Innovation Dialogues

Poonam Muttreja - Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India

Ms Poonam Muttreja has for over 40 years been a strong advocate for women’s health, reproductive and sexual rights, and rural livelihoods.  She has co-conceived the popular transmedia initiative, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon - I, A Woman, Can Achieve Anything. Before joining PFI, she served as the India Country Director of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation for 15 years and has also co-founded and led the Ashoka Foundation, Dastkar, and the Society for Rural, Urban and Tribal Initiative (SRUTI).  An alumna of Delhi University and Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, Poonam serves on the governing council of several non-governmental organisations, and is a regular commentator in India and globally for television and the print media.  

Marco de Ponte - Federal Director - Future Resourcing and New Alliances

Marco De Ponte begun his engagement with social issues as a school representative in the 1980s and from there on becoming an activist for human rights throughout the 1990s in various roles, primarily within and on behalf of Amnesty International. He was their Italian vice-chair for six years, several times on their International Council and a staff member of the secretariat, campaigning primarily on Eastern Africa. He also wrote on the intersection between human rights and humanitarian law, before moving into humanitarian action as a staff member of an organization called InterSoS. 

Following several other short-term assignments in universities and the UN system, he joined what was then called Azione Aiuto in 2001 and was one of the proponents and implementers of the first decade of internationalization within ActionAid, starting as a chair of the then ActionAid Alliance. He has overseen regional coordination in Europe, expansion, and “mergers” in new countries at the same time as he developed the first national program for in a European country. 

Gino Govender, Board Companion, Amnesty International South Africa

Born into a working-class family in South Africa, his lived experiences in the community and the factories he worked in, shaped his political consciousness, a yearning for freedom and love for civic organising at a young age.  Since then, he has been called up to serve the cause of social justice in the political and labour movements from grassroots to global. His service within the labour movement spanning over 25 years enabled him to collaborate with workers and communities in diverse contexts within South Africa, across Africa and around the globe.

As a founding member of Earthrise Trust, for the past eight years, together with his fellow trustees and the local village leadership built a vision for the Rustlers Valley Farm as a commons with the community at the forefront in driving their vision of a village of the future. He is currently working with the Fight Inequality Alliance to design and establish a global organising school for young activists.

At the 2021 General Assembly he was elected onto the International Board.  He brings into ActionAid, International diverse experience in organising, education, management and leadership spanning over four decades. He is deeply committed to the promotion of collective, consensus-building, solutions-oriented, and servant styles of leadership. He is a parent of four adult children and a grandfather of one. 

Arthur Larok - Secretary General, ActionAid International

Arthur Larok is the Secretary General of ActionAid International. He was previously Federation Development Director for four years, and Country Director in Uganda for six years. He is a member of Carnegie Endowment’s Civic Research Network. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics and Sociology from Makerere University and a Master’s in Governance from University of Sussex in the UK. He has co-edited a Book on Uganda’s Civil Society and authored several papers, including ‘Uganda’s New Civic Activism: Beyond Egos and Logos’, ‘Modified activism after Ethiopia’s New Dawn’.

Andreia Coutinho Louback, Climate Justice, Environmental Racism, Racial Equity and Communications, Brazilian activist

Andreia Coutinho Louback is a senior journalist and Executive Director at the Brazilian Center for Climate Justice (CBJC), which is a national institute focused on communication, research, advocacy and climate education for the Black population. She belongs to the Action Aid Brazil board as an adviser. Currently, she is a Fellow of Fulbright’s Humphrey Program and Climate Justice-Just Transition Collaborative Donor (CJJT). With over 13 years of experience in social communication, Andreia is a Brazilian activist deeply committed to social justice and reducing inequalities. Her career focuses on climate justice, racial equity, and cause communication. Andreia is also an accomplished climate justice professor and public speaker, advocating for climate action, political participation and equity in Brazil and beyond.  Andreia´s LinkedIn profile is here. 

David Archer

David Archer is the Head of Programmes and Influencing with ActionAid’s Global Secretariat, supporting work on system change for climate justice, economic justice, public services and women’s rights. David qualified as a trained teacher and researched adult learning programmes inspired by Paulo Freire across Latin America, developing the Reflect approach to literacy and power in the 1990s. He is a co-founder of the Global Campaign for Education (www.campaignforeducation.org) and is chair of the Right to Education Initiative (www.right-to-education.org).  In 2022 he was the Stakeholder Convenor for the UN Heads of State Transforming Education Summit Action Track on Financing. 

Hellen Grace Akwii Wangusa

Begun as a University Lecturer of Literature and part-time coordinator of Mothers Union that focused on Family Life and Development. Moved into Economic policy analysis and gender-based research and advocacy after one month's training at Manchester University. Was appointed to coordinate 20 Country chapters of the African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON). In that role, trained and a minimum of 34 women per year for 8 years from 20 Africa countries to influence decisions and advocate for pro-poor and gender sensitive economic policies at the UN, World Economic Forum and at the Bretton Woods Spring meetings. Led delegations to UN Conferences on Financing for Development (FfD), Sustainable Development, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and The World Social Fora. 

Served as the Central Committee member of the All Africa conference of Churches (AACC) and Vice President under Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Worked as the UNDP Africa Coordinator for Civil Society Organizations implementing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programs in Africa. Moved on to represent the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Worldwide Anglican Communion at the United Nations (UN) as the Anglican Observer. Was appointed as Africa civil society representative and Advisory Board member of the Commonwealth foundation and is member of Oxfam GB Board of Trustees, Christian Aid and The Karibu and Ibon Foundations; A Technical Task Force member of the African Union (AU) Peer Review Mechanism. Was Team Leader of European Union (EU) grant for organisations working towards stemming the radicalisation of youth and their recruitment into terrorism and violent extremism in 6 Africa countries. Facilitated Africa Regional consultations on MIgration and Human Trafficking, Microfinance, VSLAs and Entrepreneurship.  

A Fulbright Scholar and holds MA in Modern Letters and Women’s Studies from Tulsa University; BA/DipEduc from Makerere University, Hon PhD in International Relations and Hon, PhD in Civic Law. 

Ikal Angelei

Ikal is a Kenyan politician and environmentalist. She was born in Kitale. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2012, in particular for her voicing of environmental implications of the Gilgel Gibe III Dam, speaking on behalf of Kenyan indigenous communities.[1] She is the founder of the organisation Friends of Lake Turkana which campaigns for environmental justice in the region around the Lake Turkana. 

Sandeep Chachra

Sandeep Chachra is a social anthropologist, activist and a human rights defender.  With more than three decades of experience in India and across the Global South, Sandeep is currently the Executive Director of ActionAid Association, Managing Editor of “Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy” and the Secretary of CARES. He serves on the steering committee of “The Academy” of Progressive International, is a core group member of  Agrarian South Network and a founder member of the Global University of South.  He has been active at both the policy level and with grounded social momentums on multiple issues, including land, commons, indigenous people’s rights, agricultural, labour, housing and urban issues. He has been active in building international alliances, global networks of movements and civil society and in capacity building and training. He is active in media debates and writes on various social issues.