Stichting Oxfam International Board of Directors

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 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 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), Non-Exec Bank of England, Board member Guildhall School Trust. 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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Netsanet Belay is currently the Regional Program Manager for Africa at the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) and previously served different leadership roles at Amnesty International, including on the establishment of three regional offices in Africa. His listening skills and lived experience will enrich Oxfam’s goal of localization.