Our Executive Team
Madi
Executive Director
Madi is a nurse with a B.S. in Public Health. She has worked in the humanitarian sector for five years and now focuses on promoting better interventions in migratory health.
She has volunteered as a general humanitarian and a medical provider in seven countries, focusing on forcibly displaced populations in camp and urban contexts and on COVID-19 response.
Madi currently works on overseeing the day-to-day management of In-Sight Collaborative while staying active as a medical volunteer in her local community and beyond. She also works with a research team at William & Mary College studying the effects of moral injury on humanitarian workers.
Saras
Chief Operating Officer
Saras has five years of experience working with NGOs, activists, local and government stakeholders in Indonesia and the U.S. in the humanitarian, human rights, and peacebuilding fields. Her research and professional interests are anchored around decoloniality in international development, building resilience in closing civic spaces and fragile contexts, asset-based community approaches, and a post-structuralist lens to advancing social justice and equity. Saras graduated summa cum laude from George Washington University with a BA in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in Peace Studies. She is passionate about creating spaces that embrace local wisdom and are attuned to the lived experiences of affected populations to ensure more inclusive processes in humanitarian action.
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Stevie
HR Coordinator
Stevie joined our team in 2020 as a participant in our summer mentorship program and has stayed on board as volunteer coordinator and now human resource coordinator. She enjoys the work at In-Sight Collaborative because of the way they re-imagine education and support within the aid sector.
Stevie has completed a bachelor of international development and a graduate certificate in sustainable development and humanitarian assistance. Currently, she works full time with men in custody who are diagnosed with disability, applying her HR skills and incredible capacity to care holistically for others. She is based in Melbourne, Australia.
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Bella
Social Media Director
Bella has worked in the humanitarian sector for three years, coming to the field from a strong background of community organising and mutual aid projects. Based in Folkestone, at the shoreline of one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes, Bella helps connect local actors such as trade unions and queer solidarity groups in order to better accompany refugees and asylum seekers in the community.
After she experienced heavy police surveillance and criminalisation for her involvement in high profile social and climate justice campaigns, she began facilitating workshops advising people on how to best keep themselves safe from state violence. She joined the Free Humanitarians team as a Digital Communications Strategist in 2022, expanding her knowledge on human rights law and civic space to encompass the EU and Greek contexts.
Bella graduated from her Masters of Philosophy in Anthropocene Geography from the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses were on indigenous and local marine conservation practice in Egypt, and on borderwork and language in the Mediterranean.
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Shaydah
Research Associate for Program Development
Shaydah began working with the In-Sight Collaborative team in 2020 as a mentor for the organization’s educational learning program. She also supported the organization’s program development by planning, moderating, and evaluating webinars. She now serves as a Research
Associate, where she works at the intersection of analyzing dynamics of human rights and socioeconomic inclusion in the humanitarian field and using the power of storytelling to shape
narratives related to forced displacement to diverse audiences.
Shaydah has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from McGill University in International Development
Studies with a double minor in Political Science and Social Entrepreneurship. After her undergraduate studies, she pursued a dual master’s degree at Sciences Po Paris in Public Policy
(MPP) and the University of Toronto in Global Affairs (MGA). She has
similarly pursued professional opportunities in internationally focused spaces, such as the World Food Program (WFP) Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Organization for
Migration (IOM). Shaydah is currently based in NYC and seeks opportunities where she can use her language skills (English, Spanish, and French) to improve advocacy and access to services
for displaced populations.
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Anna
English Program Director
Anna joined In-Sight Collaborative in 2023 as a mentee in our summer mentorship program where she brought valuable insights and perspectives to program discussions and activities.
She was selected to complete the 2023/2024 internship, working alongside our executive team, helping with day-to-day operations while learning more about non-profit management. After completing the internship, Anna was hired as the mentorship program director for the English program where she works with the executive team and mentor team to run two program cohorts each year.
Anna has a master’s degree in European health economics and management, and she is working full time as a project manager on clinical studies in the field of interventional radiology.
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Juanjo
Chief Financial Officer and Spanish Program Director
Juanjo joined the In-Sight Collaborative Board of Directors after a year of spearheading the monitoring and evaluation team and leading initiatives to bring more Spanish speakers to In-Sight’s blog and webinar series in order to highlight voices of displaced people from Latin America. He is excited by opportunities to help a new generation of changemakers in their quest to impact the world in a humane way through education and connection. Based in Peru, Juanjo plays an integral role in expanding In-Sight Collaborative’s vision to new contexts and networks through his language skills and passion for connecting people. Juanjo left the In-Sight Board in 2024 to become the Chief Financial Officer and director of the Spanish language program.
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Hadi
Arabic Program Co-Director and Mentor
Hadi is 24 years old and was born and raised in Yemen. He fled the conflict when he was 20 and traveled to Europe.
During his time in Greece, Hadi volunteered extensively with local humanitarian teams including Refugee Biriyani & Bananas in Chios. His volunteer experience helped him improve his English speaking skills, and already able to speak Arabic and Somali, Hadi has worked as an interpreter and cultural mediator for asylum services and assists with the reception of new arrivals in Greece. Hadi is now the co-director for In-Sight’s Arabic program.
He brings a wealth of knowledge and skills from his lived experience on the migratory pathway.
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Jood
Arabic Program Co-Director and Mentor
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Our Board of Directors
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Priyanka
Board President
Priyanka is a communications and policy specialist, with a passion for working in the human rights sector. She started her journey with the non-profit sector in India as a volunteer and a Communications professional for several NGOs. She was involved in grassroot work across the country, documenting education programs in the under-served rural and tribal areas, managing stakeholder relations and conducting community outreach.
Priyanka has a Masters in Global Affairs from the University of Toronto. She interned with the UN’s International Organization for Migration at Geneva, Switzerland with the Media and Communications team. She is currently working with the Federal Government of Canada monitoring and analyzing the impact of media on elections in Canada. She continues to look for ways to engage with the community, advocating for basic rights and security of people, and bringing about a tangible change in the world.
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Emily
Vice President
Emily, a Dallas native, blends her Master of Social Work (MSW) and Bachelor of Science (BS) in International Studies to conduct research across the child welfare spectrum as an Associate Researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. With experience working with UNICEF, Amna, and state
governments from across the US, she evaluates services for children 0 – 5 and works to address inequity
and gaps.
Formerly a caseworker in the Western US, she assisted refugees from Burundi, Somalia, and Iraq. Emily also taught English to teenagers in Krakow and migrants in Bologna. When not working, she enjoys adventures with her dog, Pierogi. Her diverse experiences inform her compassionate approach to
empowering marginalized communities, reflecting her unwavering commitment to fostering positive
change worldwide.
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Katy
Secretary
Katy is a communications specialist, having trained and worked as a journalist and content marketer in business-to-business trade publishing for more than two decades. She specializes in interviewing and storytelling, exploring subject matter to discover compelling messaging whether from a business and technical perspective or on a more personal level. She's applying those skills to expand In-Sight Collaboratives blog and newsletter as we seek to grow our reach and fully illustrate our impact.
Katy joined the In-Sight board after participating in a book club session and has been a dedicated team member and contributor to In-Sight's blog and educational content.
Muriel
Treasurer
Muriel is deeply passionate about community, connection, and justice. She is a public health professional from Lebanon with a background in global health, nutrition, and humanitarian assistance. Her work has focused on health equity, humanitarian response, and program management. She has experience in monitoring and evaluation, project management and implementation, and grant management, with a commitment to ethical and locally driven humanitarian action.
Muriel first joined In-Sight Collaborative through its mentorship program in 2023 and is excited to now serve as Treasurer, supporting the organization’s mission to challenge traditional humanitarian models.
Beyond her professional work, Muriel finds joy in cooking, exploring new places, and continuously learning through books, languages, or new creative pursuits. She is currently based in Arlington, VA.
Mike
Board Member
Mike, M.D., MSc is a board-certified Family Physician, Throughout his medical training and career, he has practiced in resource-limited environments, including in complex humanitarian emergencies and among migrant populations in North America and further afield, including refugees, asylum seekers, and torture survivors. His experiences span twenty years starting with work in Botswana as a medical student at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis there and include first response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, work in eastern DR Congo in communities affected by war and sexual violence, a maternity hospital in Somalia, and working in both an Ebola Treatment Unit and Government Hospital in Sierra Leone during the Ebola pandemic there in 2015.
Mike has since worked with displaced populations in Greece, Bangladesh, Uganda, the U.S., and Ukraine. In March 2023, he was awarded a Masters of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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Pedro
Board Member
Pedro Bessa is a pragmatic and diplomatic changemaker who thrives on disruption. Guided by his experiences at Caritas and Lightup Impact,
Pedro is driven by a deep commitment to social impact. His insatiable hunger for knowledge fuels his desire to both learn and teach, as he constantly seeks to contribute to making the world a better place for all.
In 2023, Pedro completed the In-Sight mentorship program and has since been a dedicated member of the mentorship team. In 2024 he joined the Board of Directors where he continues to influence and enhance In-Sight's educational offerings with his range of experience and his mentoring skills.
What's with the ducks? Due to increasing concerns for the safety of people in humanitarian and human rights spaces globally, our team has opted to err on the side of caution and reduce our individualized online presence. This is in no way intended to mislead people about our work and we can assure you that real, live humans exist behind our ducky personas!
We hold fast to the statement that our work is not controversial, morally corrupt, or unlawful. We are an organization providing supportive resources for humanitarian practitioners and activists. However, a rapidly changing political climate has cast doubt upon our safety in these spaces as we advocate for our collective liberation from harmful, oppressive systems and structures. This is one small step we can take to protect our team members who are already made vulnerable by their work, immigration status, gender orientation, or a combination of manufactured vulnerabilities.