Aruna Rao
Chair
(India / United States of America)
Aruna Rao, Ph.D. is an expert and thought leader in gender equality and feminist leadership in the non-profit sector and in her field. In her over 40 years of experience particularly in Asia and Africa, Aruna has brought her passion for gender equality and development to champion gender transformative institutional change for equitable and sustainable out-comes for women and girls.
The founder of Gender at Work – where she also served as Executive Director – Aruna is a highly experienced non-executive Board member and Chair. She has served as Chair of CIVICUS and the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) and as a Board member of ActionAid International during times of significant organisational change.
Currently, she is a Professor of Practice at SOAS University of London and serves as the Chair of the Interim Board of Directors at Nobel Women’s Initiative. Aruna Rao holds a Ph.D. in educational administration and organisational behaviour from Columbia University.
Nisreen Alami
Deputy Chair
(Jordan)
Nisreen Alami has over twenty years of experience working on gender and public policy in international organizations. She currently shares her experiences working as an international consultant on gender in development and humanitarian systems.
Nisreen is a former UN Advisor having worked as a Senior Gender Advisor to the Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine with UNOCHA (2013-2016) and as Global Policy Advisor for Governance and Financing for Gender Equality at UN Women, New York (2010-2012).
Between 2001 and 2010, she led UNIFEM’s global programmes on Gender Responsive Budgeting which aimed at aligning national and development cooperation budget policies with gender equality goals. Prior to that, she supported the establishment of UNIFEM’s regional office in Arab states and was responsible for coordinating UNIFEM’s programmes in the Middle East/ North Africa region.
Nisreen, who is currently based in Amman, Jordan, is an Associate of Gender at Work and is involved in several Jordanian civil society organizations and initiatives. Nisreen holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Jordan.
Caroline Stockmann
Treasurer
(United Kingdom)
Caroline Stockmann was Chief Executive of the Association of Corporate Treasurers from February 2017 to April 2023. Prior to that Caroline had 20 years’ experience in senior finance, commercial and strategic posts at a number of not-for-profit and commercial organisations.
Caroline's experience included British Council, Save the Children International (where Caroline was the first CFO, and instrumental in the major change programme which took place across Save the Children from 2010), Southbank Centre, Novartis Pharmaceuticals (Switzerland), Cadbury Schweppes, Granada plc and Unilever/ Bestfoods (Thailand, Netherlands and UK). Much of her working life has been spent overseas.
Caroline trained with KPMG and is a Fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW). She has an ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting and has filled numerous roles on boards over the years, current roles including Board member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), member of the Finance and Investment Committee of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Deputy Chair of the International Group of Treasury Associations.
Caroline is a linguist, musician, trained coach and passionate bell ringer, and is married with two children.
Caroline has travelled the world running seminars on leadership and strategic influencing, often with a focus on diversity and inclusion, and has written courses on leadership for a number of organisations.
Gagan Sethi
Member
(India)
Gagan Sethi has 30 years of experience in organizational development, capacity building and advocacy at local, national and international levels in diverse cultural settings in Asia. He is a recognised leader in policy formulation, facilitating development projects and advocating for minority rights.
Gagan is the founder of ten development organizations working on areas of human & institutional development, access to legal justice, women empowerment, conflict management, minority and dalit rights as well as youth employment and education.
He has also served as Co-chair of the Consultative group set up by the Planning Commission of India to draft Voluntary agency policy and was co-opted as member of the assessment and monitoring authority set up under the Planning Commission of India.
Gagan is an experienced international trainer and consultant in organizational development, planning and review to several international and national funding agencies, think tanks and development projects for over 20 years. Some of his clients have included the German Development Agency , Swiss Development Co-operation, Christian Aid, Ford Foundation, Misereor, Indo-Global Social Service Society, and Swiss Aid in India. He currently serves on the Board of Oxfam India.
Ignasi Carreras Fisas
Member
(Spain)
Ignasi Carreras Fisas is an Industrial Engineer and a professor and senior researcher at Esade business school, in Barcelona, where he specializes in strategy and leadership. He has also taken executive programmes at EAE business school in Barcelona, Babson College, Stanford, and Harvard Universities in the United States.
He is the Director of Esade’s Executive Education Programmes for NGOs and has been the Director (until 2018) of Esade’s Institute for Social Innovation, which he created in 2006.
In addition to being a member of the Oxfam International Board, Ignasi is the Chair of Oxfam Intermón, the Deputy Chair of the Bofill Foundation and a member of the board of Hazlo Posible Foundation. He has been member of the international board of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the board of different Foundations.
He was a founder of two NGO: Casal dels Infants del Raval and Recollim. He was the Director General of Oxfam Intermón, where he worked the period 1988-2005.
Previously, he worked for the public administration and for the University in charge of programmes related to energy saving. He has also worked as a consultant on this subject for several companies.
Dr Judith Slocombe AM
Member
(Australia)
Dr Judith Slocombe is a consultant with extensive business and governance board experience across corporate, government and non-profit organisations. She was appointed as Chair of Oxfam Australia in 2020. Judith is a veterinarian and an entrepreneur, having built and sold her own business in diagnostic pathology, followed by many years’ experience as a CEO and in other senior executive roles.
Judith has worked extensively in the areas of children’s rights, gender-based violence, digital rights, and online safety. Judith has held a portfolio of non-executive directorships in various business sectors for over 15 years and with particular expertise in innovation and new business development, business growth, digital transformation, change management, organisational culture, corporate social responsibility, resource mobilisation, governance and risk management.
Judith has an MBA from the Melbourne Business School, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and has studied Senior Executive Management at Harvard.
In 2001, Judith was awarded Australia's most prestigious award for women in business, the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year.
Manoella Wilbaut
Member
(Belgium)
Manoella Wilbaut is an international business leader committed to creating sustainable value for society. With 15+ years of experience in marketing, sales, and innovation, Manoella has developed and inspired teams in over 50 countries to execute efficient business plans that shape industries for the better.
Manoella is known for her energy and creativity in transforming businesses, expanding markets, managing innovation, and designing and implementing green end-to-end supply chains.
Manoella is currently leading the Global Decarbonization Programs & Partnerships at DHL Supply Chain. Previously she was the Chief Sustainability Officer at Click & Connect, and the Chief Sustainability Officer and Global Head of Commercial Developments for DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation, where she collaborated with DHL’s 100 largest customers and deployed the company’s 2050 Zero Emission Strategy.
Manoella has created MORPHO, an accelerator of engagement, with the mission of revealing talents to help create a net-zero society. Always very active, Manoella also chairs the Commerce Committee of Oxfam in Belgium and leads Partner-ships & Fair Governance for INSEAD’s Community Impact Challenge, a UN Accelerator that mobilizes individuals to take action in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
She holds both a Master in Business and Administration and a Master in Intercultural Management from the Brussels Management School and further developed her skills through executive programs at INSEAD, Cambridge University, and the MIT Sloan Management School.
Laura García Coudurier
Member
(Mexico)
Laura García Coudurier is currently President and CEO of the Global Greengrants Fund and a board member of Oxfam Mexico. Laura brings extensive experience in supporting grassroots, environmental, and gender justice movements. Her dedication to the feminist and environmental rights intersection adds valuable perspective to Oxfam’s ongoing transformation.
Karen Sander
Member
(Canada)
Karen’s lived experience gives her a strong feminist lens which has grown into a deeper understanding of feminist prin-ciples and leadership through her years of governance and guidance of the Board at Oxfam Canada. She has served as the public face and vocal advocate of Oxfam Canada digital campaigns and has stepped up to speak about OCA’s work at public events.
Karen has championed OCA’s work on anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and reconciliation both within the Board’s ways of working and by supporting the Executive Directors' work to advance commitments across the organiza-tion in a way that yields meaningful results. As Oxfam Canada has moved forward on a journey of learning, reflection and action Karen has taken the opportunity to personally learn and grow, facilitating actions to decolonize aid and transfer more resources and decision-making power to the Global South.
Karen’s expertise in resource mobilization is equally profound. With a track record of managing multi-million-dollar phil-anthropic budgets and cultivating innovative funding strategies, Karen‘s work has moved into the areas of social purpose business, innovative public private partnerships and new market mechanisms.
Through her broad ranging board work in the public and private sector she has a deep understanding of accountable governance and just economies. She has worked to change norms in traditional sectors and sought to change the balance of power by finding innovative ways to bring valuable technology skills into the hands of girls and racialized communities.
Karen has also chaired the board of a large community centre that sees more than 1.5 million users per year and runs thousands of programs ranging from healthcare to immigrant services. Karen has contributed her expertise to the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Nom-inating Committee and is proud to bring attention to the work of women leaders across industries.
Karen’s work and volunteer experience spans many sectors but always comes back to fighting inequality and accelerat-ing social change with a focus on women and girls in Canada and around the world. Ending poverty begins with women’s rights.
Justin Sylvester
Member
(South Africa)
As a Senior Strategist at the Climate Works Foundation, Justin leads the Just Transition Fund supporting initiatives that promote equity and justice in the energy transition across the Global South. With more than 12 years of experience in the philanthropic sector, he has contributed to the strategic direction, management, and evaluation of programs that foster accountable and responsive governance, and center justice for affected communities.
He is passionate about advancing social justice and the just energy transition. Previously he served as a Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation in Natural Resources and Climate Change (2015-2023). Before that he worked at the Open Society Founda-tions as a Program Manager on Human Rights and Governance (2011-2015).
Justin holds a Masters in International Relations from University of Cape Town. He has also completed executive education on extractive industries and sus-tainability at the Columbia School of Sustainable Investment; and on global climate change policy and at the Harvard Kennedy School.