WFSA Staff
The WFSA is led and run by volunteers and is consequently able to keep staff numbers at a minimum.
The small Secretariat supports all aspects of the Federation’s work including programme management, fundraising, membership, volunteering and governance and is based in London.
Kristine Stave
Chief Executive Officer
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Prior to taking over as WFSA CEO in June 2021, Kristine was the founding Executive Director and subsequently Global COO of Lifebox, the world’s leading nonprofit dedicated to surgical safety. During her time with Lifebox, the organization distributed over 30,000 pulse oximeters to anaesthesia providers in more than 100 countries, developed a ground-breaking surgical site infection reduction programme (Clean Cut) and delivered capacity-building work across low-resource settings.
Kristine’s earlier career includes time spent as a programme manager at the World Health Organization in Geneva and working with the Chief Medical Officer at the UK Department of Health.
Amal Paonaskar
Head of Programmes
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Amal has an academic background in Biomedical Sciences and Global Health. Before joining the WFSA, he supported the programmes of Shaishav, a children’s rights organisation working with marginalised children in urban slums and remote regions of India. He has also worked on community-driven projects aimed at supporting education and livelihoods in Nepal and Zambia and spent time working with the NHS in the UK.
Matthew Rothero
Partnerships Manager
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Prior to joining WFSA, Matt worked as institutional fundraiser in development and humanitarian contexts for more than 14 years. This includes longer term deployments to the South Caucasus region with Oxfam, working as part as Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Response based in Lebanon, and more recently with ActionAid, deployments to Somaliland in response to the East Africa Food crisis, and to Bangladesh as part of ActionAid’s Rohingya Crisis Response. Matt brings extensive experience of fostering relationships with donors, working closely with colleagues to prepare proposals, contract management, and reporting. Matt’s voluntary experience includes working with a small Oxford based charity called Asylum Welcome where he acted as a voluntary Youth Support Worker helping to run a youth club for young, male, asylum seekers arriving in the UK.
Francis Peel
Communications & Advocacy Manager
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Francis has over 15 years’ experience working in communications, marketing and advocacy for global health and not for profit organisations. Prior to joining WFSA, Francis ran Global Health Comms, a consultancy providing communication services to research groups working primarily in public health. His clients included London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Economist Group and Imperial College London. He has worked on a wide range of global health issues including school health and nutrition, neglected tropical diseases, small-holder agriculture, malaria and WASH. When not promoting global health initiatives Francis can be found at home being given the run around by his two kids.
Maria Tortajada Chardi
Membership Officer
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Maria, our colleague from Valencia (Spain), is the digital nomad of the team. With almost 20 years of experience in managing International Congresses and Events, for the last 7 years, she has also been working in Digital Marketing, providing training to entrepreneurs and small businesses, supporting them in the digitalization of their companies and in the optimization and use of their social networks.
At WFSA she is responsible for Membership and Mentorship Programs, developing her work in English, French and Spanish. Together with the rest of the team, she serves globally, both to the various societies of anaesthesiologists and to their members around the world. When not working for the WFSA, Maria enjoys her family life with her husband and son, spending her time between Valencia and the South of France.
Niamo Yassin
Governance Officer
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Niamo has a strong interest in global health and in governance. Prior to joining the WFSA, Niamo worked as a Programme Coordinator for a national clinical audit programme at the Royal College of Physicians, and has previously worked as a Commissioning Assistant within the NHS. Niamo has also earned a degree in History and Arabic at SOAS, University of London.
Amelia Crowther
Project Manager
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Amelia has a strong interest in global health and international development. Prior to joining WFSA, Amelia worked for a non-profit membership organisation as a Projects Officer to deliver international programmes focusing on improving skin health globally. She has also worked as a Research Assistant for a university health department. Her volunteering experience includes working in refugee support for the British Red Cross, supporting hurricane disaster relief efforts in the Caribbean, and teaching in Malawi.
Amelia has earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Geography and a master’s degree in International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action.
Leslie Enobun
Finance & Operations Manager
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Leslie has over 16 years of experience in Finance. Prior to joining WFSA, Leslie worked as a Finance Manager at The National Federations of Women’s Institute where he presented the accounts to Board of Trustees and Finance Committee.
Leslie earned a degree in Accounting from the Ambrose Alli University in Nigeria, where he was born, before moving to England in 2005 to study for a master’s degree in Middlesex University. Leslie also holds an MSc & MA in Financial Management with HR.
When he isn’t working with numbers, Leslie loves to sing, watch films and travel.
Lauren Hyland
Projects Officer
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Lauren has a keen interest in international relations and development. She is just beginning her career in the charity sector after completing her Master’s degree in International Relations in 2021.
In her spare time, she works as a fundraising volunteer for the British Red Cross and with Involve Kent in her local community.
Lauren also has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, which she looks forward to making use of in this role.
Sophie Harris
Communications Officer
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Sophie has a background in Communications and Content Creation. Prior to joining WFSA, she worked with a non-profit organisation that focused on equal vocational and educational opportunities for women worldwide. Her volunteering experience includes composing a variety of content for varying charities. She has a degree in English from UCL.
Hazi Khader
Finance & Operations Officer
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Prior joining to WFSA, Hazi worked as Finance Officer in the Children’s charity Coram for nearly 7 years. She has a degree in Bachelor of Commerce specializing in Finance & Accounts from Madras University (India). Throughout her career, Hazi has noticed that she loves numbers. After a busy day at work, she loves to spend time with her family