GVI BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mr. Joe Louis Washington – President
Joe Washington is a human rights advocate, social critic, poet and peacebuilder. Joe’s professional background spans the areas of university related teaching and training, including in various capacities as an international lecturer or trainer in human rights and conflict resolution to a wide array of public sector, NGO, humanitarian relief workers/civilian peacekeepers, and international civil servants; public policy development, analysis and implementation; philanthropy; and peacekeeping. Most recently, Joe served as the Acting Chief Training Officer, with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Joe has presented papers and/or published articles on topics related to conflict prevention, the right to self-determination, human security, Gandhian approach to non-violence, the rights of indigenous peoples, and barriers to the effective implementation of human rights, specifically economic, social and cultural rights. Joe holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution/George Mason University, and initiated doctoral dissertation research on the efficacy of negotiation, mediation, facilitation and other ‘pacific settlement of disputes’ techniques in combating gross violations of human rights such as torture.
Ms. Alisa Clarke | Founder
Alisa Clarke holds an M.Phil in International Relations and and began her career at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. She has served extensively in the UN, working with UNITAR, UNRISD, UNCTAD, UNDP and OHCHR, with global experience including as Human Rights Officer in Geneva, as Officer-in-Charge of the OHCHR Regional Office for Southern Africa in Pretoria, and as Acting Coordinator of the Action 2 Global Programme on human rights mainstreaming in the UN system in New York. Areas of expertise include human rights and human rights mainstreaming, notably in Africa and with respect to the activities of mercenaries, private military and security companies, and foreign fighters, as well as in socio-economic development.
Alisa has developed the organization Global Vision Institute (GVI) and its predecessor initiatives since 2003. These have aimed to support individuals and teams in the UN and wider global system to personally connect with the UN’s universal values, thus taking action to fulfill its mission from the inside out. She is a published author on human rights, development, international relations and the UN, with a focus on applying systems thinking, the principle of adequacy, and research on happiness and well-being. She is a certified trainer, life coach and yoga teacher.
Mr. Otto Spijkers
Otto Spijkers is Lecturer of Public International Law at Utrecht University, Senior Research Associate with the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, and researcher with the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law. He is a member of the Committee on the Role of International Law in Sustainable Natural Resource Management for Development of the International Law Association, and guest lecturer for amnesty International The Hague.
Otto was a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University, Xiamen University’s China International Water Law Programme (China), the China Institute for Boundary and Ocean Studies of Wuhan University (China), the Law School of the East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL) in Shanghai (China), the Università degli Studi di Salerno (Italy), and the Association pour la promotion des droits de l’homme en Afrique centrale (APDHAC) of the Université Catholique d’Afrique Centrale (Yaoundé, Cameroon). Previously, he was a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at the University of Leiden. His doctoral dissertation, entitled The United Nations, the Evolution of Global Values and International Law, was published with Intersentia in 2011.
GVI BOARD OF ADVISERS
Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan
Dr. Ramcharan’s accolades include a career of over 30 years in the UN, including as former UN Deputy/Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Director at the UN peacekeeping operation for the Former Yugoslavia, Director of the Africa I Division of the Department of Political Affairs, and head of the speech-writing service of the UN Secretary-General. His contributions to academia have covered as Chancellor of the University of Guyana, as Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI), as Senior Fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies and visiting professor of international law in Lund University, Sweden.. He is the author of numerous books on international law, human rights and the United Nations. Dr Ramcharan was President of the NGO UPR-Info from 2011 to 2015, and served on the Board of Geneva for Human Rights. He holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics.
Dr. Kitty Arambulo
Dr. Kitty Arambulo is an expert in international human rights and development, having worked at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in various positions, including Assistant Secretary of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Secretary of the UN Working Group on the Right to Development. Dr. Arambulo has also lectured and trained extensively on international human rights law. Since 2009, Dr. Arambulo has been working on anti-corruption and governance issues in the Asia-Pacific region for the Asian Development Bank. Dr. Arambulo obtained her PhD in international law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her PhD thesis was published by Intersentia/Hart in 1999 (Strengthening the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Theoretical and Procedural Aspects). She also obtained a Masters in Development Management (MDM) from the Asian Institute of Management in 2008.
Professor Tim Murithi
Professor Tim Murithi is Head, Peacebuilding Interventions Programme, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town and also Extraordinary Professor of African Studies, University of Free State, South Africa. Previously he was the Claude Ake Visiting Professor, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University and Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden; Head of Programme, Institute for Security Studies, Addis Ababa; Senior Research Fellow, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, UK; Senior Researcher, Centre for Conflict Resolution, University of Cape Town; and Programme Officer, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Member of the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa Technical Committee and served as Adviser to the African Union, SADC, ECOWAS, UNDP, UK DFID and German GiZ. He is author/editor of 10 books and over 90 journal articles, book chapters and policy papers, including Ethics of Peacebuilding.
Professor Jerri Husch
Dr. Husch is President of 2 Collaborate Consulting, working on organizational management and leadership for the international humanitarian and development sector. A Professor of Sociology with a focus on integrative social science methods and social change, she is an expert in participatory leadership and collaborative partnerships, interdisciplinary methods, and on integrating socio-cultural data with big data. Specialties include Sustainable Development Goals monitoring and interoperability, One Health, global food policy, climate change adaptation, community resilience, regenerative agriculture, urban planning, community health, livelihoods, and gender. She has extensive global field experience, with a focus on Africa and small island states. Dr Husch is a trainer in Action Learning, Action Research and Action Insights, and research, training and leadership facilitator, including on people-centered design, data integration, visual analytics, collaborative policy, coalition building, and international partnerships.
Mr. Jonathan Granoff
Mr. Granoff is an attorney, author and international advocate emphasizing the legal and ethical dimensions of human development and security, with a specific focus on advancing the rule of law to address international security and the threats posed by nuclear weapons. He serves on numerous governing and advisory boards including: Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, and Middle Powers Initiative. He was a 2014 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and is the Senior Advisor and UN Representative of the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summits of Nobel Peace Laureates, Ambassador for Peace, Security and Nuclear Disarmament of the Parliament of the Worlds Religions, former Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University, and Chair of the Task Force on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Advisor to the Committee on National Security of the American Bar Association.
Professor Shirin Rai
Dr. Rai is Professor in the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. She has written extensively on issues of gender, governance and development and has consulted with the UN Division for the Advancement of Women and UNDP. Dr. Rai is co-Lead of the University of Warwick’s Global Research Priority Programme on International Development. She was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2010, and was also a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics (2012 -2015), Honorary Adjunct Professor, Department of International Studies, Monash University (2014-) and the Ford Visiting Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is a founder member of the South Asia Research Network on Gender, Law and Governance, is co-Editor of Social Politics, an interdisciplinary feminist journal, and serves on several Editorial Boards, includingInternational Feminist Journal of Politics, and Global Ethics.
Mr. Gesu Antonio Baez
Mr. Baez holds as M. Sc. In International Politics and has a background in international development and human rights advocacy, particularly women’s rights, with extensive experience in the Middle East, East Africa, Latin America and Europe.He is currently the Chief Diplomatic Consultant at Pax Tecum Global Consultancy in London, UK, providing mediation for businesses and NGOs with international governments to progress new businesses and projects that support sustainable development. He is on the Board of Directors of Teach for Italy, part of the Teach For All Network. He formerly served as International Development Coordinator at the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and as Champion Representative for Women’s Economic Empowerment at UN Women, including as co-architect of EmpowerWomen.org “I am (Wo)Man”campaign, a 2015 digital media campaign.