Our leaders

Luis Montoya was President of the Latin America Beverages Division of PepsiCo until his retirement in 2020. 

He has extensive experience operating franchise businesses engaged with leading corporations such as ABI (Anheuser Busch InBev), Grupo Gepp México, Empresas Polar Venezuela, Heineken, Grupo Mariposa and several other leading beverage and CPG companies operating in the Americas.

Montoya has received important recognition for his efforts in promoting positive environmental and social practices in the private sector. In 2010, he received PepsiCo’s Leadership Legacy Award for his efforts on diversity and inclusion within the company. In the following year, Montoya was recognized with the Award of Leadership by the Organization of American States for his role in promoting environmental entrepreneurship in the Americas. 

Currently, Montoya is a member of the board of directors of CARE Peru and is an advisor to the Young Americas Business Trust Council (YABT).

Montoya holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and an MS from the Krannert Business School at Purdue University.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Warning is President of CARE Deutschland and Honorary Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, teaching at the International Centre for Sustainable Development.

She has served 35 years in various positions in development and humanitarian cooperation both in government as well as in the non-governmental sector.

Between 2018 and 2022 she served as Director-General at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), overseeing the cooperation with partner governments in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe.

She has led more than twenty non-governmental organizations in five countries where she served either as a Board member or Executive Director. Dr. Warning also chaired the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid Non-Governmental Organisations in Germany (VENRO) and was the Executive Director of “Brot für die Welt”, where she was responsible for operations in nearly 80 countries, working alongside 2,000 partners.

In the last years, Dr. Warning has focused on green and sustainable development always searching for solutions that serve people and the planet alike.

She published numerous books and papers on key development issues, including participatory urban development, environmental and resource protection, and savings and loan systems.

Professor Warning studied geography and urban planning in Bonn, Germany, and in Pune, India.

Before joining CARE, Barbara Grantham served as President & CEO of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in Vancouver, BC. She has held executive positions with BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Vancouver Foundation, and had a successful consulting practice for many years.

Grantham serves on the Board of Directors of YMCA of Canada, jack.org (a national organization changing the conversation for Canada’s young people around mental health), the Humanitarian Coalition of Canada and CanWaCH. She also serves as a Mentor with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, working with 2022-25 Scholars, Fellows and Mentors to consider challenges and opportunities in the global economy.

In 2016, Grantham was named one of Women’s Executive Network‘s Annual Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada and in 2019, she received the AFP Lifetime Achievement Award. She holds degrees from Queen’s and Carleton Universities. Most importantly, she is the proud mom of three wonderful young adults and takes her turn at walking her family’s aging golden lab, Rosie.

Karl-Otto Zentel, National Director of CARE Deutschland since 2012, is a Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid expert with extensive operational and strategic experience. His role as National Director of CARE Deutschland includes the representation of the organization in the National Directors’ Community of CARE International.

Mr Zentel started his career as Logistic Expert with the German Red Cross in East Turkey and Northern Iraq and later became Head of Operations. In 1992, he joined one of the largest German NGOs, Welthungerhilfe, started working as Desk Officer Afghanistan, became Project Manager, and was spokesperson of the organization’s Regional Group Central Asia. From 1999 onwards, he was Head of Department for Emergency Assistance in Bonn and, amongst other tasks, developed a strategic concept for Welthungerhilfe’s emergency assistance. 

Prior to his appointment as National Director of CARE, he had been CEO of the German Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction, the national platform within United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), for over ten years. From 2013 to 2015 he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Germany’s Relief Coalition Aktion Deutschland Hilft. Mr Zentel has been a guest lecturer on disaster management for two postgraduate Master programs at Ruhr-University Bochum and University of Bonn.

Hlima Razkaoui is a pharmacist with 25 years of experience in the field of Humanitarian, Recovery & Development. She has worked in health, economic inclusion, women's economic justice, migration and disability across many countries, including Morocco, Palestinian territories, Burma/Thailand border, Tajikistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kosovo and Serbia.

Razkaoui held field management positions as well as leadership roles at the INGO Head Quarter in France. Her areas of expertise are: Maternal and child health, Supply chain and access to essential medicines in emergencies, nexus and development, access to services for vulnerable people, consultancies for state actors in the development of policies and their implementation, strategy development, fundraising and programs guidance. 

Since 2014, Razkaoui has been the National Director of CARE Morocco.

Mr. Promboon Panitchpakdi graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Anthropology (1974) and a Master's degree in Public Administration (1976) from Thammasat University.

Panitchpakdi is one of the founders and has served as the Executive Director of the Raks Thai Foundation for over 27 years. He has worked with civil society organizations for over 40 years, developing and managing programs/projects to support vulnerable populations in accessing health services, as well as addressing social and economic aspects. He consistently supports the protection of rights and participation of marginalized populations.

Panitchpakdi  has extensive experience in civil society organization development, project development and implementation. His expertise includes program development in the areas of health, watershed and forest development, child and women's development, and disaster response. He began his career with the Family Health Division, the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand. After 4 years he moved on to work briefly with the private sector and later joined intergovernmental organizations such as the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) as the Administrative Officer. He worked 9 years with the Asia and Pacific regional office of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America covering projects in Asia from Turkey to Papua New Guinea. Joining as Program Officer, when he left, he held the title of Deputy Regional Director. 

In 1993, Panitchpakdi joined CARE Thailand as Program Director and later became CARE Thailand’s Country Representative. During this period, he led the transformation of CARE Thailand into becoming the Raks Thai Foundation.

Panitchpakdi was the Chairman of the Thai NGO Coalition on AIDS and a board member of the Thai National AIDS Foundation. Currently, he is the Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Rasmus Jakobsen brings several years of successful senior management experience from the development and humanitarian sector, including relevant training within management, gender sensitivity, rights, safety, accountability, organizational change, media and more. He has 15 years of experience with protracted conflicts, development and humanitarian programming, both from field and HQ level and UN, NGOs and Multilateral systems.

Jakobsen worked in some of the main international development institutions in Denmark. First, he worked for WFP focusing on emergency preparedness and information management, having later moved on to The Danish Red Cross in Uganda to act as Deputy Head of Region in the East and Horn of Africa.

From 2010 until 2013, Jakobsen headed the Danish Demining Group (DDG) a portfolio primarily focusing on youth, gender and rights relating to safety and protection.

From 2013 to 2017, he was the Head of the Division of Emergency, Safety and Surge Capacity with the Danish Refugee Council based at DRC’s Headquarters in Copenhagen. During that time, Rasmus was responsible for DRC’s work with governance, peace and stability, conflict reduction, and emergency preparedness and response.

In December 2018, Jakobsen was appointed Chairman of Globalt Fokus, a unified platform for Danish CSOs. Since 2017, he has been CEO of CARE Danmark. 

Jakobsen holds a Master's in International Development Studies and Communication Studies from Roskilde University, Denmark.

Stacy Aldinger is the Chief of Staff, Strategy, and Transformation at CARE. 

In her role, she drives organizational strategy, planning, and performance, leads the Office of the President and internal communications, manages the Board of Directors, and liaises with the international CARE confederation’s senior leadership. 

Prior to CARE, Stacy was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey and 
Company specializing in strategic and operational transformations. She built programs to reduce the cost of health care while improving quality and health outcomes, and also led an incubator for innovative solutions to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, developing particular expertise engaging majority-male groups in transformational conversations on bias against women. 

Stacy previously held positions in federal government and international organizations, including the US Department of Defense, the US Asylum program, and the United Nations Women in Beijing. Stacy received her MPH/MBA from Johns Hopkins and BA in International Relations from the American University. She is a Fulbright Scholar and Truman Scholar, has been an appointed member of the California Senate Advisory Commission on Cost Control, and has served on the boards of international development nonprofit The Children’s Initiative and the San Francisco Women’s Community Clinic.

Vivian Mokhtar Thabet serves as the National Director of CARE Egypt Foundation, bringing over three decades of distinguished experience in development and humanitarian leadership. Board member for ANA Huna international network for Women’s economic empowerment. Board member for SHAED NGO in Egypt.

She joined CARE International in Egypt in 2007 as a Project Manager and progressed through several positions before being appointed as CARE Egypt CEO in January 2025.

She has been instrumental in advancing CARE Egypt's mission, with a steadfast commitment to gender justice, locally led development, and amplifying the Southern voice within the global CARE confederation.

Under her leadership, CARE Egypt's Theory of Change was developed, and she has spearheaded strategic partnerships with government entities, the private sector, and civil society organizations. These collaborations have successfully scaled inclusive initiatives such as Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) and digital literacy programs, empowering women and youth across Egypt.

Vivian has held several key leadership positions within CARE, including Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Program, Deputy Country Director, and Women’s Rights Program Director. Her contributions extend to global and regional initiatives, such as the CARE 2030 vision, regional gender and diversity audits, and the implementation of the MENA strategy. She is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and equality.

Throughout her career, Vivian has seamlessly integrated technical expertise with managerial acumen. Prior to her tenure at CARE, she gained valuable experience working with prominent international and Egyptian organizations, further enriching her capacity to represent the voice of Global South members on the ExCom in CARE.

Reintje van Haeringen is CARE International's Executive Director/ Secretary-General.

Reintje transitioned to the Secretary-General role in 2025, after 7 years leading CARE Nederland. Before that, she had been with CARE Nederland for 4 years, working as a manager for a large H&M-funded programme on women entrepreneurship, implemented through 11 CARE Country Offices in Africa, South-East Asia, and Latin America.

Prior to joining CARE, Reintje was Regional Director for SNV (a large Dutch development NGO) in Latin America. In this position, she oversaw 5 national programmes (Nicaragua, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador) dedicated to positive socio-economic and environmental impact, involving public, private and civil society stakeholders in community development processes. During her time with SNV, she also developed research, methodologies and publications with a specific focus on private sector engagement, among others with the Ford Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Having lived and worked in Latin America for 25 years, she has built up experience from hands-on project implementation at community level, advisory work for local organizations on organizational development and institutional strengthening, to leading an international development organization through a process of adjustment in a changing environment, fulfilling its mission of poverty reduction, social justice and economic inclusion.

Since 2020, she has been a member of the Supervisory Board of FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, where she is chair of the Selection, Appointment and Remuneration Committee and member of the Impact Committee.

Prior to becoming Co-Director of Governance, Policy and Accountability, Jay Goulden was the Senior Programme Quality, Accountability and Knowledge Management Advisor for the CARE International Secretariat, and before that Head of Knowledge Management & Learning. He has been responsible for coordinating the collection, aggregation, and sense-making of CARE International’s global impact evidence, as well as internal and external accountability for CARE International’s commitments around gender equality and partnerships. 

Goulden has worked for international and local NGOs for the last 30 years in many countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia. He was Director of Programs for CARE Peru from 2005-2011, and for CARE Zambia from 2011-2014. Prior to working in CARE, Jay worked for several international and local NGOs in the UK and Central America, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, and International Alert.

Julieta González has 14 years of experience working in the civil society sector in Brussels, both in global and EU decision-making processes. She is co-chair of CONCORD Europe’s Working Group on Gender Equality, where she provides strategic direction to the network’s advocacy work to advance gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights in the EU’s external action. 

Before joining CARE, González worked for the European networks CONCORD Europe, ACT Alliance and Plan International, where she engaged with diverse coalitions, movements and human rights defenders. She has in-depth knowledge of and has advocated on issues such as Civil Society Organizations' development effectiveness and shrinking civil society space; EU-Africa and Latin America and Caribbean relations; gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights, among others.  

González is Argentinian, has a Degree in Political Sciences and Public Administration and is specialised in human rights and EU external policies.

Ros MacVean has taken a key role in CARE International's governance review process and has led many of the reform changes for the Confederation. 

Prior to this, she was the Head of Governance and Policy for the CARE International Secretariat for 4 years where she led on the creation of the Confederation's Code and policy governance and development. MacVean also worked as CARE International's Safeguarding Coordinator, when she led the commencement of our coordinated safeguarding efforts across the Confederation. 

MacVean first started working with CARE International in the humanitarian team in CARE Australia from late 1997 and from 2002-2006 was with the Secretariat in emergency HR coordination and capacity building and an interim Humanitarian Director role. Besides having a stint away from employment while parenting, she worked briefly in education, and governance and management of a medical centre.

Vanessa Jackson is Director of Global Advocacy and Communications at CARE International and leads a ten-member global team as well as our office in New York. With over 15 years of multilateral advocacy and communications experience, much of it focused on influencing policy outcomes at the UN Security Council and conducted in partnership with local women leaders from crisis-affected contexts, Vanessa ensures that CARE’s external engagement is grounded in the advancement of gender equality and human rights. 

Prior to joining CARE International in 2018, Vanessa held senior roles in New York with the International Service for Human Rights and Crisis Action. In her native Australia, she has worked as a parliamentary staffer, speech writer, human rights advocate and adviser to indigenous communities who successfully reclaimed their rights to land, culture and resource management. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) Hons and a Master of Environmental Law, both from the University of Sydney.