Our leaders

Musimbi Kanyoro is a Kenyan human rights advocate who served as the CEO and President of the Global Fund for Women from 2011 until 2019. Musimbi is a social activist, theologian and an accomplished leader with 30 years of experience managing international non-governmental organizations from the global to grassroots level.  

In 2015, Forbes magazine named Musimbi one of 10 women “power brands” working for gender equality. In 2016 she was named in the list of “Forty over 40 – women who are reinventing and disrupting and making an impact.” More recently, she was named among the Apolitical 100 people making a difference in gender policy and alongside Bill Gates as one of the Global Citizen’s 9 powerful people changing the planet. 

Martha Finn Brooks has over 25 years of corporate board experience with large global public companies in a variety of industries. Her board work followed nearly 25 years in global manufacturing and marketing with Cummins, Alcan, and Novelis. Martha held a variety of leadership positions with Cummins. As President and COO of Novelis, she led the company through a spin off from Alcan, to become a public company, and then later in a sale to Mumbai-based Hindalco. She has served as Board Chair of the Yale-China Association, Board Chair of the Carter Center Board of Councillors, and a member of the Yale President’s Council on International Activities. Martha holds a B.A. in economics and political science and a M.A. of Public and Private Management from Yale University. Martha joined CARE’s Board in 2013

Namrata Kaul has held several leadership positions with Deutsche Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank working in Asia, India and UK in numerous regional and global roles. Namrata is currently an Advisor and Independent Director on several corporate boards in India and Singapore, including Vivriti Capital Pvt Ltd, Schneider Electric Infrastructure Ltd, Havells India, Fusion Microfinance and O2 Power Ltd.  

Namrata has a keen interest in the start-up incubation space and offers mentoring and advisory services to several early stage fintech companies. She is actively engaged in the social development sector and has been a Member of the Board of CARE India since 2011. Namrata also chairs the CARE International Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.  

Namrata is a Chevening scholar from the London School of Economics and a Management Postgraduate from IIM Ahmedabad. 

Philippe Lévêque was CEO of CARE France from May 2000 to April 2022. He graduated from the HEC Paris Business School in 1982 and began his career at IBM in 1984, where he held marketing and commercial positions. In 1989, he joined the software package publisher SYSTAR, where he was Marketing Director until 1993. Following a year in Africa, he opted for the humanitarian cause. He was a volunteer worker at Doctors of the World France in 1993, where he subsequently became Development Director and Deputy CEO. His responsibilities covered marketing, communication, finance and human resources. In June 2011, he was awarded the insignia of Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by Alain Juppé. 

Iris is Director of the Community Health Roadmap where an important part of her work is advocating for decent, safe, paid work for humanity health worker, the majority who are women. Iris brings 16 years of leadership and senior management experience working on strategy, operations and program implementation, plus a multidisciplinary background in law, economic development and health to the CARE International Supervisory Board.

Iris is the co-chair of the Gender Equity Hub hosted by the WHO and women in Global Health and also serves on the WHO Steering Committed for the International Year of the Health and Care Worker, chaired by the Director-general, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Iris’s education is in law and economics – an MA and PhD in International relations from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, an LLM in International Law from Cornell, and an LLB from the University of Zambia.

Marcos Athias Neto joined UNDP in February 2013 and has since led UNDP’s global work on private sector development and foundations. Marcos led the development of UNDP’s private sector strategy and co-chairs the executive boards of the Business Call To Action and the Connecting Business Initiative.  Marcos also serves on the Board of the Museum of Tomorrow International.   

Over the past 25 years, Marcos has been a leader in sustainable development, poverty eradication and multi-stakeholder partnership building. He is a passionate advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.  

Prior to joining UNDP, Marcos spent 17 years at CARE International in numerous roles including Regional Manager for Asia and Latin America at CARE UK, Executive Director of CARE Brasil, and Program Director in Central America.   

He is a lawyer by training, with a Master of Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.  

Stefanie is the Global Director of Development at Client Earth and is responsible for building the global fundraising portfolio of a fast growing global network.

Stefanie brings over a decade of experience in the international development and humanitarian sector to the CARE International Supervisory Board. Having served on several Boards in the past she understands how crucial it is to have a strategic oversight, robust governance and coordination for an organisation, such as CARE, that works in some of the most challenging places in the world.

Stefanie’s education is in Management and Business Studies – an MA in Arts Management from the University of Greenwich and a BA in Business Studies from the University of Westminster.

Bright Simons is the President of mPedigree, a social enterprise working on three continents with governments, Fortune 500 companies and activists to safeguard human health and food security using technology.   

An inventor and innovator, his current projects include vaccine quality detection using novel organosensors. He is also a Board-level Advisor, with recent appointments to the Microsoft Africa Advisory Council, the Lancet Commission on the Future of Health in Africa, the Center for Global Development's Study Group on Technology, the World Economic Forum's Africa Strategy Group, the Africa Population Health Research Center, and IC Publications, owner of the New African magazine.  

Bright is a WEF YGL, TED Fellow, Aspen Braddock Fellow, and the 2016 CNBC African Innovative Business Leader of the Year. In 2016, Fortune magazine named him on their 50 World Greatest Leaders list. 

Allison has over 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian aid in Africa, Asia and globally with Voluntary Services Overseas, Christian Aid, Oxfam, CARE International, Equality Now and Plan International. She studied French and Spanish at Salford and Liverpool Universities and speaks Mandinka.

In a variety of regional and global management and advisory roles, Allison worked in partnership with civil society, governments, peer agencies and private sector and increasingly became known as a recognized leader on human rights and champion for gender and diversity in organizations and programming.

She returned to CARE International as Head of Gender Equality in 2017 and became Program Director in November 2020. As a feminist, Allison works for a world that respects and nurtures the balance between the environment and humankind, a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice where all people can live equally with dignity and security.

Originally from Peru, Andrés has spent most of his life working on international development and humanitarian programs, policy, operations and organizational change across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. He has worked for a variety of national and international civil society organizations, including networks, and in partnership with the private sector and governmental actors.

Andrés started his career as a corporate lawyer in the private sector, working for firms such as EY. He moved into human rights, spending time in academia and with the Peruvian government. Before joining CARE International, Andrés worked for Family for Every Child, a global network of 50 national members and prior to this, he led the Programs, Policy and Operations work in CARE International UK and CAFOD. Andres has also worked for Womankind and ChildHope, and is a Board Member of Women for Women International.

Andrés is a strong advocate for human rights, gender equality, racial justice and true inclusion. He is an active antiracist and a contributor to initiatives that promote locally-led and decolonized approaches to international development and humanitarian work.

Céline Mias has over 20 years of experience in leading humanitarian and development NGO programs and advocacy, with a strong passion for gender equality and social justice. Céline began her career working on rural women’s development programs in Burkina Faso. She subsequently oversaw humanitarian and development programs for different NGOs in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, as well as leading European advocacy for a women’s health organization, prior to joining CARE International in 2013.

A French national, Céline has a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s degree in History and Russian from McGill University. In addition to her role at CARE International, Céline has served as Vice President of the Board of CONCORD Europe since 2018.

Clare Spurrell is CARE International’s Director of Strategy and Communications. She originally worked as a journalist in the UK for major national outlets including The Independent and The Times, and has launched award winning digital platforms including Big White Wall, an online mental health service.

Having worked for many years in digital teams at the BBC and NBC Universal, Clare developed specific expertise in building and engaging mass audiences to drive new business and revenue growth. She has worked in public relations and crisis management in the medical industry, and later as Head of Strategic Communications at the policy think tank the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (part of the Norwegian Refugee Council) in Geneva.

At CARE, Clare supports the confederation in all areas of communications and believes in ethical, inclusive and locally driven approaches to how we tell the story of our work. She also provides strategic support to the Secretary General in driving CARE’s Vision 2030 ambitions.

Clare has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Zoology & Microbiology, and a master’s degree in Psychology.