Tamar Manuelyan Atinc is a development professional with over 30 years of experience in the analysis and implementation of development policies and programs. She is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution where she has worked since 2013. During her long career at the World Bank, Ms. Manuelyan Atinc was Vice President for Human Development and served in three regions, including Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Africa working to advance country policy and programs to foster human development, reduce poverty and improve economic management. Her recent research has focused primarily on scaling up early childhood development, social impact bonds, and data and accountability for better education outcomes.
Ms Manuelyan Atinc is a member of the Board of the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development since October 2017 and is also Vice-Chair of the Board of ChildFund International since February 2019. She started her career working in Geneva at the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. A Turkish and American national, Ms. Manuelyan Atinc has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Sonia is currently the CEO and Founder of NOIMA Sustainability Strategies, a sustainability and social impact agency based in Barcelona, which works with future leaders and global change-makers. She is also an Academic Collaborator at the ESADE Institute of Social Innovation where she is a Lecturer and Senior Researcher for several projects, including a European Commission funded initiative exploring sustainable lifestyles. Previously, she served as the Senior Advisor on Communications at Greenpeace International; as Marketing and Communications Director at Greenpeace Greece; International Marketing Manager for the Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee; Business Development Associate at Imerys, and Commercial Officer at the Spanish Embassy in Athens.
Yasemin Arhan Modéer is the CEO of Altitude Meetings and the Chairman of the Board of ChildFund member Barnfonden in Sweden. She has a strong commitment to linking societal needs to expertise in academia, and is passionate about social and climate sustainability and bringing different actors together to solve climate and health problems. She works as a moderator, facilitator and speaker within these areas, with an expertise in designing efficient meetings and conferences. With a political master focusing on international relations, Yasemin started her work within the network of chambers of commerce. As the deputy head of international affairs at Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, she worked for eight years trade promoting activities with countries in Asia, Africa and South-America, as part of an assignment from the Swedish foreign aid organization (Sida). She formed Altitude Meetings in 2015, a value driven company with 14 employees that focuses on being part of the solutions to climate and social sustainability. Daily work focuses on creating meetings, events, and conferences to address these challenging societal issues.
Aklilu Mulat is Senior Vice President & CFO at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada. Passionate about catalyzing transformation in communities around the world, he has served in many roles, including executive director of HOPE International Development Agency, Canada, and Executive Vice President of Arrow Leadership International. He currently serves on the boards of three Canadian charities. Aklilu’s interests and engagements also include professional training and university teaching. He has actively engaged in such roles previously with CMA BC (now merged with CPA BC) and the University of British Columbia. Aklilu grew up in Ethiopia and currently resides in Canada.
Martin McCann is a highly experienced leader in both international development and humanitarian efforts. He was the deputy chief executive and program director at Plan International’s global headquarters for seven years, overseeing the creation of Plan’s Child-Centered Community Development strategy and a tripling of its grant income. For 12 years, he was the CEO of RedR UK, the largest capacity-building nongovernmental organization in disaster preparedness and disaster response. He also was the chair/president of the Geneva-based Sphere, which is responsible for the globally accepted professional standards in humanitarian action.
Michael Pain retired from his role as a Managing Director with Accenture Australia in 2015, having led major practice areas including Advanced Technology, Management Consulting, Strategy, Digital, and Analytics across various Asia Pacific regions. Michael co-led Accenture’s corporate giving activities, helping to initiate corporate citizenship for Accenture in Australia. Currently, Michael’s activities include NFP Board membership, philanthropy, and ethical investment. Michael has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Sydney and an MBA (Hons) from INSEAD in France. Michael is currently Chair of the ChildFund Australia Board.
Samuelu (Sam) Sefuiva has over 30 years’ experience in public policy, strategic and business advice, cultural and economic development and executive leadership. Sam has a strong professional and personal interest in the Pacific region particularly in human rights, social enterprise and public policy.
Sam has mentored, led and facilitated senior executives in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in improving international, regional and domestic non-government and community enterprise environments. His strengths are in high level policy advice and relations, strategic thinking, business planning and facilitation.
Samuelu Sefuiva & Associates is a public policy and advice consultancy with a focus on strategic and business advice, cultural and economic development, project management, and executive leadership.
Hans-Juergen became President of the Board of ChildFund Deutschland in November 2022. He studied Business Administration in Stuttgart and had a long career as a member of the management board and CFO of different international companies before becoming a freelance business consultant focused on assisting companies during difficult phases of restructuring. He has long been familiar with ChildFund, starting with when he became a child sponsor in 1979. In 2012, Hans-Juergen and his wife established a trust foundation under the roof of ChildFund Deutschland that has supported several projects in Africa, predominantly in Ethiopia.
Dr. Joan Nyanyuki most recently served as the Executive Director of ACPF from 2020 to January 2026. Previously, she served as Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes region at Amnesty International. Prior to joining Amnesty, Dr. Nyanyuki was the Executive Director of Coalition on Violence against Women, an organization that worked to promote gender justice and equality. In this role, she led advocacy campaigns and movement-building, supported local community organizations, and persuaded law and policy makers to uphold women’s rights and gender equality.
Dr. Nyanyuki was instrumental in documenting sexual violence and killings in Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007/8 and advocating for international justice for these and related crimes. Early in her career, Dr. Nyanyuki served as a General Physician providing clinical care to patients in various public and private health institutions in Kenya. She earned her medical degree from Moi University and undertook advanced graduate work in human rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Nyanyuki has built a reputation as a human rights and gender equality champion, having carried out research and published on sexual violence and human rights violations. She has also written several op-eds in national and international media advocating for victims of human rights abuses, in particular for justice for sexual violence survivors, women and girls.