Our Staff
Loeïza Jacq
Visual Advisor
Before photography, Loeïza Jacq worked in the performing arts, acting and directing. An MA in Theatre Studies and a Shakespeare Certificate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London) are part of that background which is at the root of her unique approach to photography that involves the viewer in an experience. Her installations use human voices along with images. Since her first photographic project, which was on dust, she focuses on what is invisible to the naked eye.
Since 2005, Loeiza has travelled and photographed extensively and in Afghanistan, worked as a photographer for two NGO's.
Loeiza Jacq graduated from the French photography school, in Arles (ENSP), in 2013. As an advisor for Gendro, she endeavours to help us visualize the hidden part of the iceberg. Her website is www.theinvisibleforest.org.
Kala Madhav
Web design
Kala Madhav has a Masters in Computer Applications from India. She is a part of the communications team at GENDRO and works mainly with the website and related issues. In Geneva she has been working with NGOs involved in a variety of sectors. Some of the NGOs she has been working/worked with include World Federation for Mental Health, SAHFA - Smart Access to Health For All, Action for Development (previously Bhaktar Development Network - Suisse).
Ziyoda Kurbanova
Communications
Ms Ziyoda Kurbanova is an international development professional with interest and experience working in Central Asia. Prior to joining GENDRO, she has worked with various international agencies – IFC World Bank Group, UNDP, UN Women, Save the Children, Aga Khan Development Network – where she, together with the communities and stakeholders, has sought strategic and pragmatic solutions for sustainable impact.
Yana Daneva
Partnerships and Resources
Yana is an international development professional with experience in project management, research, evaluation and stakeholder relations in global health and sustainable development. Yana’s latest global health assignment was with The Global Fund where she worked on thematic evaluations. She was involved in the review on Global Fund’s investments into Sustainable and Resilient Systems for Health (RSSH) and the planning stage of the Strategic Review 2020. Yana also worked on the health-environmental nexus for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and UNEP’s Chemicals and Health team. She is also a contributor to the open-source project, GNEVAR.
She holds an MA degree in International Relations and Political Science from The Graduate Institute (Geneva, Switzerland) and BA in Politics and Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow, UK.
Our Board
Shirin Heidari
Founder and President
Dr. Shirin Heidari is Senior Research Fellow at the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Senior Technical Consultant on gender to WHO Gender, Equity and Human Rights Unit. Most recently, Dr. Heidari was the Executive Director of Reproductive Health Matters, and Editor-in-Chief of its academic journal. Prior to that, she oversaw the Research Promotion Department of the International AIDS Society in Geneva and was the Executive Editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society. Dr. Heidari has been a trusted board member of Amnesty International in Sweden. During her time as a member of Council of European Association of Science Editors, she established and co-chaired a Gender Policy Committee, leading the development of the widely cited SAGER guidelines, encouraging researchers to address the sex and gender bias in research. She has also presented a TEDx talk on the topic.
As a gender-equality and human rights advocate, Dr. Heidari has served as member of several international expert and scientific committees and engaged in various efforts advancing the integration of sex and gender in the production of knowledge and evidence.
Olivia Mettler
Treasurer
Swiss national born in 1975, Ms. Olivia Mettler studied International Hospitality Management at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and graduated in 1999.
With more than 18 years of financial experience in multi-nationals and international non-profit companies, she is the Finance & Administration executive, member of the board of directors of the International AIDS Society (IAS). More recently, Ms. Mettler graduated in Enterprise Risk Management at the University of Geneva.
Aida Mechkene Chourou
Member
Originally from Tunisia, Aïda was born and raised in Switzerland where she studied Business Administration and Economics holding an MSc in Business Administration. She started her career in the private sector in various HR specialties and partnering roles and always strived to link her personal and professional paths with human and social outreach.
Strong with her background in high-paced international environments in both Switzerland and Tunisia, she joined the INGO over a decade ago to contribute to organisations with high social impact. Aïda has continuously developed her HR toolbox to provide world-class HR skills such as conflict mediation and sensitive investigation expertise through hands-on support and servant leadership approach.
Bernard Kadasia
Secretary
Mr. Bernard Kadasia is a senior level professional who brings together close to forty years of experience in technical, managerial and leadership positions in government, civil society, private sector, and international non-governmental organizations.
Until March 2015 Mr. Kadasia was employed by the International AIDS Society (IAS) Geneva as Deputy Executive Director and Director of Policy and Advocacy, Research Promotion and Communications. Prior to joining the IAS, he worked for 17 years for the International Co-operative Alliance as Director of the Regional Office for East, Central and Southern Africa, in Moshi, Tanzania and in Nairobi, Kenya.
Since 2012 he is the President of the Geneva-based Alliance for Health Promotion, an international NGO in Official Relations with the World Health Organization. The Alliance has official UN ECOSOC Status. Mr. Kadasia is also a member of the Supervisory Board of North Star Alliance. North Star Alliance provides quality healthcare across Africa to mobile populations and the communities they interact with.
Maria Halkias
Member
Dr. Maria Halkias received her PhD from the University of St Andrews in Scotland in the History of Art. She has worked in the field of arts for more than seven years, supporting the promotion and advancement of women in the art world, working primarily with socially engaged artists and art networks. Since then she has contributed to numerous articles and book chapters on the subject.
Dr. Halkias worked as Communications Manager at Reproductive Health Matters, before joining a start-up team as Project Manager.
Former Board Members
Emily T. Blitz