Core Team & Network Members

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.  

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

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.

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

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. 

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Dominika is an Advocacy Officer at SolidarityNow, Athens.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.