2023 Evidence2Action Speakers

Seline Aktar 
My feelings drive me to work for trafficking survivors. I am an anti-human trafficking advocate with lived experience. I escaped with the help of local people after being trafficked to Chattogram. Facing stigma upon return, I pursued legal action against my trafficker and my case is still ongoing. Supported by Winrock International’s USAID-funded projects in Bangladesh, I received training and resources which have aided my reintegration. I previously collaborated with the Hope Foundation and YPSA, facilitating job placements for 23 trafficking survivors in Cox’s Bazar and preventing 10 child marriages, while assisting 18 child marriage survivors with education grants. I am also a cattle rearer with plans for a poultry business. 

Mr. David L. Bishop 
David Bishop is an Associate Professor of Teaching at The University of Hong Kong and Fudan University, Shanghai. An award-winning educator, Mr. Bishop’s teaching focuses on a wide range of legal and ethics related matters. He has consulted major companies concerning ethics, ESG, CSR, pro bono representation, and various compliance and governance matters. Mr. Bishop also founded Impact Lab, one of the largest experiential business programs in Asia, empowering over 1200 students from more than 100 universities around the world. Through the Impact Lab, Mr. Bishop and his students have founded, co-founded, or helped scale more than 50 social impact organizations across Asia. Some of the organizations founded or co-founded by Mr. Bishop include Migrasia Global Solutions, Foundation for Shared Impact, Soap Cycling, Fair Employment Agency, EmpowerU, and 852 Designs.  David is a lawyer by training, graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center.  

Liberty Bognadon, Migration Specialist, Migrasia 
Liberty spent six transformative years as a Domestic Helper in Hong Kong, serving a compassionate family. Although she has not pursued formal college education, her unwavering desire for knowledge remains strong. Despite initial challenges in finding the right educational path in Hong Kong, Liberty discovered and completed a course with EmpowerU that aligns with her aspirations. Her experience with EmpowerU taught her that it’s more than just a course; it’s a close-knit community. Currently, she works part-time with Migrasia while also pursuing her academic interests at AMA University in the Philippines.  Liberty is blessed with a beautiful family, comprising her spouse and two wonderful children, aged 12 and 8. 

Meerim Bolotbaeva
Meerim has over 15 years of monitoring, evaluation, and learning experience in development, countering trafficking in persons and migration, education, public health, and human rights areas, mostly in managerial roles. Throughout her career, Meerim has cultivated successful partnerships with a wide range of donors, such as USAID, the European Union, and UN agencies. Meerim has experience in remote and in-suit MEL management and coordination and ensures strong knowledge management and CLA approach in her daily routine. 

Jonathan Chang
Jonathan Chang is a MEL research consultant for USAID Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons. His interests include M&E, economics research, and the use of technology in development. His prior work includes projects in agriculture, education, randomized evaluation, and technology at Asian Development Bank, Aga Khan Development Network, UC Berkeley, and various software companies.

Uma Chatterjee
Uma Chatterjee has dedicated nearly two decades of her career to the intersection of mental health and human rights development. She serves as the Co-founder and Director of Sanjog India, a non-profit organization committed to addressing crucial development issues, including access to justice, legal and policy reforms, gender equity, and empowering survivors to take leadership roles in driving social transformation. Furthermore, she started an organization called ChangeMantras, a leadership development and change management firm. Uma Chatterjee is a passionate psychosocial trainer, social entrepreneur and a skilled researcher, engaged in conceiving, designing and implementing innovative Leadership & Empowerment programmes with youth and adults. 

Mina Chiang
Mina Chiang is the Founder and Director of Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), an award-winning, UK-based social enterprise dedicated to revolutionizing the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. With extensive research experience in modern slavery, forced labor, and human rights issues across a wide range of UN bodies, governments and NGOs, Mina is a highly sought-after expert, especially for her expertise in countering forced labor in the scamming compounds of Southeast Asia and addressing forced labor in the fishing industry. Mina has been interviewed by over 20 media, including CNN and VICE. With a background in international development, Mina has consulted in some of the world’s poorest and most conflict-affected countries. Mina serves as a peer review college member at the UK Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre, and was a former board member of the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery. 

John Luke Chua
John Luke Chua is a MEL Specialist on the USAID Asia CTIP regional project. With a background in sports for development, he previously worked as a project manager at Mission 89, a Geneva-based trafficking in sports research and advocacy non-profit. Born and bred in Malaysian Borneo, he completed his BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from Loughborough University and a master’s degree in Sport Development and Politics from the Deutsche Sporthochschule.

Yada Chuaychamnak
Yada recently joined the Thailand CTIP Project as a Community Mobilization Officer. She holds a master’s degree in Anthropology and has several years of experience working with Thai local CSOs, particularly in the Deep South. She previously served as a Project Manager at the Patani Forum for the Thailand Network for Peace project titled ‘Strengthening Dangerous Speech Monitoring and Mitigation Network,’ and as a Program Coordinator at the Pratthanadee Foundation, closely engaging with female migrants and domestic workers.

Pamungkas A Dewanto
Pamungkas A Dewanto, also called Yudha, is a researcher and lecturer at University of Mataram. Aside from being a researcher at the ASEAN Studies Centre at the University of Mataram, he is also a PhD candidate in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research focuses on the topic of migration and transnationalism in Southeast Asia. He published his articles in both peer-reviewed journals and academic blogs on the topic of labour migration in Southeast Asia. Since 2020, Yudha has been supporting various regional and international organizations in promoting both decent work and safe migration for migrant workers. Currently, for instance, he is supporting the IOM and the ILO in producing pre-departure training materials as well as information, education and communication materials for Indonesian palm oil plantation workers setting to depart to Malaysia.

Shariful Hasan
Shariful has 20 years of experience in the migration, reintegration, and anti-trafficking sector. He is the Head of the Migration Programme at BRAC, the world’s largest non-government organization. Through rigorous advocacy and evidence, he is trying to ensure the rights of migrant workers and their families from the grassroots to the policy level. Under his leadership, BRAC has developed a comprehensive reintegration model, which has supported nearly 35 thousand migrants and survivors. Before joining BRAC, he was a renowned journalist in Bangladesh and wrote a series of investigative reports on migration and trafficking. He is also a member of the thematic group for Migration, Migrants Workers’ Rights, and Anti-Trafficking of the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh. Shariful has completed his Masters in Journalism, Media, and Communication.   

Ahmad Ibrahim
Ahmad Ibrahim is a researcher specialising in the fields of gender, migration and modern slavery. He is currently engaged as the Program, Research and Knowledge Management Advisor with the B-PEMS AugroJatra Climate Change project at Winrock International. His research interests lie in examining migration governmentality and discourse from the perspective of border consolidation / securitisation and nation-building. His work has been published in academic journals and in anthologies on migration, gender and sexuality. In his current position, he is interested in examining evolving mobility trends influenced by climate change that contributes to instances of modern slavery.   

Md. Aminul Islam
Md. Aminul Islam is a renowned Migration Value Chain Expert who has been working in the field of labour migration since 2003. He has extensive knowledge and experience in managing labour migration in South Asia, especially in Bangladesh and the Philippines in Southeast Asia. He is a highly qualified professional with a Master’s degree in Business Management from the University of Dhaka and a Master’s degree in Development Management with Dean’s List award from the Asian Institute of Management. He has also received training from prestigious institutions such as SIT Graduate Institute, Asian Institute of Technology, and International Management Institute. He has conducted groundbreaking research on labour trafficking and women migrant workers’ reintegration with Anti-Slavery International, UK. He is also an accomplished adjunct faculty who teaches professional courses on Strategic planning and Business value chain analysis at Bangladesh Institute of Management and American International University-Bangladesh. He has 20 years of remarkable professional experience in the labour migration sector, with a special focus on skilled labour migration, responsible recruitment, and human rights in business. He is currently the Team Lead of BRAC Migration Social Enterprise, a social enterprise that provides various services and solutions to migrants and returnees in Bangladesh.

Najmul Islam
Sk Najmul Islam is a human rights defender who has been working relentlessly in protecting and assisting the victims of human trafficking in Bangladesh for more than a decade. Currently, he is leading the social protection component of Switzerland-supported Ashshash Project at Winrock International as Senior Manager. He has been playing a key role in establishing the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to ensure structured and holistic service provision for victims of human trafficking. With his extensive experience and expertise, he is leading, managing, and implementing different development projects with a special focus on combating trafficking-in-persons (TIP) and promoting safe migration.

Md. Nazrul Islam
Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam with a total of 14 years of experience working in development and humanitarian sector, built on his expertise in the protection sector. However, he excelled his competency working in different areas including trafficking-in-persons, child protection and youth engagement, child protection in emergency, gender issues, program design, program implementation and coordination, advocacy and networking, program monitoring and reporting. Mr. Islam managed multi-awards including budget management and procurement.  At present, Mr. Islam is working as a Protection Manager for USAID’s Fight Slavery and Trafficking-in-Persons (FSTIP) Activity project that follows the USAID 4P approach to prevent trafficking.  Mr. Islam oversees the protection activities of this project in 25 districts of Bangladesh and provides technical support to all subgrantees in the respective sector as well as maintains liaison and advocacy with government stakeholders. In BCTIP – the predecessor of FSTIP, his advocacy efforts resulted in the adoption of comprehensive survivor service guidelines by the government department under the Ministry of Social Welfare.  In his career, Mr. Islam worked with Save the Children where he contributed Rohingya Response program as Deputy Program Manager and demonstrated his leadership in the protection sector beyond the national boundary. He was deployed in Sofala province of Mozambique for cyclone IDAI and Kenneth response under Save the Children in Mozambique. He also deployed for a certain period in Jakarta, Indonesia for CPIE system strengthening in Jakarta with a special focus on unaccompanied children protection from trafficking. Mr. Islam started his career with Plan International Bangladesh where mostly performed managing and coordination. He managed sponsorship and protection projects and provided technical support to implementing partners. In Plan International, Mr. Islam was a valued member of the Child Protection in Emergency (CPIE), and Gender Resource Team (GRT) member for the Asia region. 

Stanley Joseph, Praxis – Institute for Participatory Practices  
Stanley has worked in the development sector for over two decades with expertise in participatory methods, monitoring designs, participatory research, assessments, and evaluations across multiple thematic areas. An experienced facilitator and a practitioner of participatory approaches, he has been involved in various training and capacity building initiatives with a range of communities, survivors, groups, organisations and academic institutions. He has led and coordinated a number of projects on community empowerment, network-building processes and participatory action research. He has designed multiple participatory monitoring and evaluation tools which fosters commitment to inclusive and collaborative approaches consistently empowering communities and promoting change. 

Nina Kossyuk 
In 1997 she graduated from Kostanay State University, Faculty of Psychology.1997-2000 – psychologist of the PF “Help” providing psychological assistance to people with addictions.2000 to 2010 – Coordinator of the Kostanay branch of the NGO “Kazakhstan Association for Sexual and Reproductive Health (KMPA)”Since 2001 I have been working in the field of preventing human trafficking.2016-2018, 2020-present – director of a shelter providing special social services to victims of domestic violence and victims of human trafficking in Kostanay.2018 – present day head of the Damytu Public Fund. 

Meghan MacBain
Meghan MacBain has over 20 years’ experience working on human rights, behavioral change communication and gender programs throughout West and East Africa, South-East Asia and South Asia. During the past 20 years she has worked for such organizations as BBC Media Action, Anti-Slavery International, Oxfam, Search for Common Ground and War Child Netherlands. Currently she is the Chief of Party for the USAID Thailand Counter Trafficking in Persons project, a position she has had since 2017. She holds a combined master’s degree in ethnology and conflict resolution with a specialization on the intersectionality of culture and conflict. 

Julia Macher
Julia is the CEO of Freedom Collaborative Inc and has committed the past seven years to building the program into a community of almost 5,000 members across 115 countries, and the largest platform for professionals and activists working to end human trafficking, forced labour and exploitation globally. Julia is driven by her belief that building partnerships is one of the most effective paths to problem-solving and is focused on creating connections to strengthen the civil society response to exploitation across the globe, ensuring that people in power are not isolated from survivors of abuse and those who are closest to the issues.

Mr. Sok Cha Mom
Mr. Sok Cha Mom is the currently director and the practical lawyer in Cambodia. He is also a member of the Bar Association in Cambodia (BAR). He is currently process the Master program on corporate law focus on business and human rights. In terms of working experience, Mr. SOKCHA MOM is involved in conducting various research on TIP and Labor Migration both in Cambodia and across the border among the Cambodian migrant population. Many issues faced by survivors of TIP and migrant workers have been brought to the policymakers through the efforts of him and his NGOs. His NGO was also the first NGO in Cambodia that advocated for the recognition of males as TIP victims in Cambodia.

Nils Mueller
Nils Mueller is the Director of the General Development Office at USAID/Regional Development Mission for Asia. Prior to arriving in Bangkok, he founded and served as Team Leader of the Democratic Resilience and Innovation Team in the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Center in Washington DC, working to coordinate and elevate the response within the agency and interagency to surging authoritarianism. He holds a master in public affairs (MPA) from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School), and a BA in International Relations and French from Tufts University.

Al-Amin Nayan 
My will is my strength. No matter how hard the work is, if my desire and faith are there, I will find a way! I am a community leader in the fight against human trafficking in Bangladesh. Trafficked in Malaysia and forced into perilous conditions, I escaped with the aid of fellow Bangladeshis and the Bangladesh High Commission. Upon returning, I confronted social stigma. Supported by SHISUK, an NGO partner of Winrock International, I now aid survivors with the BRAC Migration Program. As the Central Committee President of ANIRBAN, a USAID-funded survivor organization, we champion survivors’ rights, offer legal and repatriation assistance, and work with Counter Trafficking Committees to heighten awareness and combat trafficking.

Zakia Naznin 
Zakia Naznin is currently working at Winrock International as a Senior Technical Lead, Climate Change for BPEMS AugroJatra Climate Change Project. Her interest and expertise in climate change adaptation, resilience, gender, and socio-economic inclusion. Before Joining Winrock International, she worked with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Concern Worldwide, Manusher Jonno Foundation, and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.  

Kamal Raj 
Founder and director of Cross Global, TEDx speaker, Human Trafficking and Bonded Labour Researcher. Mr. Kamal’s vision has led the team to establish multiple resources which are leading Cross Global to be a pioneer in implementing strategies to improve coordination between the public, NGOs, Students, and Youth, which has resulted in effective advocacy programs for the survivors of Human Trafficking. He has spoken to over 6000+ students on the issue of Human Trafficking in India and South Asia. He also trained 450 Individuals to combat Human Trafficking. He runs a sports academy for children vulnerable to Human Trafficking. So far, His organization has prevented over 100s of vulnerable children and supported 938 survivors of Human Trafficking with various rehabilitation programs. He constantly advocates for effective law enforcement and policies that protect the vulnerable from Human Trafficking. 

Mahi Ramakrishnan
Mahi Ramakrishnan is a consultant on forced migration; violent extremism and women, peace and security. She is also a multiple award-winning investigative filmmaker and her documentaries touch on human trafficking, people smuggling, and forced migration. Mahi runs a civil society organisation, Beyond Borders Malaysia, which works with refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers, and is also a member of the Asia Pacific Partnership for Atrocity Prevention (APPAP), where Mahi researches issues relating to violent extremism and hate speech.  She works with counterparts in Indonesia and the Philippines, looking at issues of women peace builders, focusing on the role of ASEAN in conflict management and mitigation for regional peace and security.  In 2022, Mahi was chosen by UN Women to be featured for her work in peace building at an exhibition in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the launch of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace & Security 

Put Rim
I am an anti-trafficking advocate with lived experience. I was sexually trafficked to China under the guise of going to work there. I was lied to for taking me to work in China and getting a high salary. But when I arrived, I was forced to marry a Chinese man. An unforgettable experience was during traveling to China. It took six days to get there and a lot of bad things happened. After I was rescued and returned to Cambodia, I contributed to raising awareness of the risks of illegal migration in my community and sharing my experience directly among women planning to work abroad. I also shared my experience and encouraged like-minded migrants in Survivor Care Forum and Survivor Learning Group organized by Chab Dai Coalition Organization.

Kristin Rosella
Kristin Rosella is the Co-Executive Director of GD Alliance, a global legal community, and a legal consultant with ReAct. She has over 15 years of domestic and international litigation experience, including in international criminal law, financial crimes, anti-human trafficking, and child sexual exploitation and abuse. Kristin leads a landmark case against a French bank in France for alleged financial crimes and complicity in international crimes committed during the Darfur genocide. Previously, she was a Senior Legal Consultant on the AO An Defence Team for Case 004/02 at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia. She has trained over 1,000 individuals, including police, NGOs, investigators, judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, on best practices in investigation, international crimes, anti-money laundering, and human trafficking. She started her career at two different law firms in Chicago and New York.

Nodira Saidkarimova
Nodira Saidkarimova is an experienced professional specializing in international development and human trafficking. She has a strong background in designing and implementing projects to promote safe migration and combat TIP. In 2019, Nodira joined Winrock as the Country Coordinator. In this role, she focuses on promoting regional cooperation in CTIP, reducing vulnerabilities to trafficking, and providing support to survivors. Her areas of expertise include migration and CTIP in Uzbekistan and Central Asia, gender, and civil society. She demonstrates competencies in program design, implementation, and monitoring, as well as research, capacity building, gender mainstreaming, fundraising, and more. 

Arlene (Jigsz) Nietes Satapornvanit
Arlene Nietes Satapornvanit, with over 25 years of experience in fisheries and aquaculture in Asia-Pacific, specializes in gender integration, sustainable aquaculture, and fisheries projects. She excels in project management, capacity development, and participatory field research. Arlene, a University of the Philippines and Asian Institute of Technology alumna, holds a PhD from the University of Stirling. Currently the Chief of Party for USAID SuFiA Technical Support Activity, she actively contributes to projects with a gender focus and is a member of various professional societies. Arlene has been working in fisheries and aquaculture in Asia-Pacific for more than 25 years and has been directly involved in gender integration in the workplace and in project management, working with sustainable aquaculture and fisheries projects in the region. She has expertise in gender equality and social inclusion, sustainable and ethical aquaculture and fisheries, capacity development and training, project management and coordination, and participatory field research. Her key skills include managing project activities and people, and integrating gender considerations in technical project design, implementation, communication, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. She has been involved in various projects with gender as a cross-cutting theme and she is currently the Chief of Party of USAID SuFiA Technical Support Activity implemented by Tetra Tech. Arlene is an alumna of the University of the Philippines (BSc Fisheries Business Management), Asian Institute of Technology (MSc Aquaculture), and University of Stirling (PhD Aquaculture/Sustainable Development). She is a member of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society (GAFS/AFS), World Aquaculture Society, and the Asian Seafood Improvement Collaborative.

Md. Abdus Salam
I am an early career researcher and social activist working in the area of human rights and counter-trafficking in persons. I received a university degree in textile engineering, and I have worked in ready-made garment (RMG) production. I am familiar with labor issues and rights violations in the RMG sector and other informal industries. When attempting to migrate abroad for work in 2022, I was trafficked to Cambodia where I spent time in several forced scamming compounds. After escaping and returning to Bangladesh with the help of the Global Anti-Scam Organization (GASO) and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), I have committed myself to ending trafficking and modern slavery in all its forms. Now I am working at HRC as a Survivor Empowerment Officer where I have been involved in direct research and organizing work with survivor leaders. 

Nawin Santikarn
Nawin Santikarn is a Consultant in the ELEVATE Advisory team in Hong Kong. He advises clients on labour and human rights issues in value chains in South East Asia – including forced labour investigations and remediation, responsible recruitment programs, and worker grievance mechanisms.​ Nawin has experience working on a range of business and human rights-related advisory, research, and capacity building projects, as well as anti-human trafficking programs. Nawin has also previously worked to provide legal support to refugees, and as a litigator at an international commercial law firm.​  Nawin holds an LLB (Honours) from the University of Edinburgh and is a solicitor (non-practicing) qualified in England & Wales and Hong Kong.

Bhim Shrestha
Bhim Shrestha is the co-founder and executive director of Shramik Sanjal-A membership base network led by self-motivated, low-wage migrant workers in the Gulf states & Malaysia. Bhim worked in the Gulf as a migrant worker and experienced first-hand the poor working conditions that many Nepali migrant workers face. While in the Gulf, he, along with some like-minded Nepali migrant workers, formed an informal group to support the Nepali migrant workers in need. Later, the group transformed formally into Shramik Sanjal.  Bhim is passionate about community work, and his work puts migrant workers’ voices at the center of migration and development and advocates for dignity and fairness. 

Bijaya Rai Shrestha
Bijaya Rai Shrestha is a returnee woman migrant worker and the Founding Chairperson of AMKAS Nepal an organization of for and by returnee women migrant workers in Nepal and currently working as the Executive Director. She has played crucial role in uniting the returnee women migrant domestic workers, building their capacity, raising awareness through right to information, strengthening the network making the concerns of Nepali WMWs visible in various national and international forums such as the GFMD, GCM, UNHLD, WSF, CP, CSW, ADD etc.

Urmila Shrestha
As Shakti Samuha’s Project Coordinator, Urmila Shrestha has championed protection issues since 2013. She has also served as Secretary in the National Network of survivors against human trafficking in Nepal since 2020.  As a leader in anti-trafficking protection thematic areas, her dedication is a powerful force against human trafficking. She was recognized for her significant contribution and honored by the Nepal government on the 17th national anti-human trafficking day. Urmila’s journey from victim to survivor to change maker continues to inspire countless other survivors and advocates.

Tasneem Siddiqui
Tasneem Siddiqui is the Chairperson of Department of Political Science, University of Dhaka and the Founding Chair of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, Bangladesh’s premier migration thinktank. She has published extensively on labour migration governance, trafficking and human smuggling, remittances and climate induced migration. She led the drafting of the National Strategy for Internal Displacement in Bangladesh 2021, The National Action Plan 2022, The Overseas Employment Policy 2006. She is on the advisory boards of state-led international initiative, the Platform on Disaster Displacement and International Displacement Monitoring Centre. She serves as the elected South Asia Representative to the Global Board of Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction.

Sok Sopheakmonica 
Sok Sopheakmonica is a Lawyer and a Research Consultant at Amrin Law and Consultant Group and the Co-Head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Practice Group at the GD Alliance, a global legal community. She has almost 10 years of experience in human rights, international criminal law, fair trial rights, child protection, and anti-human trafficking. Previously, she was a Case Manager on the AO An Team for Case 004/02 at the Khmer Rouge tribunal and the Country Lead with Project Expedite Justice on its investigative work in East Africa and Southeast Asia. She has also served as a paralegal at the Child Protection Unit, working on child protection and monitoring cases in court proceedings, and a Legal Coordinator for a 10-person fellowship program.

Susan Stamper
Susan Stamper is the Chief of Party for the USAID Fight Slavery and Trafficking-in-Persons (FSTIP) Activity at Winrock International in Bangladesh. With over 20 years of experience as a dedicated human rights professional, she has successfully managed large-scale projects focused on the rule of law, human rights, countering human trafficking, and supporting democracy and governance in conflict and post-conflict countries. Before assuming her role at FSTIP, Ms. Stamper served as the Counter Trafficking in Persons Program Manager at Winrock International in the United States. In this capacity, she provided oversight for projects funded by USAID, SDC, DOS, and DFID, specifically addressing counter-trafficking in persons (CTIP) and climate change initiatives. Her leadership extends to various esteemed organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), American Red Cross, USAID, The Carter Center, Interpeace, US DOS, and the United Nations. Currently, under the consistent guidance and leadership of Susan, the USAID Fight Slavery and Trafficking in Persons (FSTIP) project in Bangladesh offers comprehensive protection, support, and services to survivors of human trafficking. The initiative strengthens a survivor-centered approach and implements do-no-harm practices, ensuring the effective protection of human trafficking survivors in Bangladesh.

Michaelle Tauson
Michaelle Tauson has been working as a practitioner and researcher in the fields of international development and humanitarian assistance for 16 years, in the areas of counter human trafficking, refugee studies/forced migration, and international education/education in emergencies. Michaelle has worked for international organizations and donors such as UNICEF, UNESCO, World Food Programme, USAID, and Save the Children in countries in North America, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. She holds a PhD in human wellbeing from the Institute of Development Studies, at the University of Sussex and a master’s in economics from the Korbel School of International Studies, at the University of Denver.   

Mark B. Taylor
Mark Taylor has been the Chief of Party of the USAID Cambodia CTIP activity, implemented by Winrock International, since March 2021.  He has over 25 years’ experience working to address human trafficking and related issues.  Prior to coming to Winrock, he worked for the U.S. State Department for 26 years, of which 15 years involved addressing human trafficking, including 10 years as the Senior Coordinator responsible for the annual production of the State Department’s TIP Report in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP). While posted to the U.S. Embassies in India and Nigeria, Mark managed Department of State International Narcotics and Law Enforcement assistance programs addressing human trafficking and other crimes in South Asia and Western Africa, and more recently led the Australian government’s “AAPTIP” program of assisting criminal justice responses to human trafficking in the ASEAN region.  More recently, he served as the Senior Technical Advisor to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, assisting this newly establish fund in designing and managing strategies and projects in the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India.

Andika Wahab
Andika Wahab holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology and International Relations from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) and currently the Head of Centre for West Asian Studies and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. His research fields include transnational migration, human rights and the politics of sustainability. He is a member of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (GBHRSA) and Nepal-Malaysia Corridor Advisory Board to the Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ). He is an accredited Fair Labor Association (FLA) monitor for labour standards compliance in supply chains.  

Fitra Wicaksana 
Fitra is an Indonesian human rights professional with previous experience in both corporate law and non-profit casework. Fitra previously worked as a Senior Associate at an Indonesian boutique corporate law firm, and as a Caseworker Hong Kong-based non-profit organization advocating the rights of migrant domestic workers, where he was frequently invited as a speaker at the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong’s Welcoming Programme for newly-arrived migrant domestic workers. Fitra graduated as the valedictorian from the University of Hong Kong’s LLM in Human Rights Programme and as the second most outstanding student from the University of Indonesia’s LLB Programme. Fitra speaks English, Hainanese, Malay, and Mandarin, besides his native Indonesian. 

Isla Wilson
Isla Wilson is an experienced international development professional with expertise in research and programme management in humanitarian emergencies, protracted-conflicts and for vulnerable populations, including migrants, refugees, IDPs, and survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence. She has coordinated large-scale mixed-methods research and projects for organisations such as Impact Initiatives, the University of Hong Kong, Winrock International, IOM, IPA, UN Women, and UNHCR. With a research interest in migration, forced labor, and human trafficking, Isla is passionate about sharing her knowledge of global migration issues. Currently, as the Programme Manager at Migrasia, she brings her expertise to oversee complex programmes, grants and research.  

Ryan Winch
Ryan Winch is the Programme Manager for the Transnational Crime and Technology (TCT) Team at the Regional Support Office (RSO). Joining the RSO in October 2022, Ryan leads the TCT Team with a primary focus on combating trafficking in persons and people smuggling facilitated by emerging technologies, as well as how the potential of new technologies can be best harnessed to counter trafficking in persons, people smuggling and transnational crime. Prior to his role at the RSO, Ryan served as a Security Sector Reform Officer with MINUSCA, the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic as well as as a Programme Coordinator with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Myanmar. Ryan has also worked with UNODC’s Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, CIVICUS, Open Development Thailand, and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

Kusalin Wongnamkob
Kusalin Wongnamkob is a development practitioner, researcher, and a consultant who is experienced in project and organizational change management and well-versed in a range of professional roles in advocating for gender equality and social inclusion, human rights, and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific region. She has over 12 years of progressive experiences in development sector on policy advocacy and project management including strategic planning, technical assistance and monitoring and evaluation of the development projects with both international and regional-based Non-Governmental Organizations such as Plan International, Save the Children, CTIP project funded by USAID and sub-regional anti-transnational crimes program funded by DFAT. Kusalin is well versed in gender analysis (in both development and humanitarian context), strategy design including monitoring and evaluation-related metrics and capacity building opportunities for staff and partners across multiple operational levels. Her interest includes the use of gender mainstreaming and transformative approach, feminist leadership principles, stakeholder empowerment incubation (especially of children and youth, women, policy makers and marginalized communities). She had also contributed to the regional processes of reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Her present work focuses on GESI upskilling, tools and capacity building and impact monitoring, and research on gender in climate action and justice.

Emily Wyman
Emily is a Visiting Fellow in Research Impact and Evaluation at the University of Nottingham Rights Lab and a Research, Evaluation and Partnerships consultant. She specialises in social justice research for advocacy, evaluation and strategy development; Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning facilitation; and cross-sectoral partnership management. Her work applies participatory and survivor-centred methods to a range of social justice issues including labour exploitation; child trafficking and child labour; sanctuary seeker and human trafficking survivor support; and youth resilience to extremism. In her previous career as an academic, she spent thirteen years researching the factors that enable human cooperation, and now uses learnings from this research to support cooperation in networks and coalitions for collective impact. 

Kaoru Yamagiwa
Kaoru Yamagiwa (Kay) has been engaged in the area of women’s empowerment, human trafficking, community development, and post-conflict recovery for over 20 years. Currently, she works for Winrock International as Deputy Chief of Party for USAID Laos Counter Trafficking in Persons Project. Prior to joining Winrock, she worked as a practitioner in CARE International, consulting firm, UNDP, UN Women and as an independent researcher for gender issues in the South-East and South Asia, and the West Balkans.