There are a number of transitions at the Humanitarian Centre as we move into an exciting new year, full of activities and projects that you (our members and supporters) have shaped, but also some changes to our core staff and trustees.
Sonia Roschnik, our Director, who has done a fantastic job for us over the past months, is moving in September to an unmissable opportunity with the Sustainable Development Unit for the health sector, where she will be working internationally with development agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). We are sure she will be very successful there, and are sorry to see her leave her post as Director.
We’re not losing her entirely though, as she will continue to support the Humanitarian Centre as an advisor to the Board of Trustees. She has made a significant impact to the Humanitarian Centre, helping in particular with our strategic focus and streamlining our operations, and has put us into a very strong position for the future.
Steve Jones, our Chair of Trustees and a highly-experienced international development consultant, will take the role of Interim Director while we work to recruit our next Director. At the same time, Dominic Vergine, who was a founding member of the Humanitarian Centre, will take over as Chair of Trustees, and Shelley Gregory-Jones, an experienced charity Development Director, will move into the role of Vice-Chair of Trustees.
We are now recruting for the Humanitarian Centre’s new Director through our website (click here to read the job description and apply) and other international development forums, and look forward to introducing you all to our new Director in due course.
In addition, Anne Radl, our Programmes Manager who ran our Global Health and Global Food Futures Themed Years, is expecting her first baby, and we wish her all the best as she starts her maternity leave in August. (Come out and let her say goodbye to you at the Blue Dot Pub Quiz she is hosting next Monday night!).
We have a wonderful programme of events planned for next year, starting in October. We’re transitioning from a successful year focusing on Global Food Futures (with a finale event on 16th November and launch of the fifth Cambridge International Development Report on Global Food Futures) into what promises to be a thought-provoking and dynamic year on ‘Human Rights and Poverty ’ (please submit your suggestions for the name of the year here) – which launches on the 4th of November at the Cambridge Africa Film Festival!
Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or would like any more information about any of these transitions. To find out more about Steve, Dominic and Shelley, see our Humanitarian Centre “People” page.
