The team

Nicola Reindorp is a globally recognised leader in forging powerful collaborations to protect civilians from war. For more than two decades, she has united NGOs, governments and activists in collective efforts to save lives, shape policy and drive systemic change.

She began her journey on the Board of Crisis Action in 2006 while leading Oxfam International’s global campaign on conflict and humanitarian crises. At Oxfam’s New York office, she played a pivotal role in securing the historic UN agreement on the Responsibility to Protect, ensuring world leaders commit to preventing genocide and crimes against humanity.

Nicola later co-founded the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and has held key roles as strategic consultant to the UN in Rwanda and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York and an advisor to Avaaz. She was a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute in London where she authored landmark reports on humanitarian and donor coordination.

Nicola is also on a mission to redefine how we think about leadership. Through her research and public speaking, Nicola is exploring how doubt should not be dismissed as a weakness but instead harnessed for its power to fuel self-awareness, drive inclusion, and better decision-making. She makes the case for harnessing the power of doubt to unlock better leadership, stronger teams, and more diverse voices in power.

Nicola holds a First-Class degree in Social and Political Science from King’s College, Cambridge, and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

nicola.reindorp@crisisaction.org

+ 44 7539 44 23 11

Janah Ncube is the Chief Operating Officer of Crisis Action—since June 2025—while also serving as the organisation’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer since 2021. In this dual role, she deputises the CEO and leads Crisis Action’s organisational systems and operations—including Finance, HR, IT, Risk, Compliance, and Office functioning. She plays a central role in strategic planning, donor engagement, and cultivating high‑level external partnerships that strengthen the organisation’s global impact.

Before becoming COO and Deputy CEO, Janah spent five years as Crisis Action’s Global Campaigns Director, where she led transformative, global campaigns to prevent and respond to conflicts, building influential coalitions and shaping policy across key governments and multilateral institutions.

Her earlier career includes senior leadership roles focused on Africa’s transformation. Janah’s work has placed particular emphasis on Africa’s regional integration, with deep engagement in African institutions such as the African Union, the African Development Bank, and the Regional Economic Communities. She has also played a significant role in strengthening civil society networks and advancing constructive engagement with non‑state actors across the continent.

Today, Janah is recognised as a strategic, principled, and dynamic senior leader—driving organisational excellence at Crisis Action while championing more just, equitable, and people‑centred responses to conflict and crisis.

janah.ncube@crisisaction.org

@janahncube

Sacha has been with Crisis Action since 2012. Before being appointed as Director of Campaigns and Influence he held several positions within the organisation, including as Strategic Engagements Director, Germany Director and EU Director. Before joining Crisis Action Sacha worked as a consultant advising companies on political and regulatory frameworks for investments in new markets.

Previously, Sacha worked for a Berlin-based communications agency where he worked with various political institutions, think tanks and NGOs focusing on strategic positioning and communications strategies. Sacha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Modern European Studies from the University College London, a Master’s degree in Contemporary European Studies from the University of Bath and Humboldt University Berlin as well as a PhD in Political Science.

sacha.dewijs@crisisaction.org

divya iyer is Director of Campaigns and Impact at Crisis Action, a role she has held since June 2025. She oversees the organisation’s campaigning strategy, learning, innovation, and impact, driving work that protects civilians, influences policy, and delivers change in complex political contexts. As a member of the Senior Management Team, she helps shape organisational direction, performance, and culture, and plays a central role in cultivating high‑level partnerships, fundraising, and partner engagement to strengthen Crisis Action’s global impact.

In 2022, divya became Crisis Action’s first Director of Emergency Response, Learning, and Innovation, where she led rapid response convenings and campaigns on major global conflicts and embedded learning and innovation across the organisation’s work. Before joining Crisis Action, she spent nine years at Amnesty International in senior leadership roles, including Senior Adviser for Asia Pacific and Global Director of Research.

With over twenty years of experience across human rights, campaigning, crisis response, policy advocacy, and journalism, divya brings deep political insight and strategic leadership. She has worked closely with marginalised communities across South and West Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States, with a strong focus on feminist principles, gender equality, justice, and accountability. Her work centres people, evidence, creativity, and storytelling to drive meaningful and lasting change.

divya.iyer@crisisaction.org

Sarah has campaigned at multiple human rights and international development NGOs – including UNICEF, Plan International and Save the Children. Her focus has been children’s and women’s rights, along with youth voice and participation. Sarah has an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics, and is a qualified art psychotherapist – allowing her to volunteer directly with vulnerable groups. She is a Trustee for the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London’s West End, as a champion for their young people’s outreach programme. Sarah is obsessed with how civil society campaigning can adapt to maintain impact in a rapidly changing world.

sarah.carson@crisisaction.org

Hayley is Crisis Action’s Europe Director. Previously, she led Crisis Action’s networks and partner advocacy in the UK. Before joining Crisis Action in 2015, she spent over a decade campaigning for fairer health, social care, welfare and education systems in the UK, most recently at Save the Children and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Hayley is passionate about building partnerships for social change, and has led major coalitions including the Disability Benefits Consortium and the Richmond Group of leading health charities.

Hayley holds a law degree from Cambridge University, with an Erasmus year studying international law and human rights at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She sits on the board of trustees for NRC in UK.

hayley.davidson@crisisaction.org

+44 207 2699450

Peter Duffy is a media and communications strategist with Crisis Action. He previously spent five years with AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization dedicated to tackling the inequalities that allow HIV to flourish. He has worked in newspaper and magazine journalism and published four books of narrative nonfiction. His freelance journalism has appeared in The New York Times, Politico, The New Republic, Slate, The Atlantic, and other publications.

peter.duffy@crisisaction.org

Joe Keyrouz is a political science and international affairs specialist, dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights. He studied political science and international affairs and has an MA in Studies about Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism from UNIR in Spain.

Since June 2017, Joe is the elected chair of the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) which is a network of 250 election-monitoring organisations in 89 countries across the globe. Moreover, he is an elected member of the Board of Directors since June 2013 at the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), which is a rights-based organisation that works to promote electoral rights in Lebanon and the MENA region. LADE has extensive experience in monitoring the Lebanese elections, awareness raising, legal research and in advocating and lobbying for electoral reform.

Moreover, Joe has been fully engaged in the promotion and protection of refugee rights in Lebanon and Jordan since June 2011. Among others, he led a team of more than 200 individuals (100 paralegal staff, 15 lawyers and 120 volunteers) to provide legal aid and support evidence-based advocacy across Jordan, as part of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Syria response.

joe.keyrouz@crisisaction.org

Racha joins Crisis Action having served most recently as the Yemen Researcher with Amnesty International where she investigated human rights and international humanitarian law violations in Yemen, she notably authored a report on restriction to humanitarian access. Prior to that, she worked with Human Rights Watch in Beirut and Physicians for Human Rights in New York where she conducted research and related advocacy on a range of human rights abuses in Syria. Racha holds a master’s degree in Social Development and a BA in law from the Sorbonne University.

racha.mouawieh@crisisaction.org

Joyce has accumulated over 20 years’ work experience in the Human Resources field having worked for profit and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining Crisis Action, she worked with Food for the Hungry as the HR Africa Lead.  She has experience working at operational and strategic level in supporting teams, HR systems, policies, communications, change management and general human resources.

Joyce is a servant leader who is passionate about serving others, connecting with teams and ensuring HR contributes to organizational outcomes. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management, a Masters in Development Management and an Executive Masters in Organizational Development.

joyce.mwangi@crisisaction.org

Clare has over ten years’ experience across the humanitarian and international development sectors, with a background in programme management and fundraising in conflict-affected contexts, including Iraq, Syria and Laos. She joined Crisis Action in 2026 as a Development Manager to support grant management and fundraising efforts.

Before joining Crisis Action, Clare held several leadership roles with iMMAP, including Africa Desk Coordinator and Country Director for its Iraq mission. In these roles, she developed successful funding strategies and worked closely with governments, civil society and multilateral partners across a range of sectors, including humanitarian mine action, disability inclusion, public health, livelihoods and climate change.

Clare holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Cardiff University. Her research background has shaped an evidence-based approach to her work, with a focus on analysis and informed decision-making.

Hesphina Rukato is an expert on Governance, Peace and Security, and International Relations. She has worked in this area for over 25 years. She was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development from 2002 to 2009. Following this, she led the African Union’s “Make Peace Happen” campaign in 2010. In 2012, Dr. Rukato led the team that conceptualised, coordinated, and delivered the inaugural Conference of the Tana Forum on Peace and Security in Africa. She subsequently served as a Technical Committee Member for the Forum from 2016 to 2019. Dr. Rukato’s practical experience with governance includes her various roles on election observation missions in several African countries. She has also worked in different capacities at the African Union, including as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Bureau of the then Chairperson from 2012 to 2014. Hesphina’s roles in academia include her role as an Academic/Associate Lecturer at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute between 2015 and 2018. She worked as a consultant on “Capacity Building of the African Union for the implementation of Agenda 2063” and was a key expert for the AU’s “Silencing the Guns” theme for 2019.

She has published extensively, including papers in peer-reviewed journals and chapters in edited volumes. Key amongst her academic publications are books titled: Tana At 10: Reflections On The 10 Years Of The Tana High-Level Forum On Security In Africa (2024) and Future Africa, Prospects for Democracy and Development Under NEPAD (2010). In 2024 she co-authored a chapter titled Challenges and Triumphs for Women Leaders in African Diplomacy in the book Key Issues in African Diplomacy: Developments and Achievements”. Hesphina has two papers under review for publication in 2025 titled The African Union and its Pan-African Agenda, and Foundational Governance Challenges in Africa.

hesphina.rukato@crisisaction.org

Ranjani brings more than 18 years of experience in financial management, specialising in the intersection of fiscal accountability and social equity. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, she joined Crisis Action as Head of Finance to help bridge the gap between complex global finance and mission-driven action.

Before joining Crisis Action, she served as Director of Finance and Operations at OPEN, an international social impact organisation. Over nearly a decade there, she oversaw multi-entity audits and governance processes, strengthened internal controls and guided major organisational transfomations across finance systems and human resources. She was insrumental in building a scalable financial infrastructure, introducing distributed budgeting pratices and advancing equity through policy reforms that reduced pay disparities.

Outside of work, Ranjani can usually be found walking or cycling with her family. She’s also passionate about sustainable living, and is always exploring simple, meaningful ways to live more mindfully.

Elvis Salano is an experienced executive partner with over seven years supporting senior leaders across international non-profit and development organizations. He specializes in executive operations, high-level coordination, governance support, and strategic project management.

With a background in Political Science and Public Administration, Elvis brings a strong blend of operational excellence and strategic insight to his work. Before rejoining Crisis Action, he held roles at Oxfam International and Amnesty International Kenya, where he managed complex international schedules, coordinated governance processes across multiple countries, and led high-impact executive projects.

elvis.salano@crisisaction.org

Gareth manages Crisis Action partner advocacy at the UN in NY. Gareth was formerly Global Advocacy Manager at Transparency International (TI), representative to the UN in New York and Geneva, Chief Editor of the Global Corruption Report and Head of the Corruption in Sport Initiative. He was previously Deputy Manager of the Human Rights Defenders Programme at the International Service for Human Rights (2006-2010) and Senior Legal Officer for the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (2003-2006). He has also consulted on governance challenges in global climate finance. He holds an MLitt (history) from University College Dublin and LLM (IHRL) from the National University of Ireland.

gareth.sweeney@crisisaction.org