group and helped to develop capacity assessment processes for national offices.

Jeremy holds a degree in Diplomacy from Occidental College, and a master’s  in Public Policy from the University of California Los Angeles.

Building on his background in coordination, community engagement and network development, Jeremy is a strong advocate for NGOs in interagency coordination, policy and advocacy mechanisms. He previously served as ICVA’s Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, and worked in partnerships for UNOCHA, following 15 years working in development for government, NGO and private sectors across Asia-Pacific region and in his home country of Australia. Jeremy previously led ICVA’s policy work on the localization of humanitarian action including authoring several papers on this topic. He holds a master’s degree in International Development Studies and a degree in Behavioural Science.

Eileen Morrow has joined ICVA as the new Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer and will support the Humanitarian Coordination team, with a strong focus on COVID-19 vaccination. Prior to this she was funded by ICVA as the Ethiopia Humanitarian INGO Forum Director. She has worked as Country Director for Concern Worldwide in Ethiopia and Nepal and has a wealth of experience leading and coordinating humanitarian response with NGO and INGO partners in contexts as diverse as Kenya, India, Uganda, Tanzania and Haiti.

She holds a Masters in Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University College Dublin. She is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Nishanie started her humanitarian career in Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean Tsunami and has over 15 years of experience working in the United Nations, Government institutions (Secondment), the NGO and private sector in managerial and leadership roles.  Prior to joining ICVA in September 2017 she worked at the Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP), the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) secretariat in Geneva and New York, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sri Lanka and Geneva, and at the Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR) in Sri Lanka.

She has a Masters in International Relations from the University of Colombo and a Bachelor’s Degree in English, Sociology and Psychology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Loïse has expertise on Forced Displacement with 10 years of experience including in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings and particularly in the context of refugee responses in North Africa, South-East Asia & Europe. Loïse’s skills include research, analysis and reporting, capacity building, multi-stakeholders engagement, public speaking and meeting coordination.

She holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights with a speciality in Humanitarian Affairs from the University of Strasburg. Recently, she completed a course on Climate Change and Human Mobility from the University for Peace.

Prior to joining ICVA in 2019, she worked with the NGOs International Rescue Committee and France Terre d’Asile as well as with UNHCR.

Alon joined ICVA in 2018 first as an intern and was taken on as Policy officer supporting ICVA’s work on Humanitarian financing and PSEA.

Prior to ICVA, Alon worked with WILPF on its membership and internal communication, supporting the work of WILPF sections around the world and creating bridges between its members. Alon has a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (IHEID) and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Tel-Aviv University.  In his free time, Alon likes volunteering with migrants in Geneva and is active on issues regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Keya joined ICVA in 2020 and hopes to translate her experiences working in gender and health across the development and humanitarian space into an asset for the work of ICVA in the region.

She has over 12 years of experience working with local and international NGOs in the Asia Pacific Region including the Red Cross and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). She has worked with a diverse country portfolio, including Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Philippines and PNG.  Her work has focused on strengthening engagement of local NGOs in the humanitarian system, emergency preparedness and partnership development.

Since late 2016 Marco has been representing ICVA in Africa in Dakar and Nairobi.

He has served in operations with NGOs and the UN in most of the major humanitarian crises since the early 2000s, and in particular, several roles in the Italian NGO INTERSOS, including Director and Secretary General and President. He is a regular lecturer in Universities and Think Tanks on subjects related to the contemporary challenges of humanitarian aid, including access, principles and civil-military interactions

He has a degree in Political Science and a Master Degree in Diplomacy and International Relations. He is currently studying refugees protection and force migration studies at the School of Advanced Studies-University of London.

Addis supports the Regional Representative in Africa region in the implementation of ICVA’s strategy in Africa.

Maxine Clayton, MA, BA(Hons): has significant leadership and management experience, within the humanitarian and development sector, acquired through over 20 years of professional practice in international strategic, programme and operational positions and consultancies.

She has demonstrated experience of working in multi-agency and complex environments, at local, national, regional and global levels.  Proven track record in strategy and research development, nationally, regionally, and/or thematic. A Trainer and Leadership Coach, with over 25 years of experience in the design, planning and delivering of blended, bespoke and open learning programmes. Since 2013, Maxine has been a Director of MACLAY Consulting Ltd, a Kenyan based company which provides consultancy services to a range of organisations.

Eman joined ICVA in 2019.

With over 15 years of experience as an emergency and development professional leader working in the humanitarian sector, private and government sectors Eman has an extensive knowledge on localization, emergency and refugee response, community mobilization, NGO capacity building and Nexus. She is a certified trainer on PSEA and Leadership in Humanitarian and Fragile context.

Stephanie has 10 years of experience working with local and international NGOs in the MENA region on different advocacy initiatives and research.

Before joining ICVA in 2020, Stephanie worked as the Country Program Manager for HelpAge International in Jordan, with a focus on policies and strategies related to ageing and disability.  She has also worked in the United States House of Representatives as Immigration and International Affairs Specialist. Stephanie has experience on promoting inclusion and localization agendas. She also has experience in conducting trainings on inclusive approaches to humanitarian and development interventions

She has a degree in International Relations focused on the Middle East, and a master’s in Public Administration, both from universities in the US.

Lina has a B.A in International Studies and a Master’s degree in Gender Studies. She worked on the “Mexican Migration Project” coordinated by PhD Jorge Durand and PhD Douglas Massey. She is currently a professor at the University of Guadalajara in the Department of International Studies where she teaches international migration and gender studies. She is part of the advisory group of UN Women in the Safe Cities program in Guadalajara. She also collaborates at the Inmujeres Guadalajara Advisory Council.

She works for Dignidad y Justicia en el Camino A.C. a local NGO member of ICVA located in Guadalajara where she serves as coordinator of the political and social advocacy area and as a focal point for the Americas.

Fabrice joined ICVA in 2019 after 10 years of experience in accounting firms followed by 10 years in non-profit organisations as a Finance Officer.

His most recent experiences were with Emmaüs (fight against poverty & social exclusion) and with PATH in the Geneva area. At ICVA, Fabrice supports the Executive Director in all financial, accounting and human resource matters related to the efficient functioning of the ICVA Secretariat.

Fabrice holds a « Magistère de Finance » (University Master’s degree in Finance) from Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne university. Fabrice also completed his 3 years’ chartered accountant « internship » in France after passing the “Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Comptables et Financières “ (DESCF – State Master’s degree in accounting).

Fiona comes with over 20 years of experience of working in membership NGOs in service of a more equal, fairer and sustainable future.

She joined ICVA in 2014 where over the years she has utilised her expertise in membership management, communications and support to governance. Prior to ICVA, Fiona worked at the World YWCA in a similar role and before that in the  private sector.  Originally from Scotland, she has an educational background in Social Psychology and Social Anthropology and a Masters in Business Administration.