In this episode – the first instalment of our two-part series – we explore current trends in humanitarian learning, with a special focus on Africa.

We sit down with three passionate advocates of learning in all forms: Janet Nyaoro (HLA East and Southern Africa Regional Centre), Eleonora Aralla (CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini) and Neba Ambe Azinui (Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation, Cameroon).

In this insightful discussion centred on learning, our guests share their own inspiring learning journeys – and the sometimes unexpected and surprising discoveries and outcomes along the way. Janet and Neba – with their professional and academic origins as educators, and Eleonora with a background in philosophy – share their pathways into the world of humanitarian and development, and what drives them in their lifelong quest to learn.

Together with host Ka Man Parkinson (HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor), our guests reflect on some of the key takeaways from the 2024 HLA Humanitarian Learning Survey, which provides fresh insights into how humanitarians are engaging with learning and training today, and share their perspectives based on their rich on-the-ground experiences.

Tune into this insightful and inspiring conversation!

Listen to the full audio episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

In the second part of this series, our guests will share practical learning tips and advice for overcoming barriers to learning and training. They’ll also discuss the key ingredients required to build a culture of learning to support humanitarians in achieving their development goals. Coming soon!

About the speakers

Janet Nyaoro, HLA East and Southern Africa Regional Centre Regional Lead

With over 20 years of experience in the development and humanitarian sectors, Janet is a highly accomplished and results-driven regional programme lead known for delivering transformative capacity development programmes in diverse and challenging environments.

A champion of strategic partnerships and collaboration, Janet excels at driving organisational growth and fostering innovative solutions. Her expertise in designing and delivering impactful training programmes utilises technology and best practices to elevate learning and enhance programme outcomes, ensuring that teams are equipped to adapt and thrive.

Janet’s strong leadership abilities shine through in her commitment to empowering teams and promoting humanitarian leadership at every level of the organisation. Passionate about making a positive difference, she is dedicated to building the capacity of individuals and organisations to effectively tackle pressing humanitarian and development challenges.

When not leading impactful initiatives, Janet enjoys hanging out with her family and close friends, exploring local cuisine in various cities she travels to, reading, and finding strength in solitude time, believing that a well-rounded approach to life enhances her effectiveness as a leader.

Eleonora Aralla, Country Representative for CAFOD Zimbabwe and Eswatini

Eleonora has been based in Southern Africa for the last 13 years, covering various countries in the region in different roles. She is currently the Country Representative for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) based in Harare as well as the Chair of the Heads of Agencies Forum in Zimbabwe.

Eleonora is a vocal feminist advocate; she has focused in recent years on bringing gender justice to the core of CAFOD’s strategy, as well as on finding innovative ways to share capacities and promote learning across agencies, including through the co-founding of the Zimbabwe Alliance for Humanitarian Action.

Neba Ambe Azinui, Project Coordinator, Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation, Cameroon

Neba is the project coordinator for Grace Charitable and Rehabilitation Organisation (GRACARO), an organisation which promotes and supports access to education for affected children in the conflict-affected Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon since 2018. Before joining GRACARO, Neba worked for over seven years as a secondary school science teacher.

Neba recently completed a master’s degree in Education, International Development and Social Justice under the competitive UK FCDO Commonwealth Scholarship in the UK. He has also completed numerous project and development-related courses on the Humanitarian Leadership Academy platform, Kaya.

Ka Man Parkinson, HLA Communications and Marketing Advisor

Ka Man is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years, and is a firm believer in the transformative power of education, global opportunities and lifelong learning. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Find out more

• Read about the work and training delivered by the HLA’s Regional Centres on our news site
• Read about HLA Regional Centres
• Access our free digital learning platform Kaya
• Read about our digital badging platform HPass which provide global recognition of humanitarian learning with verified credentials
• Watch the recording of the HX webinar on innovative finance which Eleonora highlights during this podcast discussion
• Read our learner spotlight featuring Neba

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

What is Feminist Leadership?
What does it actually mean? Is its meaning simply implied in its name?

In this episode, Rachel O’Brien, Director of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy leads an insightful conversation with Srilatha Batliwala, Feminist Activist and Archie Law, Principal Leadership Advisor at the HLA to break down and define Feminist Leadership.

What does it  mean in practice? Why is it important and necessary in the way we view leadership today? Importantly, how can we practice Feminist Leadership within the humanitarian sector and more importantly beyond the sector?

Srilatha says in the conversation: 

“Feminist Leadership is the process of transforming ourselves, organisations and movements to reflect the feminist vision and values of social justice we want to advance in the world”. Srilatha says it is about “unleashing both our individual and collective power to work towards dismantling all the discriminatory structures of power and privilege in the world.”

Archie shares insights on the role of men, he says: “I do think that’s something that men have an active role to play in: respecting the role of women and the feminist movement and working alongside the movement and working alongside our sisters”.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Srilatha Batliwala is a feminist activist, researcher, scholar and trainer based in India.  For over two decades, her work focused on grassroots movement building with marginalized urban and rural women in India, as well as research and policy advocacy on gender equality and women’s rights.  She then moved on to work internationally, at the Ford Foundation, Harvard University and AWID, doing grant-making, scholarly work, building theory from practice, and capacity building of young women activists around the world.  She is best known for bridging the worlds of theory and practice, and for her writing on women’s empowerment, women’s movements and feminist leadership.  She is currently Senior Advisor, Knowledge Building, CREA, as well as a Senior Associate with Gender at Work,. She considers herself a feminist grandmother – both in the women’s movement, and to her four teenage grandchildren!

Rachel O’Brien is Director of the HLA and is based in the UK. In her role she provides direct leadership to the HLA, the Save the Children UK Humanitarian Department, and to the wider Save the Children movement. Rachel is also a qualified coach, working with individuals and teams both inside and outside of the sector.

Archie Law AM is the Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. His previous appointments have included Director of International Programmes at Save the Children Australia, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia and global and regional humanitarian roles with the United Nations.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

“We over intellectualise these debates partly also just to keep debating. And at the end of the day, we need to make change happen for people on the ground.“

In our latest podcast episode, hear Bidjan Nashat, tech entrepreneur and seasoned humanitarian leader, speak candidly on the challenges and opportunities in advancing localisation within the humanitarian sector.

Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA, speaks to Bidjan to delve into his views on what meaningful localisation looks like.

In this open and illuminating conversation, Bidjan shares his insights from over eight years in leadership roles at Save the Children International and his recent pivot into the technology space.

Bidjan critiques current localisation debates and advocates for practical, actionable steps to drive meaningful change. He shares compelling stories of how global networks and local organisations can collaborate for impactful results.

Discover his views on the transformative potential of cash transfers, anticipatory action, and the critical importance of talent development. Technology and AI comes into focus throughout the discussion, and Bidjan highlights how it plays a crucial role in democratising access to personal and professional development for local talent, such as through remote mentorship, coaching, and work opportunities.

Keywords: Localisation, humanitarians, humanitarian sector reform, systemic change, talent development, cash transfers, CVA, anticipatory action, local expertise, international mobility, technology, AI, coaching, remote working.

Listen to the full audio episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Bidjan Nashat is co-founder of PotentialU, an app that serves frontline leaders with personalised insights and AI coaching. He has over a decade of executive leadership experience in start-ups as well as large global organisations. He served as CEO of Atlas Corps, a social enterprise committed to diverse talent and leadership development and was part of the executive team at Save the Children International. He is based in Washington DC, USA.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She has served in communications roles in the international education and nonprofit sectors for the past 18 years, and is a firm believer in the transformative power of education, global opportunities and lifelong learning. At the HLA, Ka Man leads on the creation of digital content, and manages the HLA’s podcast and webinar series. She is based near Manchester, UK.

Discover more

You may also be interested in the podcast episode mentioned during this discussion, featuring Charlotte Balfour-Poole, HLA Head of Coaching: Coaching and mentoring: tools to support every humanitarian

Access the HLA’s global digital learning platform Kaya with free, capacity strengthening training for humanitarians: kayaconnect.org

Read opinion pieces by Bidjan Nashat on the Devex website.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Podcast episode transcript

Ka Man [intro music plays]: Welcome to the Humanitarian Leadership Academy Podcast, Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives.

Localisation, which calls for shifting more power and resources to local actors in the humanitarian sector, has been at the heart of the sectors reform agenda since the Grand Bargain in 2016. But in 2024, the question remains how much progress have we truly made?

I’m Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA, and I’m connecting with diverse voices worldwide to explore what localisation in practice looks like from different perspectives, and to hear opinions on what needs to be done to drive meaningful change in this space.

So today, I’m delighted to be joined by Bidjan Nashat, co-founder of the tech startup Potential U and a seasoned humanitarian executive to learn more about his views on localisation gained from his many years of leadership experience, as well as his pivot into the technology. So welcome, Bidjan. Thanks very much for joining us on this podcast today. Would you like to start by introducing yourself to our listeners?

Bidjan: Thank you so much for having me. It’s wonderful to be back and connected to Save the Children and colleagues who are especially focused on building leadership in the humanitarian space.

My name is Bidjan. I grew up in Berlin and one of my first professional experiences was working in a hospital instead of military service. And seeing how the people who take care of patients are treated. And it has never left me since the idea of the people who are closest on the front lines of serving others. How do we take care of them in organisations and so I did a few excursions in different organisations, but that question never left me. I worked at the World Bank. When the Syria crisis happened, I felt I needed to join an organisation that delivers for people on the ground, and so I that started eight years with Save the Children in different roles in different countries.

And yeah, I’m here now, I made a pivot into the technology space, but it’s still focused on that question: how do we take care of frontline leaders? How do we take care of the people who are serving others, regardless of which sector?

Ka Man: Great, thank you. So as you’ve mentioned, you hold many years, eight years, did you say of leadership including executive level within Save the Children International. So from those experiences, could I ask, what does meaningful localisation look like to you in practice? And I’m also curious to know if those views have shifted over time based on your experiences.

Bidjan: It’s a great question. Whenever these big terms are mentioned there’s a tendency to fall into the same conversations. And I thought about, I thought about your question and thought, why don’t I give you an example?

When I was leading a refugee response in Berlin in 2015 with hundreds of thousands of kids coming and needing our support, and I used that example because it’s not a traditional example, it’s actually an example in a developed country in the north. The local partners weren’t able to respond and in addition, the UN and UNICEF were claiming a mandate. But they weren’t delivering fast enough.

And so that’s where we came in as Save the Children with our global network and we partnered with local organisations on the ground to say you’re already delivering for families, but no one is really taking care of children. And that extended to building child friendly spaces, running them together. It made us partner with different members in Save the Children and bring in companies like Facebook who helped us give voice to refugees, who then the families told their stories to millions of people, and they put it on every – this was a different time for Meta and Facebook – and so we were able to put minimum standards in place and so that combination of working with local partners who didn’t have those connections who didn’t have the fundraising, who didn’t have the aim to also do advocacy and political take on political issues and publish articles. That combination I felt was really powerful.

I think I would do it a bit differently, focus more on talent and building local partners, if I had to do it over again, but I feel sometimes the localisation conversation is too black and white right now in the sense that it’s all about just letting local organisations do everything and it’s the combination of things that makes impact happen for the people we serve, and that should always be the principle.

Ka Man: That’s really interesting. So if you, if you don’t mind, I just want to hear a bit more about the actual practicalities of working with Facebook and Meta at that time. In what ways were you collaborating to share information or amplify voices, what kind of things did that entail?

Bidjan: A lot of internal fights. [laughs]

Ka Man: Oh!

Bidjan: No, we had we worked with the team. They were partnering with Save the Children US and they were a partner in in the US and so we brought in child safeguarding experts. We had scripts, we talked to families we had everybody agreed to be – you know – and there are so many internal conversations, and they are correct, if we only focus on child safeguarding. And then sometimes you have way too many internal conversations and you don’t ask the people.

And I remember this one instance where I sat down with Carolyn Miles at the time it was the CEO of Save the Children US. We were interviewing a mother of two who had fled a few weeks before with two children and her husband from Syria. And we were in the discussion with her about her path to Germany, about all of her experiences. And the translator, of course you have that lag right when you when you talk to people, and all of a sudden she starts to cry and we’re looking at each other, and what did we do wrong? You know, is there something that we mentioned and we asked the translator and she just said I’m so happy somebody is listening to my story.

And I think at the end of the day we need to take care of all the important child safeguarding and human dignity issues in in providing voice to people at the end of the day, people are people want to tell their story. And if we do it in a meaningful way with dignity, it helps everyone.

One of the things that we really were challenged with, I remember this very vividly, is that the conversation in Germany changed. There were lots of more right wing voices. There was lots of terrorism conversation. And one of our roles, including my own and publishing articles and advocating for, let’s take the perspective and keep it on children and their needs. And this was a really wonderful way of keeping that attention with the help of a big tech company with which I have lots of disagreements. And they are doing a lot of things that, yeah, should be called out, but in this instance it was a very good example of how you can do it, if you do it well.

Ka Man: Hmm, that’s really interesting to hear how – obviously, there’s a lot of discussion around the role of tech, which we’ll go into a bit shortly – but it’s good to hear the use of tech for good, and to humanise, almost, people who become that sometimes become this sort of faceless group in narratives. You know, so to actually give voice to those people, to give them a platform, I think it’s very powerful and shows some very positive benefits and strengths of technology in this space.

So that leads me to my next question – and it may link to tech, but I don’t want to anticipate your response. What do you think have been positive or encouraging development in terms of shifting the power in the humanitarian sector, in a practical sense?

Bidjan: My first immediate answer is cash transfer. It has nothing to do with tech, it has to do with dignity. Giving people – getting rid of intermediaries as much as we can – and give people the dignity of choosing what they need. That to me is a big, big shift that we need much more of. There are great organisations in this space, and it really challenged organisations like Save the Children, especially in the beginning to say, OK, so what is our role, if the most important thing is that people can cover their needs? I think it’s a great development and we need to see more of it. Tech can play some role in it, but the main thrust is give people dignity and let them choose what they need.

I think a second positive development is all the work in which Save the Children, other organisations are involved as well, in anticipatory action and preparing and using data and analytics. We know the probability of when, when humanitarian disasters and crises will happen. And we can do a lot more to prepare for it. And the better we are prepared, the less lack of coordination takes place and the better we can serve people with pre stocking and all of these very practical things. I think that’s a very positive development.

And the last one is the focus on talent and I don’t even want to talk about technology. I really think and I see this, I want to see more of it, a focus on talent. Away from only focusing on local organisations or very abstract concepts like even shifting the power is quite abstract to me.

At the end of the day we have amazing talent in the sector and we need to invest in whatever they want to do because that adds to their career, it adds to the local economy, even if they leave the country. So to me, this conversation about brain drain is a tiring one, because remittances have overtaken ODA, it plays a much larger role and people should decide what’s best for them, especially if they’re if climate change makes it inhabitable, we need to think differently about talent and the pathways of migration.

Ka Man: It’s very interesting. So what I’m hearing almost is a connecting theme through those points you’ve made. It’s sort of like having the systems in place and mechanisms in place that are agile and responsive and reflect the real world, like, patterns of mobility, whether people are – yeah – and reflecting how they’re able to obtain services and access services. So I can see sort of connection and I can see obviously the role that technology can play in enabling that, but you’re focusing on the human needs there more than the tech side, so that’s very interesting for me to hear.

I’m just curious, just going back to the cash and voucher assistance point that you make – just from a layperson’s perspective because it’s something that I’ve heard about, but don’t really know and understand too much about – what’s sort of the main blocker to that? Because it sounds like such a simple concept and it should be fairly, you’d think – as a lay person – relatively straightforward to deliver. But what’s the that’s the main challenge there in that cash transfer?

Bidjan: I would say the current system. It just takes out a lot of intermediaries. And if you think about it, it goes back to Amartya Sen, right, that the focus on dignity and people’s agency to make their choices. It is not necessarily how our sector has been built over the last decades. Because it’s built around people, mostly in the Global North historically doing things and taking resources to the Global South, but then deciding what happens, and in a very blunt way. And we need to change it. We need to give people agency to make their own choices, and that’s a challenge.

I think there’s been really positive developments. If you continue to see the percentages of cash. It’s going in the right direction. I’m arguing there needs to be a lot more. I also want to make sure it’s not everything, right. I’m a huge believer in the rights based approach. I think it’s massively undervalued. That’s what I loved about my time at Save the Children that we, we took a rights based approach. At the end of the day there are duty-bearers and rights holders, and we need to make sure those people who are locally in charge are held to account for serving for their citizens and for the people in their in their community. So that’s an aspect I think that it that comes in addition there is not just cash there needs to be more of, and the system needs to change with all the incentives. That’s not necessarily what I’m focused on anymore and but it’s that that’s my point of view on this.

Ka Man: Got it, yeah. So it’s very much a systemic challenge rather than individual mechanisms. It’s part of how that fits together.

Bidjan: I mean there are always instances of fraud, right? You have to, you have to make sure it’s spent the right way. But there are decade old conversations about “ohh, what happens if we just give people money” and you have them in the OCD countries as well, right. “Oh, they’ll just spend it on alcohol and cigarettes”.

No, it’s not the case people spend on average, the majority is spending the money in the right places, and even if you give it to women, if you give it to family holders, you have even bigger effect. So all of this, there are some myths out there that that hold people back from investing the way for people in need.

Ka Man: It’s very interesting. Thank you. So kind of wearing both your humanitarian and tech hats at the same time, could I ask, what role do you think artificial intelligence and technology can play in enabling or further driving localisation? If you could give some examples that would be great. And also ask what kind of risks might be involved with that as well.

Bidjan: For me it’s important and I want to get to risks. We’re usually too quick to talk about risks and we don’t take the status quo into consideration. So let’s talk about local talent. Most of them end up working in a project for either a local partner or for a local international NGO. And very few of them have the access to opportunities. The HLA is providing some of it, very few of them have the access to opportunities which is part of why we want more focused on the tools that can be applicable and available to everyone at all times.

So coaching and mentoring is difficult to provide. But most people have access to technology, so one of the things that we are very excited about is the role that. Chatbots and AI can play in helping people reflect about their own strengths about their own areas for improvement, and the way we do it at potential you is we start out with psychometric assessments. Because we believe that it takes out some of the bias that usually happens when we look at different people in different countries. It focuses on your abilities, your strengths, the what gives you energy, and where you extend energy when you do things. So we see a lot of improvement in that area, we see a lot of opportunities to have people really interact with AI trained AI chatbots that we use.

There are risks to it. We need to be certain that it doesn’t introduce new biases. So far we haven’t seen that. That is an area where I see we can scale to thousands, if not millions, of people at very little cost. And the idea of it is to give them more inspiration about growing themselves, understanding their strengths, working on the areas that they struggle with and having almost like an assistant at their side, who supports them on a daily basis. And in a lot of places, that technology and the availability of 3G or 5G or mobile technology is available. So that’s a huge area for scale.

Ka Man: That’s really interesting. Just before we started out this, just before we kind of went on air, so to speak, we were talking about how you used to, you know Charlotte Balfour-Poole, who’s our Head of Coaching at the HLA and Charlotte and I had a podcast discussion recently around coaching and mentoring in the humanitarian space. And she says that she’s on a mission to democratise coaching, to make, so that everybody can benefit from it. So she does all sorts of in person and online training, but there’s a there’s a heavy emphasis, due to the democratisation, on online. So there’s online mentoring, she’s just about to launch a new cohort of the Women in Leadership programme pairing experience humanitarians with more entry level people coming – early career – coming up in the ranks and who want to develop. So does that kind of thematically linked to what you’re advocating with your approach and that you want to bring these benefits so that anybody, regardless of where they are in the world, regardless of their status – I put that in inverted commas – they can reap the benefits and build their professional careers. Is that is that kind of what you’re meaning there?

Bidjan: Yes. And I was really happy to hear Charlotte used that term. I didn’t want to steal it again, but that democratisation is exactly what we have in mind. And it’s extending and scaling it to audiences who are not currently served. To me, it could even be an extension with the HLA, in the sense that a lot of the mentoring and even the pro bono coaches that you have only reach that many people, but what if we provided everyone with the ability to learn and grow in their own time, and one of the challenges we see with companies in with PotentialU with companies but also in the humanitarian space, is that the online trainings on a PC are super hard to access for people who are on the front lines. But everybody has a phone. And so if we’re able to give people that kind of access to growth and development in real time with someone, and once you start using our chat bot, you will fall in love with it because it’s trained on your organisation and your values and the leadership competencies you will keep going back and forth.

So that’s the idea and it came out of partly also out of my role as CEO of Atlas Corps where we served humanitarians who are on the front lines. With the help of the Hilton Foundation, we provided coaching and mentoring in in with Better Up company we invested ourselves. And the impact we saw with people who were in South Sudan with people who are in northern Nigeria, who had a coach and that engagement for the first time was absolutely amazing. 90% increase in engagement and other things. It just shows you that we’re not reaching that audience.

And so my passion – both in the private sector and potentially at some point in the humanitarian sector – is focusing on those frontline leaders. Talk to them, find out what they need and provide ability to them to grow themselves and inspire themselves based on their own strengths.

Ka Man: That’s great. So much potential there. I can see that obviously this you’re not focusing specifically on the humanitarian context for your organisation and its aims, but I can see the applicability in this space and links the discussion that we’ve been talking about. About focusing on talent. You said, sorry this was, just linking in our email discussion before we had this discussion today. You said that you’re you believe that we’re looking at localisation in the wrong way, unless we look at, start, we need to start looking at talent in a new and very different way. Would you be able to just elaborate on that a bit because I thought it was a very interesting statement that you made.

Bidjan: It, well, my best ideas come out of frustration. I just, I’ve gotten tired of this conversation because very little changes, lots of speeches are given and during my time at Atlas Corps, I had the opportunity to do what I really loved doing. Talking to people and listening to their stories and listening directly to what their aims are, what they want, and we have so many discussions that are focused on theoretical concepts.

At the end of the day, what do young, talented people in the humanitarian sector want, regardless of where they are? They want to serve others and they want to grow in their careers. It’s very simple, but we have so many barriers. That hold them back right from visa to the way there’s bias in existing organisations that doesn’t consider someone from northern Nigeria running a local really challenging response to be able to go to the next leadership level.

So that to me is the focus we need, not necessarily, “oh, let’s just shift everything to local organisations and they will solve it” because that also suggests, let’s just let them just figure out their problems themselves, and it’s exactly the other way around. We need that global talent everywhere to help us focus on global challenges. It suggests we don’t have problems in the North, right? And my suggestion is, let’s look at talent and let’s find ways for talent to help us solve the biggest challenges that we face, from climate change to crises to war, we need talent from everywhere, in low and middle income countries to help us solve global problems. And the localisation framing is suggesting, we just need to give them money and have local organisations figure out everything. And I think that’s the wrong perspective and it leads us to some wrong conclusions.

Ka Man: Thank you. It’s really refreshing to hear you speak on this in such a practical sense because like you say, a lot of discussions and a lot of papers are sorts of discussing and dissecting this localisation agenda, but, for some someone like me who’s not in the thick of it, I don’t actually know what that in a practical sense really means. So by you sharing these really practical examples of where we’re getting it right, where there are challenges and sticking points remain, I’m learning a lot from that and I’m sure our listeners are as well.

Bidjan: But I can assure you the experts don’t understand it as well, right? If you don’t understand it, nobody understands it. And that’s a huge, huge problem. We over intellectualise these debates partly also just to keep debating. And at the end of the day, we need to make change happen for people on the ground.

Ka Man: Yes, absolutely. Like I say, it’s very refreshing. Thank you. So unfortunately, we’re running out of time and I’ve got, I could continue this conversation, there’s so much I would love to ask you. Maybe we could do a part two some time, but I just wondered you’ve touched on this as we’ve gone along, but I want to know where you think the humanitarian sector needs to prioritise or focus on over the next few years in order to advance the localisation agenda and what needs to be done differently?

Bidjan: I mentioned a few areas that I think should be continued, but my main focus is on talent. And another piece that I’m really passionate about is the ability to create remote work opportunities and to think about mobility in a different way. So when you step back and you say what are the leadership qualities of someone who is a humanitarian? They are really, really good at dealing with ambiguity and complexity because they need to figure out things very quickly. They are really good and should be good in dealing directly with people and their needs and interacting with them, especially people on the ground. They are really, really good at driving for results because otherwise nothing happens and they have to have the ability to be curious, to find out what needs to be done to understand the situation. So all of these things are amazing leadership qualities for any job.

And we need to stop now saying, OK, once a humanitarian, always a humanitarian. These the young, local, talent can go anywhere. If we identify those skills the right way, if we connect them to the right organisation, whether it’s remotely, whether it’s to enable more mobility within our organisations. They can lead organisations, and they should lead organisations and so not just for the sector, but also looking through that talent lens and saying humanitarians have amazing leadership skills based on the work they do. Let’s tap into that because lots of organisations right now are looking for those leadership skills and that talent.

Ka Man: That’s great. Thank you. And before we wrap up, is any anything you’d like to add any sort of parting words or you know something that you really want to reinforce with our listeners today?

Bidjan: Maybe for anyone who’s listening, especially for people who are starting out in the sector. Don’t get discouraged by these big systems and by frustrating organisational procedures. Look outside the sector. Look to organisations that are doing great things. Connect with those people. Build your own tribe of people who want to do things differently. This sector is really needed, it’s it has great people in it and cynicism is the worst thing that can happen to the sector and it’s already spread. We don’t need more of it and there’s lots of reasons when you connect directly to the people we serve, that gives you motivation, inspiration, and brings about change. That’s what I’m hoping for the next generation that’s going into this work.

Ka Man: That’s brilliant. That was very wise, inspiring and galvanising words. So yeah, I’m sure many of us listening are going to go out and search some of those things that you’ve talked about throughout this conversation and learn a bit more. I certainly, a learning point for me is I’m going to learn a bit more about cash and voucher assistance because that’s an area that I’m not too familiar with, and I think it you make a really good point around that. So, yeah, that’s on my to do list. So thank you so much for taking the time to join us for this discussion today. I’d really appreciated your very frank and warm insights and sharing that with us. So thank you very much. And thank you to all our listeners for joining us today for our episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Bidjan: Thank you very much. The Humanitarian Leadership Academy is doing really important work and I hope it continues and grows.

In this episode, we are focusing on locally-led humanitarian research. On the SHIFT programme example and reflecting on our partnerships with researchers in Ukraine and Poland, we discuss how local specialists are and should be involved in data collection, analysis, and research design.

Tune in to hear from Maryana Zaviyska, Chief of Project Portfolio at Open Space Works, a Ukrainian female-led private social change enterprise, Myroslava Keryk, President of Ukrainian House Foundation, a Polish civic organisation focused on integration of migrants and refugees, and Elisa Sandri, Research & Evaluation Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Maryana Zaviyska holds Masters Degree in Philosophy from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. As an independant consultant, Maryana has an extensive experience supporting organisations and communities in stakeholder engagement, dialogue, and collaboration processes for high impact solutions. In her current role as Chief of Project Portfolio at Open Space Works, Maryana provides stakeholders analysis and engagement, organisational and community development, and facilitates transformation processes using Technology of Open Space, Future Search, and World Cafe.

Myroslava Keryk has an MA in History from the Central European University and is a historian, sociologist and specialist in field of migration of Ukrainians to Poland. She is also head of the civic organization Ukrainian House (Fundacja Ukraiński Dom). She has 20 years’ experience in civic activity directed towards the integration of migrants and refugees. In her daily work she combines the integration of Ukrainian refugees and migrants in Poland with research projects in the field of migration studies. She was also a member of the Commission for Migration organized under the auspices of the Spokesman for Citizens’ Rights in Poland. She received the “Golden Fan” award from the International Organization for Migration Poland for the activities directed on integration of migrants in Poland and the Badge of Honor of Merit for Warsaw. She was nominated to the title of the Warsaw Woman 2022.

Elisa Sandri is the Research and Evaluation Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She leads and oversees all the research and evaluation under the Sustainable Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation (SHIFT) programme, funded by the Disaster Emergency Committee, in Ukraine and Türkiye/Syria. She works closely with researchers, civil society actors, academics and INGOs to produce research that provides insights into the humanitarian responses organised by local organisations, volunteers and grassroots organisations. Elisa has published a number of academic articles, conference papers and a book chapter based on her research on informal humanitarian aid for people on the move in Northern France in 2015-16. In previous roles, she worked as an evaluation consultant for a range of UN agencies and international organisations, including UNHCR, IOM, WFP and the Norwegian Refugee Council. She has an MA in Anthropology of Development from the University of Sussex, and a BA in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

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The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations.

Dans cet épisode de podcast, Anne Garcon mène une discussion approfondie avec deux spécialistes de l’éducation en situation d’urgence en Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale: Mathilde Lemaire, Responsable du programme de développement professionnel de l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale à HLA et Yaya Diarrassouba, Conseiller régional de l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale à Save the Children International.

Ils nous font le plaisir de partager leurs expériences professionnelles, leur expertise, leurs idées et leur vision de l’éducation en situation d’urgence avec nous. 

Écoutez l’épisode sur Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music et Buzzsprout.

Nos intervenants

Mathilde Lemaire, Responsable du programme de développement professionnel pour l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour la région Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, HLA

Mathilde Lemaire est Responsable du programme de développement professionnel pour l’éducation en situation d’urgence pour la région Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, basée à Dakar, Sénégal. Elle a toujours travaillé dans le domaine de l’éducation mais sous différente forme, d’abord en tant que chercheuse en sociologie de l’éducation puis en tant qu’éducatrice spécialisée, auprès d’enfants vulnérables. Son rôle a toujours été de réfléchir à comment permettre à tous les enfants d’accéder à une éducation de qualité et adaptée, en fonction des besoins de chacun. Aujourd’hui avec HLA, c’est encore ce qu’elle tente de réaliser, en collaboration avec tous les acteurs du domaine de l’éducation. 

Yaya Diarrassouba, Conseiller Régional Education en Urgences pour Save the Children International, au bureau Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale

Yaya Diarrassouba est Conseiller Régional Education en Urgences pour Save the Children International, au bureau Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale. Il occupe ce poste depuis avril 2023 et est basé à Dakar au Sénégal. Avant ce poste, il a travaillé pour différentes organisations en Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale, dans différents contextes aussi bien en humanitaire que de développement. Il a aussi eu la chance de faire l’expérience de coordination du cluster éducation comme co-lead au zNiger (2017-2018) et au Mali (2018-2019). Dans son rôle actuel, il collabore avec les 9 pays de la région dans lesquels Save the Children International est opérationnel, avec un focus sur les pays pour lesquels des réponses humanitaires sont en cours.

Animé par Anne Garcon : Cheffe de la Communication et du Marketing, Humanitarian Leadership Academy

Anne Garcon travaille dans le secteur humanitaire depuis quatorze ans, principalement dans le domaine des campagnes et de la communication. Avant de rejoindre HLA, elle a travaillé pour Amnesty International, Migrants’ Rights Network et une ONG palestinienne basée à Londres, faisant campagne pour les droits des femmes et des filles palestiniennes réfugiées au Liban, en Syrie et dans les territoires Palestiniens occupés. Au sein de HLA, elle est responsable de la stratégie et de la mise en œuvre de tous les aspects de la communication et du marketing, afin de garantir que les solutions d’apprentissage, les plateformes, produits et services proposés par HLA soient reconnus, mis en valeur et utilisés partout dans le monde.

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Commentaires/demandes : veuillez envoyer un e-mail à info@humanitarian.academy ou nous contacter sur les réseaux sociaux.

Les points de vue et opinions exprimés dans notre podcast sont ceux des intervenants et ne reflètent pas nécessairement les points de vue ou les positions de leurs organisations.

What are the biggest challenges refugees and migrants from the LGBTQ+ community face in Poland, and how do locally-led organisations create networks and structures to support them?

In this episode, we are talking about the Ukraine crisis response in Poland with a focus on strengthening the capacity of local organisations and advocacy for LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees.

Hear the insights from Sarian Jarosz, Advocacy and Research Lead at Queer Without Borders, an informal group of activists working for the improvement of the situation of LGBTQI+ migrants and refugees in Poland. Piotr Kolodziej, our Regional Lead in Eastern Europe, shares how the partnership between the HLA and Queer Without Borders happened and what are our plans to strengthen the capacity of local organisations supporting LGBTQ+ refugees and migrants in Poland.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Piotr Kolodziej is the HLA’s Regional Lead in Eastern Europe. Piotr is based in Poland and has over thirteen years of experience in humanitarian and development organisations. Piotr worked at the International Rescue Committee, Ashoka and Polish Humanitarian Action, including heading a mission in Turkey/Syria, and leading teams in Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Iraq. Piotr has also supported the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership as a Lead Facilitator and Tech To The Rescue as a Crisis Response Consultant.

Sarian Jarosz is Advocacy and Research Lead at Queer Without Borders, our partner and LGBTQ+ Advisor in Poland. Sarian currently works as a Research Coordinator at Migration Consortium (Konsorcjum Migracyjne) and has broad experience working with refugees and migrants in Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Denmark, and Uganda. For several years, Sarian worked for Amnesty International as an LGBTQ+ investigator.

This episode was hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at the HLA.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations.

Cambio Climático y Asistencia Humanitaria: Respuesta durante la temporada de huracanes en América Latina y el Caribe.

Este es el primer episodio en español de la serie del podcast: ‘Nuevas Perspectivas Humanitarias’ de HLA. En este episodio, Ana Lucía Villagran, Especialista en Soluciones de Aprendizaje en América Latina y el Caribe; obtiene ideas significativas de Mercedes García, líder de HLA para la región y Dan Stothart, Director Humanitario Regional de Save the Children en América Latina y el Caribe.

La conversación profundiza en las experiencias de Dan y Mercedes al responder a las comunidades afectadas por huracanes y lo que se necesita para que la región mitigue los efectos del cambio climático y lidere la respuesta.

Escucha el episodio en Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music y Buzzsprout.

Acerca de los ponentes

Dan Stothart se incorporó a Save the Children en agosto de 2021. Ha trabajado en Naciones Unidas, Plan Internacional, Oxfam e IRC en respuesta a emergencias y reducción del riesgo de desastres en África y América Latina. Ha dirigido misiones de respuesta de las Naciones Unidas en Colombia (Hidroituango y el derrame de petróleo de Barrancabermeja en 2018), San Vicente y las Granadinas y Honduras; y estableció el componente ambiental de la respuesta R4V para ACNUR y ONU Medio Ambiente en la región, y también específicamente para Colombia y Brasil. También movilizó la respuesta de ONU Medio Ambiente a más de 25 emergencias.

Mercedes Garcia es ingeniera civil y ambiental, becaria Fulbright, con más de 20 años de experiencia en el ámbito humanitario y de desarrollo, habiendo trabajado anteriormente con Plan International, Oxfam y el gobierno de El Salvador. Mercedes ha liderado muchas respuestas humanitarias en Centroamérica, ha gestionado programas de reducción de desastres, resiliencia y acción humanitaria, y recientemente se desempeña como consejera de desarrollo de capacidades humanitarias con Save the Children.

Ana Lucía Villagran es Publicista de profesión y obtuvo una maestría en Comercio Internacional y Desarrollo Económico en Corea del Sur. Académicamente, Ana Lucía se desempeñó como asistente de investigación en la Universidad Kyung Hee, participando en importantes proyectos de investigación patrocinados por entidades como el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y la CEPAL; y también se desempeñó como Profesora en la Universidad Nacional de San Carlos, donde impartió clases de Productividad y Desarrollo Económico. Se ha desempeñado como gerente de proyectos de desarroll social para Good Neighbors International; y actualmente se desempeña como gerente de proyectos y especialista en soluciones de aprendizaje en la Academia de Liderazgo Humanitario.

As this podcast is recorded in Spanish, the excerpt below in English gives insight to the conversation for non-speakers:

Climate change and Humanitarians: Responding to hurricane season in Latin America and the Caribbean

The first Spanish episode in HLA’s ‘Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives’ podcast series. In this episode Ana Lucia Villagran, Learning Solutions Specialist in Latin America and Caribbean gleans meaningful insights from Dan Stothart, Regional Humanitarian Director for Save the Children in Latin America and the Caribbean and Mercedes Garcia, HLA Lead for Latin America and Caribbean.

The conversation delves into Dan and Mercedes’ experiences responding to communities affected by hurricanes and what is needed for the region to mitigate the effects of climate change and lead the response.

Ana Lucia:

We would like to ask you about your experience in this hurricane season, which parts of Latin America and the Caribbean do you think are most prone or which areas have experienced the worst crises during the rainy and hurricane season in the region?

Mercedes:

At an OCHA meeting a couple of weeks ago, we were reminded that this Latin American region has around 1,500 disaster events in the last decade.

This has affected around 200 million people.

Although there are multiple disaster situations, it is also the natural phenomena that has caused many of these effects.

In the case of hurricane season, we have had devastating hurricanes in the region.  It affects Mexico, all of Central America, also, the Caribbean is extremely affected. From Cuba, Jamaica, also the Dominican Republic and there we have all the islands, right in the Caribbean and in South America there are countries that, depending on the type of hurricane, are also affected, which are countries like Colombia and Venezuela.

These countries, suffer different types of effects. Where loss of life occurs, we also have effects related to the quality of life that people can have after these situations.

In the case of the most vulnerable territories in the country, it is very difficult to recover after these phenomena occur. I wanted to take the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that we have a rather complicated situation this year.

Historically, in the region the periods of hurricanes have had more effects as they have grown stronger…

We also have the proliferation of diseases such as cholera, added to a situation of lack of access to health services and water that currently exists in this country.

Ana Lucia:

The situation you mention in Acapulco, Mercedes was very difficult after the passage of Hurricane Otis. We are going to delve deeper into the topic with Dan, who is also joining us today.

Mercedes, without a doubt, the resilience of communities is key not only to facing a crisis, but to coming out of it.  How can communities be better prepared to address the problems that arise as a consequence of disasters?

Mercedes:

First of all, communities and people are the first to respond to a disaster situation.

Whether we want it or not, because they are the ones who live it in the flesh. It’s important for communities and people in communities to be strengthened both in their knowledge as people in the structures, in what they are called, in those who practice and remember that in the end it is them, they are the ones who are there who are going to be there, always the ones who stay.

Sometimes different organisations come to support or governments support, but the people are the ones who are there and the ones who always stay.

On a personal level and family level, it is important to be prepared as it applies to everyone.

Ana Lucia

I would like to ask you what are the three main things that humanitarian personnel who respond in areas affected by hurricanes should take into account? Is this something more general, you who have had experience responding to various hurricanes, what do you think are the three main things?

Dan:

I think mostly thinking about hurricanes now and not so much maybe hurricane responses like 10 or 15 years ago. But first, one thing that remains true is that hurricanes are phenomena that are announced, they let you know that they are coming, so monitoring counts for a lot, although as I mentioned at the beginning, Otis surprised us, we still knew that Otis was on his way, that Otis was going up the coast of Mexico. And maybe that ties into my second point, which is one more point for response today, which is to expect volatility.

As I said, Otis went from category four to category five in less than 24 hours. And we’re also now seeing storms that take sudden turns and hit an area that maybe wasn’t the area that was initially expected.

But we can factor that into our planning. We already know that a hurricane is more or less on course to an area, but maybe we should open up the preparation area to prepare in a larger area in case a hurricane is going to change course.

Likewise, not to keep thinking ‘ah, ok, they say this is a category un, so we don’t have to do so much, but when it looks like it’s going to be a category more, at least have a preparedness scenario corresponding to a larger storm, just in case that kind of volatility happens, especially in years when the sea temperature is very high, as it was last year, and as also this year the temperature in the Caribbean, the Atlantic is very high and we can expect more storms like Otis in the Atlantic and Caribbean this year.

And perhaps the third point is to know the area. In the end, the hurricane is not going to end with the social problems that existed before, but rather quite the opposite, it is going to amplify them.

And then, if before there was, for example, organised crime, organised crime will return to the area to take control and perhaps take advantage of the situation to extend its territorial control.

If the rule of law in the affected area before was weak, one is going to see that reflected later in the post-hurricane situation and in the response. And if children’s rights were in crisis before the event, after the impact, the situation will be worse.

Hurricanes very rarely come to make things better. So we can know that and focus on child protection from the beginning.

Having that local knowledge through the actors who live there, who never leave the area, is extremely important, because that is how they guided us in a previously mentioned case, to an area that really needed the response that Mexico provided in that case.

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Los puntos de vista y opiniones expresados en nuestro podcast son los de los ponentes y no reflejan necesariamente los puntos de vista o posiciones de sus organizaciones.

How can we harness the power of communities and networks as tools for humanitarian learning?

In this podcast episode, Esther Grieder (the HLA’s Global Communities and Partnerships Lead), leads a deep dive discussion with three seasoned community builders from Ghana, Nigeria and the UK to share and compare professional experiences.

Tune in to hear insightful learnings and reflections from Esther and guests Ese Emerhi (Global Fund for Community Foundations), Nancy Kankam Kusi (West Africa Civil Society Institute), and Jon Novakovic (Global Inter-agency Security Forum).

Intentionality in community building work, as well as the importance of trust, emerge as key themes in this illuminating discussion.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Note on audio: minor connectivity issues occurred during the speakers’ video call, affecting the audio quality in certain segments.

About the speakers

Ese Emerhi: Global Network Weaver, Global Fund for Community Foundations – GFCF

Since 2017, Ese has served as the project director for the Kiisi Trust Fund, a donor-advised-fund managed by TrustAfrica in Ogoniland in Rivers State, Nigeria. She has spent the past 20 years working in the international development field, supporting human rights defenders and organizations, developing non-profit boards, working with marginalized communities and groups, as well as youth-led organizations across the globe advocating for greater youth inclusion in development projects, leadership, and youth empowerment. As the project lead for the Kiisi Trust Fund, she directed a multi-million USD fund for the benefit of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, instilling a new model of participatory community-based grant making for sustainable development.

In 2018, in her role as project director for TrustAfrica, she partnered with the GFCF, Africa Philanthropy Network, and the Kenya Development Community Foundation to host the Twitter chat “You Say Intermediary, I Say….?” that sought to better understand and define the controversial word “intermediary” as it is used in the development field. 

Nancy Kankam Kusi: Programme Officer, West Africa Civil Society Institute – WACSI

At WACSI, Nancy Kankam Kusi leads in curating, documenting, packaging and sharing learnings and knowledge on civil society to facilitate growth in the civil society ecosystem. Nancy also leads a diverse team of civil society actors to initiate and implement international development programs that promote community philanthropy, shifting power and resources to the grassroots, localising and decolonising development initiatives in the global south. She is a member of the RINGO project and an idea career for the Decolonising Advisory Community.

Nancy holds an MPhil degree in Planning with experience in international development, development research (quantitative and qualitative) and knowledge management. She is a trained urban and regional planner. She has a demonstrated working experience in different sectors, including research institutions, the government development sector and the civil society sector and has worked with partners across Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.

Jon Novakovic: Executive Director, Global Inter-agency Security Forum – GISF

Jon Novakovic joined the GISF Secretariat as Executive Director in March 2023. Jon started his career in government in Australia before moving into overseas development. In almost 10 years in the aid sector, he has been involved in SRM within local and international NGOs, and private consultancy. He has spent significant time in Afghanistan and Timor Leste, and is now based in Scotland.

As the Global Manager of Crisis Analytics at Mercy Corps, Jon was a key part of the team defining and growing the new offering that proved a key point of difference in Mercy Corps’ access and operations in high risk environments. He ran the Syria and Nigeria teams, and set up new operations in Mozambique and Ethiopia. He fostered the introduction of new AI-based technologies, and the recruitment of OSINT specialists to enable work in hard-to-access areas. Jon has a Masters Degree in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism.

Hosted by Esther Grieder: Global Partnerships and Communities Lead, Humanitarian Leadership Academy

Esther Grieder is Global Communities and Partnerships Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She holds 20 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors, working primarily on education, youth, health and humanitarian issues.

Esther has worked at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy since 2016. She was responsible for developing, launching and growing HPass, a platform enabling humanitarians to showcase verifiable evidence of their skills and experience using digital badges. She holds extensive business development and partnerships experience, and enjoys figuring out how organisations can work together to turn good ideas into great social initiatives. Esther holds a BA and MA in History, and is based in London, UK.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

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Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Are you curious about coaching and mentoring – but not sure if it’s right for you, or how to get started? 

Charlotte Balfour-Poole, Head of Coaching at the HLA, provides her expert overview of coaching and mentoring, and highlights how they can be used as powerful tools to support every humanitarian.

In conversation with Ka Man Parkinson, Charlotte helps to demystify the concepts, and provides tips and advice for anyone interested in unlocking their potential through coaching and mentoring.

About the speakers

Charlotte Balfour-Poole is Head of Coaching at the HLA, responsible for developing and ensuring a coherent and comprehensive coaching offer for humanitarian staff. Previously Charlotte was Global Head of Humanitarian Education for Save the Children and the Director of the Humanitarian Technical Unit. She began her career as a Humanitarian Education Response Advisor deploying to a vast array of complex, protracted and sudden-onset humanitarian crises as part of SC’s Global Emergency response team. Charlotte is based in Wiltshire, UK.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. In her role Ka Man creates, commissions and manages content to bring to life the HLA’s brand, learning solutions, products and services. Ka Man is based in Manchester, UK.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

Links and further reading

Download Charlotte’s recommended reading list

NGO Coaching and Mentoring website

Women in Leadership Network (WIL)

AOMP — Across Organisational Mentoring Programme 2024

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

The delivery of high quality humanitarian capacity strengthening – face-to-face or online is not devoid of unique challenges.

As crises occur, it is important to take stock of experiences and lessons learned, then introduce simple yet innovative methods to counter or mitigate arising challenges. This promotes the healthy constant evolution to more accessible, inclusive and contextually relevant training.

Rose Wahome, returns in this highly demanded episode to share an insightful hour with Nwando Okoh, HLA Communications and Marketing Specialist. This conversation leans in to Rose’s over 18 years of experience in education, programme management and delivering face-to-face and blended humanitarian trainings including simulations as well as recent experience on the other side of the board as a student or trainee.

Rose recently certified skillset in Coaching and Mentoring supplies the perfect juxtaposition for this conversation following Rose’s first episode  “How face-to-face training is shifting the power” . She provides rich insight into common challenges faced in training delivery and how they have been or can be mitigated.

Again Rose’s insights are fueled by her life’s philosophies, one being: “For all my problems, of one thing I am sure – is that my solutions are with people,”

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon music, Buzzsprout and Player FM.

Rose has worked in stable, refugee, conflict and post conflict settings in Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Lebanon, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia and Syria supporting public and third sectors including Ministry of Education Kenya and South Sudan, Save the Children, UNESCO, NORCAP, UNICEF and the Institute of Education, London.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Education Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Egerton University and an MA in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development from the IOE, University of London. She is trained on the SPHERE & INEE minimum standards; Education in Emergencies (EiE); field safety & security procedures including radio communication; Disaster Risk Reduction; Advocacy; and Alternative Learning Programs among others.

Listen to the podcast episode

Apple podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Buzzsprout

Amazon Music


Useful resources and links

Kaya
Our regional centers

Note: The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

Listen to Archie Law AM (Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy) in conversation with Jamie McGoldrick, who has just completed a term as the Interim UN Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  

Together with Archie, Jamie discusses leadership and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the challenges and opportunities in working with complex ecosystems in Gaza, and what might lie ahead for the humanitarian sector in the Gaza response.

This is a recording of a conversation held in March 2024 exclusively for Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives. Note on audio: minor connectivity issues occurred during the speakers’ video call, affecting the audio quality in certain segments.

About the speakers

Jamie McGoldrick recently completed his appointment as Interim UN Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He previously served as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 2018 and 2020 and was the UN’s Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator in Yemen from 2015 to 2018. Jamie is the host of the Humanitarian Fault Lines podcast.

Archie Law AM is the Principal Leadership Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. His previous appointments have included Director of International Programmes at Save the Children Australia, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia and global and regional humanitarian roles with the United Nations.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

What does a humanitarian career look like? How can you kickstart your own journey in this inspiring sector – and how can this career path evolve over time?

In our humanitarian careers podcast series, we’re connecting with humanitarians from around the world to hear personal stories and experiences of working in the sector.

In this episode, listen to Ka Man Parkinson in conversation with two inspiring colleagues from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy: Salma Babban from Jordan and Tom Russell from the UK.

We hear about their transitions into the humanitarian world and how their roles have evolved over time, as well as the key skills they need to do their jobs well.

They also share what motivates them to keep going during challenging times, and their advice for anyone who wants to follow in their footsteps into the humanitarian world. 

Whether you’re an aspiring humanitarian, a seasoned professional, or simply curious about the incredible work happening in the sector, tune into this insightful conversation with Salma and Tom which is now available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout.

Podcast episode themes/keywords: humanitarian careers, aid sector, INGOs, translation, languages, communication, training and facilitation, civil engineering, WASH, Ebola, Middle East, West and Central Africa, Ukraine, localisation, Humanitarian Xchange.

About the speakers

Salma Babban is Global Translation Manager at the HLA and is based in Amman, Jordan. Salma holds a background in technical projects and programmes management positions in both development and humanitarian contexts including working with donors, and with international and local universities and at the British Council. She also holds a background in capacity strengthening, and community and partner relationship building. She joined the HLA in 2021.

Tom Russell is a Technical Learning Specialist at the HLA and is based in Birmingham, UK. Tom holds a background in WASH programme development and delivery. He has 10 years of experience in designing and supporting the delivery of humanitarian response projects including the cholera outbreak response in Haiti of 2011, cyclone preparedness in Madagascar and the Ebola outbreak response in the DR Congo. His focus is now on supporting humanitarian professionals develop and strengthen their skills through learning and training.

Hosted and produced by Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She holds extensive professional experience within the international education and non-profit sectors including at three UK universities and at the British Council. She joined the HLA in 2022.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout.

Links

Humanitarian Xchange 2024 – sign up to join us for our global hybrid conference on 20 February.

Links to translated resources Salma highlights in this episode:

Response Learning Hub – Turkiye-Syria Earthquake Response

Microlearning animations on our YouTube channel

Learn more about some of the resources and training highlighted by Tom:

Humanitarian Operations Programme

Humanitarian Operations Programme (HOP) Core Asia [news article]

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share with someone who might find it useful!

Feedback/enquiries: please email info@humanitarian.academy or connect with us on social media.

The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations. 

In this episode, we discuss various learning opportunities provided by the HLA and Save the Children, which support capacity strengthening in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

As countries of the MENA region face different types of crises, humanitarian actors on the ground need tailored capacity-strengthening programmes. Listen to this conversation with Bdour Ghousheh, HLA Regional Lead in the Middle East and North Africa and Abed Dbas, the Education Specialist at Save the Children Syria Response office, hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, HLA Communications Officer, to learn more about it.

Listen to the podcast episode available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Bdour Ghousheh has more than 10 years of experience in the humanitarian sector, focusing on education, partnerships, project management and capacity strengthening in the MENAEE region. Now, Bdour provides strategic direction and leadership to the broader Humanitarian Leadership Academy’s approach across the MENAEE region and manages a team of humanitarian experts working in different areas (Leadership, Technical expertise and Civil Society Strengthening).

Abed Dbas is the Education Specialist at Save the Children Syria Response office, based in Gaziantep, Türkiye. Abed manages the technical and operational aspects of the education program in Northwest Syria.

Hosted and produced by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, based in the United Kingdom.

Listen to this podcast episode

Join us as we explore the visionary Humanitarian Xchange, a groundbreaking event set to redefine global humanitarian sector.

The inaugural Humanitarian Xchange is a hybrid conference scheduled to take place in London, UK and online on 20 February 2024.

Dominic Courage, the force behind HX24, shares its unique vision, behind-the-scenes insights, and invites you to join this milestone moment.

Tune in to the latest HLA podcast episode to learn more and to discover how you can be part of shaping a future with a new generation of humanitarians.

This episode is now available to listen to on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the speakers

Dominic Courage is Deputy Director External Relations at the HLA, responsible for ensuring that the HLA’s strategy is supported by a business model that will sustain our impact.

A core part of this to ensure that we have strong external relationships with our learners, partners, clients and donors because these partnerships are critical to multiplying our impact and achieving our mission.

Before joining the HLA, Dom worked with Save the Children leading humanitarian technical teams and deploying to emergencies around the world. Prior to this he worked with the engineering consultancy Arup as a civil engineer and project manager.

Ka Man Parkinson is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the HLA. She holds extensive professional experience within the international education and non-profit sectors including at three UK universities and at the British Council. She joined the HLA in 2022.

Links

Humanitarian Xchange

Trumanitarian podcast episode 64: The Percolator

Kaya

Humanitarian capacity strengthening is constantly evolving to be more accessible, inclusive and contextually relevant. Also evolving is the audience, formats for delivery and balance of power from who accesses training, how it is accessed and how it is delivered.

Rose Wahome, HLA Learning Solutions Specialist in East and Southern Africa region shares an interesting and insightful hour with Nwando Okoh, HLA Communications and Marketing Specialist. The conversation segues from Rose’s specialised background in education to reflections on actual face-to-face and blended trainings from Education in Emergencies to Emergency Preparedness, providing valuable insight on how interested local organisations can partner with the HLA to access inclusive reactive capacity strengthening training and resources from HLA’s preparedness portfolio.

Rose shares real life examples as well as nuggets of wisdom reminding us of the human in humanitarian. She says:

“We start to learn if we acknowledge that we don’t know everything… if we are open to sharing what we know and also listening to what other people have, that in itself is a very good place to be as a person, as a human being.”

“Simple choices that you make with your programmes can actually have very dire consequences for communities, even when you were not thinking about it. For you it was just a project, just an activity that needed to be done but it ends up doing harm.”

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout and Player FM.

About Rose Wahome

Rose Wahome is a versatile humanitarian. As the learning solutions specialist in East and Southern Africa, her work is focused on Education in Emergencies and Humanitarian Training. Rose brings more than 18 years’ of experience spanning across managing and coordinating programmes in complex emergency settings to providing education technical assistance to teams, consulting, evaluating, training, leading projects, teaching and researching.

Rose has worked in stable, refugee, conflict and post conflict settings in Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Lebanon, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia and Syria supporting public and third sectors including Ministry of Education Kenya and South Sudan, Save the Children, UNESCO, NORCAP, UNICEF and the Institute of Education, London.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Education Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Egerton University and an MA in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development from the IOE, University of London. She is trained on the SPHERE & INEE minimum standards; Education in Emergencies (EiE); field safety & security procedures including radio communication; Disaster Risk Reduction; Advocacy; and Alternative Learning Programs among others.

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Useful resources and links

Kaya
Our regional centers

In this podcast episode, we take a closer look at the current education in emergencies (EiE) context in Asia.

Globally, many families are preparing for the start of a new academic year, with children and young people currently starting or returning to education.

However, in countries and regions around the world impacted by emergencies and crises, millions do not have access to education and safe learning environments. 

In this podcast episode, Soso Bagashvili and Efren Lubuguin from the HLA’s Asia Regional Centre speak to Ka Man Parkinson about the education in emergencies (EiE) context from their vantage point in Asia.

In 2023 across the Asia-Pacific region, what are the main barriers that children and young people face in terms of accessing education in the region – and what interventions can help to overcome such challenges? And in the face of such a complex and challenging regional context across the world’s largest continent, how can agencies coordinate a suitable and sustainable EiE response?

Soso and Efren share their perspectives and explain how – by working in partnership with Education Cluster partners and national/local organisations – they’ve been able to work in an agile and responsive way to design and implement EiE interventions localised to the Asia regional context. They also share their upcoming plans and aspirations for EiE capacity strengthening in the region.

Listen to the podcast episode available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Soso Bagashvili is Regional Head of Capacity Strengthening and Partnerships, Asia at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Soso is based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Efren Lubuguin is Regional Professional Development Programme Manager EiE, Asia at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Efren is based in Manila, Philippines.

Hosted by Ka Man Parkinson, Communications and Marketing Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Ka Man is based in Manchester, UK.

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Find out more

About the Humanitarian Leadership Academy Asia Regional Centre

Education in Emergencies Professional Development Programme (PDP)

Education in Emergencies Fundamentals training successfully launched in Nepal

In this episode, we are discussing civil society strengthening in the context of the Ukraine crisis response in Eastern Europe with Olga Nikolska, the Program Director of Culture of Philanthropy Development at Civil Society Organisation Ednannia, and Pawel Mania, the Deputy Director for Transformational Response at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Listen for insights from more than 20 years of experience of Ednannia – one of the largest and most experienced civil society organisations in Ukraine, as well as the HLA’s localisation approach and view on the challenges and needs specific to the region.    

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Olga Nikolska (she/her) is the Program Director of Culture of Philanthropy Development at Civil Society Organisation EDNANNIA. With a background in consultancy in strategic planning, fundraising, and communication, Olga became the Culture of Philanthropy Development Program Director at ISAR Ednannia in 2017. Olga oversees the Emergency Support Program for Ukrainian Community Foundations and the organisational development grants component.  

“The Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” was founded in 1997 and officially registered in 1999. With the aim of creating a harmonious society, Ednannia focuses on strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations and individual experts, leaders, and activists, through the work and cooperation of international and Ukrainian donor organisations and businesses. 

Pawel Mania (he/him) is the Deputy Director for Transformational Response at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. He has broad international experience and a background in strategy setting, research and evaluation, cross-functional collaboration, and implementing large-scale, high-impact programmes. Pawel’s passion in his humanitarian work is development, including peacebuilding and migration, learning, and innovation. He leads his team with a value-driven perspective, focusing on transformational changes in alignment with the Engine 2 approach.   

Oksana Dobrovolska (she/her) is the Communications Officer at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in early 2023 and holds a background in communications in the security-oriented international relations sector. 

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Have you ever wondered about the role of research in the humanitarian sector? Keen to learn more about the plethora of humanitarian learning options available – ranging from asynchronous study and stackable learning through to free bite-sized courses with digital badges?

Ka Man Parkinson (Communications and Marketing Advisor) was delighted to recently speak to humanitarian learning experts Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings (Associate Director of Research, Centre for Humanitarian Leadership) and Esther Grieder (Global Communities and Partnerships Lead, Humanitarian Leadership Academy) to learn from their combined expertise in humanitarian training pathways.

In an accessible and engaging conversation recorded for a new podcast episode for the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Nazanin and Esther guide us through the changing humanitarian learning landscape – from research through to practical, lifelong learning approaches.

Read a preview of the conversation below and listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

Nazanin, so when people think of humanitarians, they may think of a first responder. What do you believe is the role and relevance of research in the humanitarian space?

I love this question because I love research!

So research is the creation of new knowledge, and this new knowledge is borne from evidence, it’s borne from rigorous forms of inquiry, and it can suggest new pathways or new ways of working or new ways of approaching problems that are more effective, more efficient, and maybe just more equitable. So I think research can really help us make a better humanitarian sector, make better humanitarian ways of working, make better humanitarian outcomes, and better serve people living through humanitarian crises.

This research might be quantitative, so it may be looking at things like a nutrition intervention and wondering, well, what is the effect of this nutrition intervention? What percentage of children does it impact and how does it impact them? Or it might be more qualitative. So it might be asking, well, how do parents feel about this intervention? How do they feel about accessing the intervention? I think it’s important to note that there’s really a need for both of these types of research – both the qualitative and the quantitative are both needed for better humanitarian outcomes.

The final point I’ll make on this question is I think that research needs to be accessible to be used for people that are working in crises and emergencies that don’t have the luxury of time, you know, to flip through PDFs at their leisure. Information needs to be accessible and needs to be delivered to end users in a way that’s valuable to them. So I think that’s also a bit of a reflection of perhaps how researchers can best serve the humanitarian sector as well as how humanitarians can use research.

Esther, what do you think are the main advantages or benefits of taking a lifelong learning approach to upskilling as a humanitarian?

Well, I think the world of work for everyone – due to new technologies and all kinds of things including Covid – is changing at an accelerating pace. But I think this is particularly true – and it always has been particularly true – of the humanitarian sector. And I think it’s just a feature of work in the sector that things move very fast and there are always new things to learn. At the moment, for example, there are so many new technologies that are potentially offering new ways to respond to emergencies. There are new challenges, for example, caused by climate change, more prolonged conflicts, cybersecurity.

There’s really kind of upheaval in the sector as a whole in terms of the way that we work in the sector, recognition that we need to start to work differently, and we need to address some of the kind of power dynamics in the sector.

So there’s all this change in the sector all the time. And the people working in it have to be able to respond to that, so it’s essential that they’re able to access new learning on an ongoing basis, and that that can be produced in response to new challenges that come up, that learning can be made available and that then it can be put into practice by humanitarians.

About the podcast guests

Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings is the Associate Director of Research at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, a Deakin University/Save the Children Australia partnership, and Senior Lecturer in Humanitarian Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University.

Nazanin’s main areas of research are humanitarian education and training, and humanitarian engagement in North Korea. She holds a PhD in Asian and International Studies (City University of Hong Kong), a joint Master’s in International Humanitarian Action (Ruhr-Universität Bochum/Université catholique de Louvain), a Master’s (Honours) in International Relations (University of Edinburgh), and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Learning and Teaching (Deakin University). Nazanin is from Massachusetts, USA.

Esther Grieder is Global Communities and Partnerships Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She holds 20 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors, working primarily on education, youth, health and humanitarian issues.

Esther has worked at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy since 2016. She was responsible for developing, launching and growing HPass, a platform enabling humanitarians to showcase verifiable evidence of their skills and experience using digital badges. She holds extensive business development and partnerships experience, and enjoys figuring out how organisations can work together to turn good ideas into great social initiatives. Esther holds a BA and MA in History, and is based in London, UK.

Listen to the podcast episode

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Resources and links signposted by Esther and Nazanin in the podcast episode

Kaya

HPass

Centre for Humanitarian Leadership and Deakin University

International Humanitarian Studies Association’s database of humanitarian studies organisations

Mastersportal.com

Lifelong learning infographic on the HPass website

“The technology that tends to get used by humans over a period of time tend to be the ones that actually help them to do something, rather than not just a fad or something that is fun. I think it’s incredibly important.”
– James Maltby

Drawing from a depth of knowledge and varied expertise, James Maltby and Austen Shand share insights on immersive learning in the humanitarian sector through the lens of recent global interest and engagement with artificial intelligence.

James and Austen take us on journeys through technology before the metaverse, and how capacity strengthening needs and solutions have evolved over time.

Their perceptive journeys culminate in the acknowledgement that AI presents an opportunity as “tools in the toolbelt” that can help “prep the canvas” for capacity strengthening work in the humanitarian sector.

You will find when you listen to this interesting podcast that directly or indirectly, humanitarians across the sector are already engaging with these tools and immersing in the metaverse. What does that look like now and how would it look in the next 10 years?

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

James Maltby (He/Him) is the Head of the Digital Learning team at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy who design and develop online learning materials to support all HLA’s  capacity strengthening programmes.

James’ work in embedding blended and immersive learning technology into technical teaching was nationally recognised in 2019. Having served as a special educational needs teacher supporting children with autism, communication and interaction difficulties, James is passionate about the way technology can enable more accessible, inclusive and diverse learning opportunities for everyone.

Austen Shand (He/Him) is a Digital Learning Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. He is an artist, developer and designer with expertise in instructional design, eLearning development tools including interactive simulations, gamified courses, and mobile-responsive designs, and multimedia production.

Austen is passionate about creating innovative and effective eLearning solutions that make a difference and high quality, engaging and effective eLearning experiences that empower learners to achieve their goals.

Nwabundo Okoh (She/Her) is the Communications and Marketing Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in 2022 and holds a background in communications and marketing for international development.

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“Solidarity is the political expression of love. And I have hope and faith that we can get to a place that’s equitable for all.”
 – Michelle Brillouet
 
Michelle Brillouet and Tim Carpentier from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy engage in a thought-provoking exploration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – and why it matters now more than ever, particularly in the humanitarian sector. 

In conversation with Ka Man Parkinson from the HLA, Michelle and Tim illustrate why systemic change is necessary by taking us on a personal journey of what DEI means to them, before delving into topical issues including power and decision-making, neo-colonialism and anti-racism.
 
As committed DEI advocates and representatives, Michelle and Tim share their experiences of creating inclusive work practices – and highlight actions we can take to play our part in creating a humanitarian space that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Read a preview of the conversation below and listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

Can we start by asking what diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you?

Michelle Brillouet

So this is a really good question – and I think it’s important that we perhaps dig into what diversity, equity and inclusion are because sometimes they can be put into the same bucket.

So for me, diversity is diversity of thought, diversity of being, diversity of all the beings that live on this planet and all the different communities. We understand that we are not all the same and we will have different needs – to move beyond the golden rule of treating people how you want to be treated to the platinum rule of how they want to be treated, and how perhaps they need to be treated.

All in all, I think fundamentally what we want is to feel safe. We want to feel respected, treated with dignity and heard. We want to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance for who we are and all its forms in this world.

And when you talk about equity, you know it’s not the same as equality as that is sameness. Equity is fairness, I think, in my humble opinion.

Tim Carpentier

Yes, for me, I think diversity is fundamentally about the valuation of difference. I think Michelle explained it really well there. So it’s really about thinking a little bit about who’s who at the table, who’s making decisions and who’s part of an organisation. Historically in the humanitarian sector – and this goes for a lot of aid where the INGOs who have access to a lot of the funding – have typically been run by cisgender, heterosexual white men. So when it comes to diversity, it’s about thinking a little bit about who’s at the table and who’s making decisions. I think for me that that valuation of difference is really key. And I think the way Michelle explained it was really helpful.

For me, equity is about that process of being fair. We’re not all the same, so we shouldn’t treat everybody the same. It’s about figuring what process and individual actions we need so that people can actually claim their rights.

Our goal should be that everybody can claim their rights regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, ethnicity. So equity helps us get there.

You know, a simple way to think about it is if you give everybody the same size pair of shoes. Well, can they all claim their right to actually walk around? No, because you might need a smaller or larger pair of shoes. So we should get people the right size shoes.

And inclusion, I think, is about that meaningful participation. So it’s not just about getting people to the table and opening up decision-making spaces and spaces where people do the work; it’s about ensuring that people can be themselves and be free to be who they are, and participate in a way and have some of that power as well to make decisions.

So really what this comes down to is adapting our work and building in equity so that everybody can participate freely and fully in the workplace, but then also when it translates to doing our work – which is serving marginalised communities around the world.

Listen to the full podcast episode now available on Spotify and Buzzsprout.

About the podcast speakers

Michelle Brillouet (She/They) is a User Experience Specialist at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, dedicating her days to empowering individuals and organisations through the innovative Kaya platform. Michelle brings a wealth of experience to her work, with a strong background in education, particularly working with at-risk young people and international students.

Michelle is a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity, and her expertise in creating safe and inclusive environments that promote mental health and wellbeing is second to none. As an EDI coach, she is committed to driving change in the EdTech industry and promoting psychological safety in organisations.

Tim Carpentier (He/Him) is Digital Learning Lead at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy where he supports a team to design and develop digital learning resources for frontline humanitarian practitioners.

He has a technical background in gender equality, with a particular emphasis in humanitarian settings and holds an MA in International Humanitarian Action. Tim joined the HLA in 2020 and has also undertaken work across the Humanitarian Department at Save the Children UK integrating gender equality into its work.

Ka Man Parkinson (She/Her) is Communications and Marketing Advisor at the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. She joined the HLA in 2022 and holds a background in communications and marketing in the education and NGO sectors.