Ariane Waldvogel is the Executive Director of the Pro Victimis Foundation. After a few years spent with an NGO in Lebanon, she made her career with the United Nations (UNDP and WFP) and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). Over the years, she has held various posts abroad, particularly in Tanzania, India, Burkina Faso and Laos, as well as in New York and Geneva for the Swiss Mission to the United Nations. She brings a wealth of experience in development, human rights, and governance, as well as in philanthropy. Ariane has a BA in Political Science from the University of Lausanne and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2022.
Professor Edward (Eddie) Abbott-Halpin is an expert on human rights and information communication technologies. He was a member of the HURIDOCS Board from 2009 until 2018, serving as Chair from 2011-2016. He teaches in the School of Computing and Creative Technology at Leeds Becket University, where he is Co-Chair of the Digital Research Centre. Eddie has worked for the European Parliament’s Scientific and Technical Options Assessment (STOA) Unit on human rights information, the Child Rights Information Network, and the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children. He co-published Human Rights and the Internet (2000) and co-edited Human Rights and Information Communication Technologies: Trends and Consequences of Use (2012).
Georgios Damtsas is a Partner at Capital Group. He is an investment analyst with Capital World Investors, with investment responsibilities in consumer staples, media and B2B services. He is also a Research Director for Europe. Georgios joined the Capital Group in 2003 in Los Angeles as a participant of The Associate Program (TAP). Prior to joining Capital, Georgios interned in the corporate finance division of Lazard in London, and also served in the Cyprus National Guard for 26 months.
Georgios earned a MPhil degree in European Studies from Cambridge University, and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) with First Class Honours. Georgios joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2019.
Grace Danciu was a Product Manager at Google for over 19 years, and worked on products such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google Calendar. Prior to Google she worked as a Program Manager at Microsoft. In these roles, Grace led teams in developing products that connect technology with real user needs. Grace has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Harvard University. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2020.
Hannah Forster is Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, a position that she has held since 2001. She was a member of the HURIDOCS Board from 2009 to 2019, having previously served as a member of the HURIDOCS International Advisory Council (1992-2009). A human rights activist with a background in information management, Hannah has served as Chair of the African Democracy Forum and has worked for adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. In 2007, Hannah was the first Gambian to receive the U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.
Kinza Win founded “Gaia Metta Consultancy” in 2018 to offer independent wealth management advice in the field of Philanthropy and investing for social impact. Having worked in the finance industry for over 25 years and catered for the needs of high net worth individuals and corporations throughout the globe she is well versed in both global challenges and financial wealth management. As a passionate advocate and practitioner of Philanthropy and investment for social impact she actively works to promote the practice of effective giving and responsible investing by providing her expertise to collaborative and socially responsible entities and individuals.
Kinza holds a Bachelor in Business Management and an Executive Masters in International Relations & Diplomacy and has furthermore trained and practised in numerous avenues linked to development finance, social innovation, global health and public private partnering. Mother of 3 young adults, of Burmese and French origin and having been raised in Tanzania, she entertains a culturally diverse background and strong drive to support the needs and challenges of the next generation(s) and to help breach the growing wealth divide root to many of the inequalities faced by society today.
Lisa Reinsberg is the Executive Director of the International Justice Resource Center (IJRC), an organisation she founded in 2011 with the goal of improving the accessibility, transparency, and impact of human rights protections. IJRC’s informational resources, technical support, and training services reach advocates and victims around the world. Lisa is a lawyer who previously worked with non-governmental organisations and intergovernmental organisations in the Americas and Europe. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2018 and has been the Chair since mid-2021.
Meskerem Geset Techane is a human rights lawyer and women’s rights advocate who over the past 15 years has contributed to numerous litigation, research, advocacy, legal aid, and legal reform initiatives at a national, pan-African and international level. She previously held positions as a High Court Judge in Ethiopia and Deputy Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA). Meskerem currently is a Doctoral Fellow at the Human Rights Center of University of Padova and serves as a member of the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice. She has a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the Addis Ababa University and a Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of Pretoria. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2019.
Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights defender who works on issues in Ukraine and the OSCE region. She heads the human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties and also coordinates the work of the initiative group Euromaidan SOS. In 2016, Oleksandra received the Democracy Defender Award for “Exclusive Contribution to Promoting Democracy and Human Rights” from missions to the OSCE. In 2017, she received a Ukraine’s Woman of Courage Award from the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. In 2022, the Center for Civil Liberties was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its outstanding efforts to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power. Oleksandra joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2018.
Özgür Kahale is a Director in the Responsible Business team of the international law firm DLA Piper. She manages the pro bono practice for Europe, a high-volume program in 17 countries collaborating with more than 2000 attorneys. She also leads on DLA Piper’s work on “Access to Justice and Technology” in order to develop tech projects to facilitate access to legal information and advice. Özgür is a scholar of corporate social responsibility with a focus on ESG and business and human rights with a PhD from Lancaster University. Previously she worked as a project finance lawyer in London and Paris. She is a lawyer by training, registered to the Bar in Istanbul and speaks English, French and Turkish. Özgür joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2022.