Core Team & Network Members

The SCI team works with our international network of activists, fellows, alumni and other partners to deliver lasting social change.

Core Team & Network Members

Core Team

  • Martin O’Brien
    Martin O’Brien

    Martin O’Brien

    Director

    Martin is the Director of SCI and has worked for over 20 years in the peace and human rights movement in Northern Ireland. 


    View
  • Padraic Quirk
    Padraic Quirk

    Padraic Quirk

    Deputy Director

    Padraic is the Deputy Director of SCI and has over 25 years experience in social change within Northern Ireland and internationally.

    View
  • Jacqui Livingstone
    Jacqui Livingstone

    Jacqui Livingstone

    Operations Manager

    Jacqui is the Operations Manager at SCI and has over 20 years of experience in the field of human resources, executive support and office management.

    View
  • Avila Kilmurray
    Avila Kilmurray

    Avila Kilmurray

    Migration and Peacebuilding Executive

    Avila is SCI Migration and Peacebuilding Executive. She has worked in the community sector and philanthropy in Northern Ireland since 1975.

    View
  • Angela Hodkinson
    Angela Hodkinson

    Angela Hodkinson

    Associate

    Angela is an associate with SCI, taking forward a programme of strategic learning on its partnership work with Northern Ireland government.

    View
  • Raissa Balduino
    Raissa Balduino

    Raissa Balduino

    Communications and Digital Content Lead

    Raissa is the Communications and Digital Content Lead at SCI. She has over 14 years of experience in strategic communications across marketing, public relations and digital communications.

    View
  • Allison Newey
    Allison Newey

    Allison Newey

    Administrative Assistant

    Allison Newey is the Administrative Assistant at SCI. She recently completed her Master’s degree in Conflict Transformation & Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast.

    View

Board Members

  • Hanny Megally
    Hanny Megally

    Hanny Megally

    Hanny Megally has more than 45 years of experience in the field of human rights, transitional justice, philanthropy and conflict resolution.

    View
  • Nicolette Naylor
    Nicolette Naylor

    Nicolette Naylor

    Nicolette Naylor is a Pan African feminist lawyer and senior philanthropy executive who has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of justice, feminism, and philanthropy.

    View
  • Mike Posner
    Mike Posner

    Mike Posner

    Michael Posner is an SCI Board Member and the co-director of the NYU Center for Business and Human Rights and the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance at NYU Stern.

    View
  • Maggie Beirne
    Maggie Beirne

    Maggie Beirne

    Maggie Beirne has spent her working life as a human rights practitioner. She worked with Amnesty International’s International Secretariat for 17 years.

    View

The Fellowship Programme

  • Manar Younis
    Manar Younis

    Manar Younis

    Manar is an entrepreneur and researcher in the field of political economy. She believes in empowering women economically as an effective way to raise awareness about their political rights and involvement in the public sphere

    View
  • Zilola Imomova
    Zilola Imomova

    Zilola Imomova

    Zilola Imomova is a lawyer, human rights and art activist from Tajikistan. Zilola currently works at the NGO Office of Civil Freedoms as an assistant lawyer.

    View
  • Yasah Musa
    Yasah Musa

    Yasah Musa

    Yasah is a Project Manager at The Nubian Rights Forum, a grassroots legal empowerment organisation where he leads the Citizenship and Land Programme.

    View
  • Sibongile Ndashe
    Sibongile Ndashe

    Sibongile Ndashe

    Sibongile Ndashe is the founder and executive director of the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA).

    View
  • Salum Abdullah Abdallah
    Salum Abdullah Abdallah

    Salum Abdullah Abdallah

    Salum, a young queer Muslim activist, is the Executive Director of the Bridge Initiative Organisation based in Zanzibar Tanzania.

    View
  • Pradip G. More
    Pradip G. More

    Pradip G. More

    Pradip is the Deputy Director of the Dalit Foundation, an organisation focused on strengthening Dalit youth leadership through fellowships and innovative strategies to eradicate untouchability practices based on caste and gender.

    View
  • Michele Prado
    Michele Prado

    Michele Prado

    Michele Prado is a researcher and activist in combating online radicalisation and violent extremism in Brazil and around the world.

    View
  • Jestina Mukoko
    Jestina Mukoko

    Jestina Mukoko

    Jestina Mukoko is a human rights champion and peace practitioner, as well as the Founder and President of the Jestina Mukoko Foundation (JMF), an organisation dedicated to providing victims of human rights abuse with a platform for healing and restoration.

    View
  • Eleni Takou
    Eleni Takou

    Eleni Takou

    Eleni Takou is an expert on migration and hate crime, anti-racist advocacy and strategic communication.

    View
  • Anna Dobrovolskaya
    Anna Dobrovolskaya

    Anna Dobrovolskaya

    Anna Dobrovolskaya is a human rights defender, researcher, and educator, and the former executive director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Memorial Human Rights Center in Russia.

    View
  • Ahmad Bakdad
    Ahmad Bakdad

    Ahmad Bakdad

    Ahmad Bakdad is a legal professional from Syria who advocates for the rights of young individuals and children, actively supporting initiatives for social justice, human rights, and the advancement of peace and equality.

    View
  • Ghislain Muhiwa
    Ghislain Muhiwa

    Ghislain Muhiwa

    Ghislain Muhiwa is an activist with the citizen movement Struggle for Change (LUCHA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He finished his studies in Public Economics in 2015 at Goma University and works professionally as a researcher in social sciences and financier for humanitarian organizations.

    View
  • Editar Adhiambo Ochieng
    Editar Adhiambo Ochieng

    Editar Adhiambo Ochieng

    Editar is the founder of the Feminist for Peace Rights and Justice Center located in Kibera, Kenya.  She is an unapologetic proud feminist who believes in social activism as a tool to promote change.

    View
  • Ali Johar
    Ali Johar

    Ali Johar

    Ali is a Rohingya refugee activist currently based in New Delhi, India. He is one of the founding members of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative. Ali plans to become a human rights lawyer and advocate for stateless people and refugees and their detention crisis.

    View
  • Marija Jakovljevic
    Marija Jakovljevic

    Marija Jakovljevic

    Marija is based in Serbia and has 15 years of engagement connecting feminism, human and environmental rights, peacebuilding, social and solidarity economy, and progressive philanthropy.

    View
  • Teresa Buczkowska
    Teresa Buczkowska

    Teresa Buczkowska

    Teresa is a Polish migrant woman living in Ireland since 2005 and is Integration Manager, at the Immigrant Council of Ireland. In her study and work, Teresa is highly invested in facilitating and enhancing migrant leadership.

    View
  • Naing Naing
    Naing Naing

    Naing Naing

    Naing Naing (not his real name) lives in the north of Myanmar/Burma. He has been working for more than ten years on human rights and peacebuilding issues in the context of a struggling democracy and peace process.

    View
  • Ritupon Gogoi
    Ritupon Gogoi

    Ritupon Gogoi

    Ritupon is based in Assam in India and has over 20 years of hands-on experience in community development in both urban and rural settings. 

    View
  • Dr Edona Maloku
    Dr Edona Maloku

    Dr Edona Maloku

    Edona has dedicated her career to help bridge ethnic divides in Kosovo and the Western Balkans regionally, while also sharing and inspiring work in other divided societies globally.

    View
  • Kavisha Pillay
    Kavisha Pillay

    Kavisha Pillay

    Kavisha is an activist who is currently employed as the Head of Stakeholder Relations and Campaigns at Corruption Watch. Her fellowship will explore the current impact of disinformation in the South African context.

    View
  • Mustapha Sallah
    Mustapha Sallah

    Mustapha Sallah

    Mustapha is the co-founder of Youth Against Irregular Migration which aims to save lives by raising awareness of the dangers of the “backway” route of irregular migration from his home country of the Gambia in West Africa.

    View
  • Palika Makam
    Palika Makam

    Palika Makam

    Palika, an SCI Fellow, is an activist and media maker, utilising participatory film and photography as tools for change.

    View
  • Dustin Kramer
    Dustin Kramer

    Dustin Kramer

    Dustin, an SCI Fellow, is a prominent activist for social change from South Africa.

    View
  • Saket Soni
    Saket Soni

    Saket Soni

    Saket, an SCI Fellow, is a leading community and labour organiser working at the intersection of racial justice, migrant rights, and workers’ rights.

    View
  • Rory Doherty
    Rory Doherty

    Rory Doherty

    Rory, part of the SCI Fellowship Programme, works  to empower the voices of marginalised young people in Northern Ireland.

    View
  • Zahra Albarazi
    Zahra Albarazi

    Zahra Albarazi

    Zahra, an SCI Fellow, is a human rights lawyer and activist working in the field of statelessness, which affects over 15 million people worldwide.

    View
  • Craig Dwyer
    Craig Dwyer

    Craig Dwyer

    Craig, an SCI Fellow, works with campaigns and organisations to harness digital and social media as a driver for communication, mobilisation and engagement.

    View
  • Brad Brockman
    Brad Brockman

    Brad Brockman

    Brad is an SCI Fellow and an activist from South Africa who previously led Equal Education, a movement campaigning for quality and equality in the education system.

    View
  • Nicola Browne
    Nicola Browne

    Nicola Browne

    Nicola, an SCI Fellow, is a human rights activist with 18 years experience in academia, civil society and non-governmental organisations.

    View
  • Seán Brady
    Seán Brady

    Seán Brady

    Seán, an SCI Fellow, is Assistant Director of Programmes at Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) based in Belfast.

    View
  • Jonathan Hodge
    Jonathan Hodge

    Jonathan Hodge

    Jonathan, an SCI Fellow, has worked in the community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland for over 15 years and his Peace Building Fellowship focused on researching loyalist identity.  Jonathan also participated in SCI's mentoring programme.

    View
  • Phumeza Mlungwana
    Phumeza Mlungwana

    Phumeza Mlungwana

    Phumeza, an SCI Fellow, is a prominent activist for social change from South Africa.

    View
  • Lisa Faulkner-Byrne
    Lisa Faulkner-Byrne

    Lisa Faulkner-Byrne

    Lisa, part of the Fellowship programme, is an activist and academic from a disadvantaged community in Belfast.

    View
  • Irũngũ Houghton
    Irũngũ Houghton

    Irũngũ Houghton

    Irũngũ, an SCI Fellow, has over 20 years’ experience of public interest activism and campaigning in Kenya.

    View
  • Charlene Carruthers
    Charlene Carruthers

    Charlene Carruthers

    Charlene, an SCI Fellow, is a leader and activist from Chicago who organises through a Black queer feminist praxis.

    View
  • Monina O'Prey
    Monina O'Prey

    Monina O'Prey

    Monina has been a peacebuilding activist in Northern Ireland for over 30 years.

    View
  • Rachel Mullen
    Rachel Mullen

    Rachel Mullen

    Rachel is part of the SCI Fellowship programme and an experienced activist with over twenty years’ involvement in social change campaigning.  

    View
  • Opal Tometi
    Opal Tometi

    Opal Tometi

    Opal, part of the SCI Fellowship Programme, is a Nigerian-American community organiser, activist, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.

    View
  • Saiful Huq Omi
    Saiful Huq Omi

    Saiful Huq Omi

    Saiful, an SCI Fellow, is a photographer, filmmaker, educator and human rights activist from Bangladesh.

    View
  • Katrina Newell
    Katrina Newell

    Katrina Newell

    Katrina, an SCI fellow, is an experienced youth and community worker in Northern Ireland.  She is also a participant in SCI's Peace Building Mentoring programme.  

    View
  • Phumi Mtetwa
    Phumi Mtetwa

    Phumi Mtetwa

    Phumi, an SCI Fellow, is an experienced South African activist working on issues of economic, gender and LGBTI justice.

    View
  • Alice Mogwe
    Alice Mogwe

    Alice Mogwe

    Alice, an SCI Fellow, is an experienced activist from Botswana who has led that country’s Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) for over 20 years.

    View
  • Celia McKeon
    Celia McKeon

    Celia McKeon

    Celia is an experienced activist in the peacebuilding and reconciliation field based in England.

    View
  • Gary Mason
    Gary Mason

    Gary Mason

    Gary is an SCI Fellow and Methodist minister who has spent almost 30 years working in Belfast in areas at the heart of the conflict. 

    View
  • Becky Keshet
    Becky Keshet

    Becky Keshet

    Becky, an SCI Fellow, is an Israeli lawyer who has been working for many years in the towns of Sderot and Ofakim.

    View
  • Yashar Kassar
    Yashar Kassar

    Yashar Kassar

    Yashar, an SCI Fellow, trains a network of young refugee activists and supports their personal development.

    View
  • Deepa Iyer
    Deepa Iyer

    Deepa Iyer

    Deepa, an SCI Fellow, is a South Asian American community activist, attorney and writer active in the racial and immigrant justice movements in the US for 20 years.

    View
  • Seán Feenan
    Seán Feenan

    Seán Feenan

    Seán, an SCI Fellow, has worked for over 30 years as a grass roots peacebuilder in the most politically marginalised communities in Northern Ireland.

    View
  • Marissa McMahon
    Marissa McMahon

    Marissa McMahon

    Marissa, part of our Fellowship Programme, works in Belfast as a project organiser on a joint project between Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR) and the Simon Community NI focusing on homelessness.

    View

The Mentoring Programme

  • Miranda Madikane
    Miranda Madikane

    Miranda Madikane

    SCI Mentee

    Miranda is the Director of the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. 

    View
  • Ramla Sahid
    Ramla Sahid

    Ramla Sahid

    SCI Mentee

    Ramla amplifies refugee voices and provides support to communities directly affected by the US 'Muslim Ban'.

    View
  • Stephanie Leonard
    Stephanie Leonard

    Stephanie Leonard

    SCI Mentor and former Mentee

    Stephanie is a community organiser and founder of Act Build Change, a free online training platform to learn how to organise and campaign.

    View
  • Tahmid Islam
    Tahmid Islam

    Tahmid Islam

    SCI Mentee

    Tahmid is a community organiser based in London who helps those from marginalised backgrounds to recognise their own power and the ability to make a change.

    View
  • Nicola Browne
    Nicola Browne

    Nicola Browne

    SCI Mentee

    Nicola is a human rights activist with 18 years experience in academia, civil society and non-governmental organisations.

    View
  • Katrina Newell
    Katrina Newell

    Katrina Newell

    SCI Mentee

    Katrina is an experienced youth and community worker in Northern Ireland.

    View
  • Marissa McMahon
    Marissa McMahon

    Marissa McMahon

    SCI Mentee

    Marissa works in Belfast as a project organiser on a joint project between Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR) and the Simon Community NI focusing on homelessness.

    View
  • Clare Wightman
    Clare Wightman

    Clare Wightman

    SCI Mentee

    Clare is the founding CEO of Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire, England, which uses narrative and connecting approaches to transform people’s lives. 

    View
  • Jonathan Hodge
    Jonathan Hodge

    Jonathan Hodge

    SCI Mentee

    Jonathan has worked in the community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland for over 15 years.

    View
  • Debbie Watters
    Debbie Watters

    Debbie Watters

    SCI Mentor

    Debbie is a co-director and founder member of Northern Ireland Alternatives (NIA), a community based restorative justice organisation.

    View
  • Mony Ruiz-Velasco
    Mony Ruiz-Velasco

    Mony Ruiz-Velasco

    SCI Mentee

    Mony is a U.S. immigration lawyer, organiser and the Executive Director of PASO – West Suburban Action Project in Melrose Park, Illinois. 

    View
  • Mona Younis
    Mona Younis

    Mona Younis

    SCI Mentor

    Mona is a strategic programming, planning, and evaluation advisor who has devoted her professional career to supporting efforts to achieve progressive social change.

    View
  • Dominika Spyratou
    Dominika Spyratou

    Dominika Spyratou

    SCI Mentee

    Dominika is an Advocacy Officer at SolidarityNow, Athens.  

    View
  • Frank Sharry
    Frank Sharry

    Frank Sharry

    SCI Mentor

    Frank is the Executive Director of America's Voice.

    View
  • Rebecca Rittgers
    Rebecca Rittgers

    Rebecca Rittgers

    SCI Mentor

    Rebecca has dedicated her professional career to leveraging philanthropy and strategic investment to advance human rights and social justice.

    View
  • Monina O'Prey
    Monina O'Prey

    Monina O'Prey

    SCI Mentor

    Monina has been a community activist for over 30 years. 

    View
  • Andrew Stroehlein
    Andrew Stroehlein

    Andrew Stroehlein

    SCI Mentor and former Mentee

    Andrew is European Media Director of Human Rights Watch based in Brussels.

    View
  • Mohamed Omar
    Mohamed Omar

    Mohamed Omar

    SCI Mentee

    Mohamed works with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.

    View
  • Mary Meg McCarthy
    Mary Meg McCarthy

    Mary Meg McCarthy

    SCI Mentor

    Mary Meg leads a human rights organisation providing direct legal services to immigrants and refugees while advancing systemic reform.

    View
  • Bernadette McAliskey
    Bernadette McAliskey

    Bernadette McAliskey

    SCI Mentor

    Bernadette is a lifelong human rights and social justice campaigner.

    View
  • Niall Mann
    Niall Mann

    Niall Mann

    SCI Mentee

    Niall is the regional communications coordinator for IMIX in the West Midlands area of England working in the migration sector.

    View
  • Dami Makinde
    Dami Makinde

    Dami Makinde

    SCI Mentee

    Dami grew up in the UK as an undocumented migrant and now campaigns for the rights of similar young people. 

    View
  • Luna Lara Liboni
    Luna Lara Liboni

    Luna Lara Liboni

    SCI Mentee

    Luna focuses on issues relating to homophobia and the lack of recognition of civil rights for LGBT people in Italy.

    View
  • Patrick Corrigan
    Patrick Corrigan

    Patrick Corrigan

    SCI Mentor

    Patrick has over the last twenty years led Amnesty International’s work in Northern Ireland. 

    View
  • Amie Gallagher
    Amie Gallagher

    Amie Gallagher

    SCI Mentee

    Amie is a community development worker from Creggan in Derry, N. Ireland.

    View
  • Denise Charlton
    Denise Charlton

    Denise Charlton

    SCI Mentor

    Denise is a consultant and executive coach working on strategic management, leadership and team development, and strategic communications.

    View
  • Teresa Buczkowska
    Teresa Buczkowska

    Teresa Buczkowska

    SCI Mentee

    Teresa works as the Integration Manager at the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

    View
  • Amal Azzudin
    Amal Azzudin

    Amal Azzudin

    SCI Mentor

    Amal Azzudin is a campaigner for human rights and social justice in Scotland.

    View
  • Steve Ballinger
    Steve Ballinger

    Steve Ballinger

    SCI Mentee

    Steve is Director of Communications at British Future, an independent think-tank engaging peoples’ hopes and fears about integration and immigration.

    View
  • Gemma Attwood
    Gemma Attwood

    Gemma Attwood

    SCI Mentee

    Gemma works in the area of community engagement for the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland.

    View

Peacebuilding Leadership Programme

  • Martin Doyle
    Martin Doyle

    Martin Doyle

    Martin Doyle is currently Books Editor for The Irish Times, and before that worked for The Irish World, and as Editor of The Irish Post in London. 

    View
  • Mandy Kearns
    Mandy Kearns

    Mandy Kearns

    Mandy Kearns is the manager of East Belfast Alternatives and has been employed in several roles within the organisation from 2008. Mandy is responsible for helping to address issues of violence and conflict such as paramilitary violence, bonfire related issues, flags related issues, and neighbourhood disputes.

    View
  • Judith Hill
    Judith Hill

    Judith Hill

    Judith has been a journalist for 13 years and has reported on many key news events in Northern Ireland, as well as stories in a number of countries around the world, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and India.

    View
  • Mark Vinton
    Mark Vinton

    Mark Vinton

    Mark works in community development in Northern Ireland. His fellowship will examine how specific areas and the communities within them, can become stereotyped and demonised.

    View
  • Sean Murray
    Sean Murray

    Sean Murray

    Sean is a documentary film maker, academic, and community activist. His fellowship included the production of two documentaries on how the pandemic impacted divided communities in Belfast.

    View
  • Frankie Quinn
    Frankie Quinn

    Frankie Quinn

    Frankie works in the Dungannon area of Northern Ireland supporting community activism and conflict transformation. He is a published poet and believes in the power of writing to support conflict transformation.

    View
  • Susan McCrory
    Susan McCrory

    Susan McCrory

    Susan works at the Falls Women’s Centre in Belfast and has more than 30 years of experience in supporting communities affected by conflict and economic disadvantage. 

    View
  • Louise Coyle
    Louise Coyle

    Louise Coyle

    Louise is the Director for Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network (NIRWN), which works to promote and support rural women in rural Northern Ireland.

    View
  • Darren Richardson
    Darren Richardson

    Darren Richardson

    Darren has been working in the community sector since 2007 and has developed models of conflict transition and transformation which has strengthened the roots of local peacebuilding and community development. 

    View
  • Polina Malcheva
    Polina Malcheva

    Polina Malcheva

    Polina is originally from Bulgaria and moved to Northern Ireland in 2008. She joined Community Intercultural Programme (CIP) in early 2019, an organisation supporting migrant communities.

    View
  • Cillian McGivern
    Cillian McGivern

    Cillian McGivern

    Cillian McGivern is a community activist working in the Upper Springfield Development Trust as a coordinator of the Upper Springfield Whiterock Integrated Partnership in Belfast.

    View
  • Lisa Mooney
    Lisa Mooney

    Lisa Mooney

    Lisa has been working in the peacebuilding for over 7 years. Her roles have included programme and volunteer management.

    View
  • Philip Brannan
    Philip Brannan

    Philip Brannan

    Philip works for a cross community initiative in Belfast and is completing a fellowship that focuses on an oral history project.

    View
  • Amanda Ferguson
    Amanda Ferguson

    Amanda Ferguson

    Amanda is a Northern Ireland based journalist, commentator, and storyteller. She is also the co-founder of Women in Media Belfast which promotes the voices of women in and on the media. 

    View
  • Emma Johnston
    Emma Johnston

    Emma Johnston

    Emma is a youth worker in the Equality Work with Young Women’s team of Youth Action NI. Emma’s focus has been on violence against women and girls, mental health, women’s rights and equality, and much more.

    View
  • Jeannie McCann
    Jeannie McCann

    Jeannie McCann

    Jeannie is the Advocacy and Campaigns Officer in Northern Ireland for Trócaire, an international development and human rights organisation.

    View
  • Seán Oliver
    Seán Oliver

    Seán Oliver

    Seán has been a community activist in Belfast since the early 1990's. For the last four years he has been a Good Relations/Peace Advocacy worker with the North Belfast Interface Network (NBIN).

    View
  • Wendy Kerr
    Wendy Kerr

    Wendy Kerr

    Wendy works closely with ex-prisoners and former combatants to help engage them in community development activities and move them away from violence.

    View
  • Leanne Abernathy
    Leanne Abernathy

    Leanne Abernathy

    Leanne works in community development in Northern Ireland. She is focused on creating positive change in her community which has included the use of restorative practices. 

    View
  • Sean Madden
    Sean Madden

    Sean Madden

    Sean is a youth worker for Youth Action in Northern Ireland. His Fellowship focused on peacebuilding. 

    View
  • Luke Butterly
    Luke Butterly

    Luke Butterly

    Luke is an investigative journalist in Belfast. He has covered a wide range of issues, including policing and the human stories around migration in Northern Ireland, for local and international press.

    View
  • Elaine Forde
    Elaine Forde

    Elaine Forde

    Elaine Forde is the Creative Learning Manager at The MAC theatre in Belfast. She is participating on SCI's Peacebuilding Leadership Programme. 

    View
  • Sipho Sibanda
    Sipho Sibanda

    Sipho Sibanda

    Sipho is a community activist helping to support people seeking refuge in Northern Ireland. She is Deputy Chair for BME Women’s Network.

    View
  • Danielle Roberts
    Danielle Roberts

    Danielle Roberts

    Danielle works for ‘Here NI’, a charity which supports and empowers lesbian and bisexual women and their families. She is undertaking a fellowship as part of her participation on our Peacebuilding Leadership Programme. 

    View