We couldn’t achieve what we do without our people. Take a look at our staff profiles to see how different roles play a part in our success.
Meet our Team
Senior Leadership Team
As Managing Director of SDDirect, Sue’s role is to empower the team to deliver excellent and innovative social development consultancy and research with inclusion and social justice at its heart.…
Senior Leadership Team
In January 2023, Besinati joined Social Development Direct as Co-Director of the Technical Team, providing strategic and operational leadership across SDDirect’s gender equality and social inclusion…
Senior Leadership Team
As Co-Director of the Technical Team, Kate provides strategic and operational leadership across SDDirect’s gender equality and social inclusion portfolios, with particular oversight for Gender Based…
Senior Leadership Team
Chris joined SDDirect in April 2016 as Finance Director. His responsibilities include all aspects of the financial management of SDDirect, including financial reporting, budgeting, pricing,…
Senior Leadership Team
Emma is Associate Director of Programmes at SDDirect. Working as part of the executive management team, Emma provides leadership and oversight on all corporate support services across the business.…
Senior Leadership Team
Victoria leads the Business Development and Communications Team at SDDirect and is responsible for guiding the sustainable growth of our organisation.
A commercial contracting specialist, Victoria…
Senior Leadership Team
Rose Caldwell is a member of Social Development Direct board and CEO of Plan International UK. She has over 20 years’ experience in senior roles in the not for profit sector having spent ten years as…
Senior Leadership Team
John Kerr is a member of the Social Development Direct Board. He is also a member of the board of Development Works Limited and Plan International UK. He is an advisor and board member to a…
Senior Leadership Team
Minal is a member of the Social Development Direct Board.
In her professional career, Minal works as a Marketing advisor and Interim CMO, to tech start-ups and scale-ups. She helps these…
Senior Leadership Team
Business Development
Holly is currently covering the Associate Director of Business Development role at SDDirect, where she leads the Business Development team and supports the organisation’s ongoing growth. Holly brings…
Business Development
Victoria leads the Business Development and Communications Team at SDDirect and is responsible for guiding the sustainable growth of our organisation.
A commercial contracting specialist, Victoria…
Business Development
Jenny is a seasoned professional in international development with extensive expertise in business development, strategic planning, and partnership cultivation. In her role as Deputy Head of…
Business Development
Maham joined SDDirect in February 2023 as a Business Development Manager. As part of this role, Maham leads on developing high-quality technical and commercial proposals for various clients and…
Business Development
Serena joined the Business Development team at SDDirect in September 2018. In her capacity as Business Development Manager, she works on new opportunities across the company’s portfolios of work,…
Business Development
Karla rejoined our Business Development team in September 2024. Previously, between 2014 and 2018, she contributed to the growth of SDDirect through notable successful contract awards.
Karla brings…
Business Development
As Deputy Head of Communications and RSH Partnerships Lead, Nastasya is responsible for developing and implementing the company’s strategic communication plans, building relationships with key…
Business Development
Daniela joined the Business Development team at SDDirect in November 2023 as a Business Development Officer. She is joining us from the International Governance and Risk Institute (GovRisk) where she…
Business Development
Finance and HR
Chris joined SDDirect in April 2016 as Finance Director. His responsibilities include all aspects of the financial management of SDDirect, including financial reporting, budgeting, pricing,…
Finance and HR
Inci joined SDDirect in February 2022 as our Accountant. She works with the Finance Director to run the Finance Department and is responsible for all bookkeeping with the aim of progressing into…
Finance and HR
Khalida joined SDDirect as a Project Accounts Assistant. She graduated with a BSc in Marketing and Management in 2018 and an MSc in Global Media Economics in 2019. She gained her passion for numbers…
Finance and HR
Kim joined SDDirect in February 2024 as the Team Assistant to the Senior Leadership Team. Her role consists of supporting the Directors and Associate Directors by coordinating the efficient running…
Finance and HR
Naomi has over 10 years of experience within Recruitment, Employability and Training with skills in stakeholder management, project management and team leading.
Naomi leads on the project…
Finance and HR
Nicola is the HR Manager at SDDirect. Since joining she has worked closely with our Programmes and Business Development teams to provide resourcing and compliance support to a wide range of projects…
Finance and HR
Seerat joined SDDirect in January 2021 and plays a key role in managing the organisation's internal recruitment, onboarding processes, and HR database. She is passionate about ensuring employee…
Finance and HR
Technical
In January 2023, Besinati joined Social Development Direct as Co-Director of the Technical Team, providing strategic and operational leadership across SDDirect’s gender equality and social inclusion…
Technical
As Co-Director of the Technical Team, Kate provides strategic and operational leadership across SDDirect’s gender equality and social inclusion portfolios, with particular oversight for Gender Based…
Technical
Amanda provides technical advice and leadership to SDDirect's work in the field of Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response as part of SDDirect’s GBV Portfolio team. She is the Country Co-…
Technical
Anna joined SDDirect’s technical team in August 2022 and is a Principal Consultant in the Safeguarding Portfoilo.
Anna brings over 15 years of experience in the international development and…
Technical
Alix Clark is the Head of Portfolio for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) at Social Development Direct. She has extensive experience in MEL, having worked in programmatic and institutional…
Technical
Andrea is a Principal Consultant in the safeguarding team at SDDirect. With a background in social care and child protection, Andrea brings more than ten years’ experience providing technical…
Technical
Anisha joined SDDirect in October 2021 as a Technical Analyst, with a focus on the Governance and Inclusive Societies portfolio, including work on the Disability Inclusion Helpdesk.
Anisha’s…
Technical
Ann leads SDDirect’s work on safeguarding which includes work on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), child safeguarding and wider issues around bullying and harassment. …
Technical
Barry Smith is a Principal Consultant in Social Development Direct’s Governance & Inclusive Societies team. He also Senior Partnership Advisor at SDDirect and Technical Lead on the Plan…
Technical
Chris works as a Principal Consultant in the Green Economies and Infrastructure team. He has extensive experience in international development, across a range of social development-related areas…
Technical
Clare joined SDDirect as a Principal Consultant in the Gender-Based Violence team, with a specialism in GBV in Emergencies. She has a wealth of experience in NGOs, consultancy, donor governments and…
Technical
Danielle Cornish-Spencer is the Head of Portfolio for Equal Education & Child Protection and a Principal Consultant at SDDirect, with over 20 years of experience in gender equality, disability…
Technical
Emma is a social development and governance professional with over 20 years’ experience in advisory, research and management/leadership roles spanning a range of issues and…
Technical
Erika provides technical advice and leadership to SDDirect’s work on gender-based violence (GBV). She has over twenty years of experience of working to prevent and respond to violence in a…
Technical
Emma is the Head of the Governance and Inclusive Societies Portfolio, which houses SDDirect’s work on health; disability inclusion; women’s political participation; women, peace, and security; and…
Technical
Faraz is Head of the Green Economies and Infrastructure Portfolio with over 10 years’ experience focusing on the role of planning, community engagement, and technology in creating more inclusive and…
Technical
Gemma Ferguson is a Principal Consultant in the GBV team. She brings two decades of experience working at the intersection of media and social development, with a special focus on gender, social…
Technical
With a background in humanitarianism and social development, Hanna provides technical and research expertise to SDDirect’s Gender-Based Violence and Safeguarding portfolios. As the GBV AoR…
Technical
Inez joined SDDirect’s technical team in May 2022 and is a Senior Technical Specialist in the Safeguarding Portfolio.
Inez brings in technical expertise in safeguarding and protection from sexual…
Technical
Jo Feather is Associate Director and Principal Consultant in the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Portfolio. She has been working in gender and social development…
Technical
Joanne leads SDDirect’s Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Emergencies work. She is a senior member of the GBV portfolio and Director of the GBV AoR Helpdesk: a research and advice service for…
Technical
Katy Bobin is a Senior Technical Specialist at SDDirect, providing Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning expertise to the Resource and Support Hub (RSH). Katy brings 15 years of experience in the…
Technical
Lucia is a Senior Technical Specialist in Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) and Research. In her capacity, she delivers a range of cross-cutting gender equality, disability and social inclusion…
Technical
Lusungu provides technical advice and leadership to SDDirect's work in the field of Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention as part of SDDirect’s GBV Portfolio team. She is the Country Co-Lead for SDD…
Technical
Natasha is a Technical Specialist in SDDirect’s Gender-based Violence portfolio, where she provides technical and research expertise, including as a researcher on the Ending Violence…
Technical
Nilanjana currently serves as a Technical Specialist for Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) and Research and sits within the MEL unit at SDDirect. Through this role, she contributes to the…
Technical
Naomi is a Senior Technical Specialist with experience conducting research, managing projects, engaging in policy, advocacy and influencing, and providing technical assistance. She works with a range…
Technical
Olivia is a Senior Technical Specialist working across our Green Economies & Infrastructure portfolio and Monitoring, Evaluating and Learning (MEL) portfolio. In this role she provides gender…
Technical
Onyeka joined Social Development Direct in November 2023 as a Technical Analyst with a focus on Governance & Inclusive Societies and Gender-Based Violence portfolios.
She has over 3 years…
Technical
Rebekah is our Climate Justice Lead and a Senior Technical Specialist with a particular focus on our Governance and Inclusive Societies Portfolio. She provides technical support on disability…
Technical
Tina provides technical advice and leadership to SDDirect's work in the field of Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention. She helps to ensure that the work of in-house staff and consultants is…
Technical
Valeria joined SDDirect in March 2024 as a Technical Specialist in the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) portfolio. She brings an academic background in international development and…
Technical
Veronica Ahlenback is a Technical Specialist in SDDirect’s Gender-based Violence portfolio. She is particularly interested in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) approaches in GBV focused…
Technical
Maria is part of the Gender-based Violence (GBV) team at SDDirect. She is a social inclusion and gender equality professional with strong feminist values, specialising in violence against women and…
Technical
Programmes
Emma is Associate Director of Programmes at SDDirect. Working as part of the executive management team, Emma provides leadership and oversight on all corporate support services across the business.…
Programmes
Stefania joined SDDirect in January 2022 as Head of Programmes, responsible for day-to-day programme operations, risk management and technical delivery of contracted projects. She also oversees key…
Programmes
Beatriz is a Senior Programme Manager with over ten years’ experience in international development. Since joining SDDirect, she has provided Project Management support to…
Programmes
Hiru joined Social Development Direct in January 2020 as part of the Programmes team and has worked across a wide range of thematic areas over many different projects of varying sizes and complexity…
Programmes
Jacob joined the SDD programmes team in 2022 as a programmes officer, supporting the management and delivery of a number of projects across the SDDirect portfolios.
In 2022, Jacob graduated from…
Programmes
Pierrot has a decade of experience managing development programmes across multiple contexts and for various funders. As Senior Programme Manager, Pierrot has extensively worked across…
Programmes
Poppy joined the SDD programmes team in November 2024 as a Programmes Officer, supporting the management and delivery of a number of projects across the SDDirect portfolios.
Prior to joining…
Programmes
Sharene is a Programmes Manager at SDDirect and has extensive experience managing international development and humanitarian programmes.
Since joining SDDirect she has provided project…
Programmes
Tom joined SDD Programmes team in June 2022 and is responsible for managing a portfolio of projects to help maximise SDD’s impact and ensure delivery to high and professional standards. Since joining…
Programmes
Veronica Martinez Tamayo has over 8 years’ experience in international development operational management. Veronica is responsible for designing and implementing project management structures,…
Programmes
Isadora joined SDDirect in June 2022 as a part of SDDirect’s Programmes team to support the coordination and delivery of a varied project portfolio. She brings cross-sectoral experience delivering a…
Programmes
Associates
Alice is an independent consultant with almost two decades experience working to advance women and girl’s rights in Africa, Asia and Europe. She has a particular focus on strengthening the capacity…
Associates
Amy is a gender, social development and governance specialist with extensive experience providing technical, research, training and facilitation support to development policy and programming. She has…
Associates
Amy Oyekunle is the National Safeguarding Lead on the Partnership for Learning for All (PLANE) project. She is a gender and development professional with over 15 years experience in non-governmental…
Associates
Deborah is a social development and local governance consultant with over 20 years’ experience, specialising in gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), local governance, and climate…
Associates
Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi joined SDDirect in 2012 as a Gender Advisor. She is currently Senior Adviser in the SDDirect team that is supporting delivery of the Nigeria Resource and Support Hub (RSH…
Associates
Jeanne Ward is an internationally recognized expert on gender-based violence (GBV). She provides technical leadership, training, assessment and evaluation support to UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs/CBOs and…
Associates
Oge Chukwudozie is the Global Safeguarding Advisor for Resource and Support Hub (RSH) providing technical guidance and support to RSH teams in MENA, South Asia and Africa regions. Prior to taking on…
Associates
Emma is a SDDirect Senior Associate with significant experience in gender, violence against women and girls, women’s rights, HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). She holds a BSc Econ in…
Associates
Dr. Erin Stern is an SDDirect Associate with 16 years of research, evaluation, and programme development experience, with specialisation in preventing gender-based violence (GBV). She has provided…
Associates
Julienne is an SDDirect Senior Associate with 20 years of experience working in research, evaluation and capacity building. She has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne and after…
Associates
Lealem is a senior gender equality and governance expert with a focus on gender and inclusion, political economy of development, civil society, and migration within the Horn of Africa. Currently…
Associates
Lorraine has twenty years’ experience working in the development sector focusing in particular on the promotion of disability inclusive development from a human rights perspective. She has…
Associates
Lyndsay is an SDDirect Senior Associate with over 25 years' experience working in international development as a policy-maker, researcher and consultant. She has particular expertise on gender,…
Associates
Mandy is an SDDirect Senior Associate and leading quantitative researcher with 20 years experience of survey statistics in social policy/gender research. She has extensive experience in collecting…
Associates
Manjola brings more than 20 years’ experience in formal and non-formal education in developing, conflict, post-conflict and natural disaster-affected countries, in Africa, Asia and Balkans. She is a…
Associates
Sabine is a SDDirect Senior Associate with almost 20 years of experience in gender, diversity and inclusion. Her most recent work focuses on facilitating women’s economic empowerment and inclusive…
Associates
Sally has over 20 years of experience working to promote gender equality and support women and girls’ empowerment, primarily through the generation and use of evidence. She has a particular…
Associates
Sara Petersson brings over 16-years of experience working in international development overseeing, coordinating, and managing large development programmes and portfolios with a specific focus on…
Associates
Siobhan is an experienced professional with over 20 years in the aid and development sector. She has worked extensively internationally with diverse stakeholders, including INGOs, UN agencies, donor…
Associates
With over two decades of dedicated service in the development sector in Ethiopia, Sosena Lemma has emerged as a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience. As a leader in capacity development…
Associates
Dr Susan Wilkinson-Maposa has 28 years of experience supporting international development organizations in south, east and west Africa, as well as in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. She delivers…
Associates
Tasneem Salam is a senior socio-economist who has worked for many years in economic development and urban and rural poverty alleviation programmes in both developed and developing countries. She…
Associates
Teresa has three decades of professional expertise in addressing gender equality, disability, and social inclusion across social, environmental, political, financial, and economic projects within…
Associates
Tope is currently working with SDDirect as a regional specialist on the FCDO-funded Digital Access Programme to help create more inclusive, safe and secure digital access for excluded and underserved…
Associates
Tsinu is a consultant working as gender and social inclusion advisor, a qualified trainer, a lawyer, and researcher. She has an extensive experience in empowering female leaders, young women, workers…
Associates
Victoria is a social development specialist with extensive experience in providing technical advice, research and evaluation services on gender equality and social inclusion. She has a proven track…
Associates
Wejdan is an experienced humanitarian and development leader with a Master’s degree in psychological counselling and over 15 years’ experience working in the non-profit sector. She has expertise in a…
Associates