Core Team & Network Members

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Brian Pelan has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist, including working for the Belfast Telegraph, the Western Mail in Cardiff, and the Examiner group in Cork.

Clodagh Traynor is an Irish journalist dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices, with a particular interest in exploring women’s issues, health, lifestyle, sports, and more.

Colm from Dromore, County Tyrone, uses filmmaking to advocate for change. He has worked on video productions addressing prevalent issues in Ireland today, including homelessness, addiction, hate crime and social exclusion.

Elton is a thespian, and a filmmaker based in Dublin, Ireland. Originally from Zimbabwe, he has been using his creative work to raise awareness on topical issues and as a vehicle for change.

Harry is a filmmaker based in Northern Ireland. He covers a wide range of topics, such as health, environmental and political issues and has an interest in documentary filmmaking. 

Tommy is a freelance journalist. His recent work has been published with The Guardian, The Irish Times, Al Jazeera, The Detail, The Belfast Telegraph, openDemocracy, WIRED and Private Eye magazine, among other outlets.

Claire Dickson is a journalist from Banbridge with a degree in politics from Queen’s University Belfast.

Martin Warde is a member of the Irish Traveller community and has a degree in Sociology and Politics from the University of Galway (former NUIG) and an MA in journalism from the University of Limerick.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Frank is the Executive Director of America's Voice.

Monina has been a community activist for over 30 years. 

Mohamed works with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.

Bernadette is a lifelong human rights and social justice campaigner.

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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

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. 

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.

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.

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

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

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. 

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.

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

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).

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

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. 

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

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.

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

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

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.