OUR TEAM

We’ve deliberately built a cross-cultural team with backgrounds in the private, public and social sectors.

CEO

Girish Menon

Girish joined STiR in January 2021 after five years as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK. He brings more than 30 years’ experience as a leader in the international development sector, having previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at Water Aid UK, where he was responsible for programmes in 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

Girish was born and brought up in India, and started his career with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. He has also worked at Action Aid, Plan International and DFID in India. Since moving to London in 2005, he has served on the boards of various non-profit organisations. He is currently on the Board of Hope and Homes for Children.

Jo Owen

CHAIR

Jo Owen

Jo has founded eight NGOs with a collective annual turnover of £100 million. He is an award winning author, keynote conference speaker and coach with widespread experience working across countless industries and continents. He has written 20 books on leadership and management – translated to more than 100 global editions – and is the only person to win the CMI Gold Award four times.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Jenny Willmott

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMME DELIVERY

Jenny
Willmott

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Jenny oversees our programme delivery across all geographies. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Scholé, an international education management company working across East Africa, and at other NGOs in Uganda and the UK. 
Nithya Gurukumar

DIRECTOR OF DONOR PARTNERSHIPS

Nithya
Gurukumar

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Nithya heads STiR’s Strategic Communications and Donor Partnerships. She previously established and led the first cohort of partners for the Teacher Development Programme at Dream a Dream in India, and was legal counsel for Sasken Technologies.
Anamika Srivastava

GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Anamika
Srivastava

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Anamika leads STiR’s finance and administration teams. She has worked with NGOs like Nutrition International, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as with Sony India Ltd.
John McIntosh

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND IMPACT

John
McIntosh

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John oversees the design of STiR’s programmes for teachers and government officials. He has worked as a teacher trainer and an advisor to professional development programmes in India, Sri Lanka, and China.

COUNTRY DIRECTOR, UGANDA

Modern Musiimenta Karema

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 Modern heads our country office in Uganda. He previously worked in senior roles with Educate! in both Uganda and Rwanda, leading programme implementation and scale and government partnerships. He is currently pursuing his MBA from Makerere University Business School.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DESIGN AND PROGRAMME READINESS

Neha
Gehlot

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Neha leads STiR’s programme design for teachers & officials and programme readiness efforts. Over the years she has worked extensively in the field of Teacher Education, Large Scale Assessments and Curriculum Development.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Rina
D'Souza

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Rina leads the People & Culture function at STiR. In her previous roles, she has worked extensively in the fields of education and environment. She has been a teacher as well as has worked with NGOs in implementing their programmes with a special focus on youth and their roles in bringing about change.  

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Jobin
Thomas

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Jobin leads STiR’s Monitoring & Evaluation. He is an economist with extensive experience in designing and implementing large-scale impact evaluations. Prior to joining STiR, he provided consulting services to National Skills Development Corporation, the World Bank and others. 

GLOBAL ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Shruti Singh

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Shruti is a qualified Chartered Accountant with more than 10 years of experience in the development sector. She has worked with national NGOs, international donor organisations and most recently the United Nations Population Fund. 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDONESIA

Yoni Nurdiansyah

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Yoni heads our country office in Indonesia. He previously worked in senior positions in public and private education sector institutions in Indonesia. Yoni holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management from the University of Nottingham.

BOARD AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

TRUSTEE

Bijoya
Banerjea

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Bijoya is an international development professional with 20 years of global experience in programme and operational management, as well as resource mobilisation in NGOs and for-profit organisations. She currently leads partnership development at the Union for International Cancer Control.

TRUSTEE

Euan
Wilmshurst

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Euan has extensive experience across philanthropy, NGOs and the private sector. He has previously worked with organisations such as Education.org, the Global Schools Forum and Street Child.
John Knight

TRUSTEE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

John
Knight

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John worked in finance throughout his career. He was most recently Chief Financial Officer at Pearson International, the education division at Pearson for all countries excluding the USA and Canada.

TRUSTEE

Leah
Anyanwu

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Leah is currently a Programme Specialist at the LEGO Foundation. She brings extensive experience as an educator and advocate, having worked across various NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa.  

TRUSTEE

Louise
Henbest

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Louise is HR Director for Unilever’s Global Business Services. She has 17 years’ international experience with a background in people operations, transformation and employee relations.

TRUSTEE

Sarah
Washington

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Sarah is a senior charity sector leader with 20 years of experience in fundraising, communications and engagement. She also sits on the board of PhotoVoice and is the Director of External Relations at Mission 44. 

TRUSTEE

Victoria
Collis

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Victoria has a background in international education. She brings invaluable experience from her work in various countries and her roles at the Eden Academy Trust and Mosaik Education.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Deepa
Sharma

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Deepa is Humanitarian Business Operations Lead at Save the Children UK and co-lead of the Collaborative Cash Delivery Network. She is a qualified accountant with a background in finance, strategy, operations and change management.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Matthew
Reeves

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Matthew is Finance Director for an international charity. He has worked in global finance for the British Council and has a background in the public, corporate and charitable sectors over a 20-year career.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Philip
Rand

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Philip provides support to STiR’s finance, administration and operations teams. He is an international businessman with more than 30 years’ experience in both finance and operations in developing countries.
Vicky Lockie

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Vicky
Lockie

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Vicky has worked as an in-house lawyer for most of her career. She now works as a consultant General Counsel having previously been General Counsel at Pearson International. She is also a Non-Executive Director at the Law Society.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Our external Global Council provides expert strategic advice to our Board and Leadership Team.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Alberto
Lidji

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Alberto is the Founder of the Do One Better Podcast and Knowledge Hub, focused on philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Previously, he was Global CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation. Alberto works with corporate and non-profit organisations to drive forward the global sustainability agenda and has lectured at various universities. He holds degrees from Cambridge and the LSE. 

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Asyia
Kazmi

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Asyia is the Global Education Policy Lead at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She was previously a mathematics teacher, a teacher coach and a senior Her Majesty’s Inspector for Ofsted in the UK. She also led the Girls’ Education Challenge at PwC, a $1bn fund which supports 1.5 million girls in 17 countries. She holds a Doctorate in Education from the IoE.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Carolyn
Kandusi

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 Carolyn works for the Segal Family Foundation as a Program Officer. She brings ten years’ experience in building grassroots movements and managing civil society initiatives in East Africa. She has worked for PINGOs Forum, a national NGO advocating for indigenous communities’ rights, and also founded Obuntu Hub, a youth hub empowering micro-entrepreneurs with skills and networks in Arusha. 

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Kate
Adams

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Kate is a high-level special adviser who has led and delivered tangible policy change internationally, including with the G7, NATO and UK government. In her current role at the Global Partnership for Education, she helped secure billions of dollars in donor financing to education. She has served as Senior Adviser to former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the G7 and G20. 

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Larry
Cooley

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 Larry is the Founder and President Emeritus of Management Systems International. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the fields of strategic management, public sector reform and international development. He currently serves as President of the Society for International Development, Board Chair of World Learning, and on the Boards of ELMA Philanthropies and the National Academy of Public Administration.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Pratik
Dattani

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Pratik is the CEO of boutique consulting firm- Economic Policy Group, with offices in the UK, India and Uganda. He is sits on the Board of a think tank and was a Director for India’s largest chamber of commerce. He previously worked in international arbitration, and has published academic work on behavioural economics and social impact measurement.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Rachel
Hinton

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Rachel is Senior Education and Social Development Adviser at FCDO. She was a Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, and chaired the United Nations Girls Education Initiative.

GLOBAL COUNCIL

Vikas
Pota

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 Vikas is the Founder of T4 Education, a digital platform seeking to strengthen the cause of teachers and schools. He previously set up and ran a philanthropic foundation focused on teachers where he launched the Global Teacher Prize. Vikas serves on several non-profit boards and has been awarded two honorary doctorates in recognition of his achievements. 

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