Humanitarian Director Save the Children UK – committed humanitarian who has lived and worked in some of the world’s most challenging situations, Gareth has led responses to numerous emergencies all over the globe including the Boxing Day Tsunami, Pakistan and Haiti earthquakes, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, East Africa and Niger food crises and the Somalia, Angola, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria conflicts. Gareth co-founded Elrha, the HLA and the CBHA (now the Start Network) and is passionate about leadership development in the humanitarian sector. Today, he leads a team of 100+ humanitarian professionals and in June 2013 he was awarded the OBE for ‘services to Emergency Crisis Response Abroad’.

As a humanitarian practitioner, Cornelia worked for nearly two decades with UNICEF and the World Food Program in large scale emergencies in West Africa, Afghanistan and Haiti, mostly operating as head of strategic communication. As coach and researcher, she collaborates with the Center for humanitarian leadership at Deakin University and Aix-Marseille’s Law faculty. Cornelia holds a doctorate in Law and is a certified yoga and meditation teacher.

Aside from her interest in the multiple shapes of influence, Cornelia’s focus is on social transformation from the inside out, looking at individual aspirations as the point of departure. Her objective is to refine a methodology that influences people towards wanting to get involved in social change processes, rather than obliging them to act for the sake of others. In 2017 she initiated the POZE (Purpose – Optimization – Zenith – Exposure) dynamic in Haiti, offering individuals tools to identify and pursue their aspirations. The network is now expanding into the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. In 2020 three of her books are published by Palgrave/Springer, ‘Development, humanitarian action and social welfare’ (May), ‘Humanitarian work, social change and human behavior’ (June) and ‘Connection in times of Covid’ (November).

Thomas started his career 15 years ago responding to displacement in Somalia. For the next six years he led a transient lifestyle leading first phase responses to natural disasters and conflict situations in over 20 countries around the world. Since 2012, Thomas has been based in East Africa focusing on the conflict in South Sudan and acute food insecurity in the Horn of Africa. He now coordinates Save the Children’s humanitarian effort across 14 countries in East and Southern Africa. In 2021 he launched the first Regional Humanitarian Unit within Save the Children which is designed to help forge the next era of humanitarian action and the industry navigates some systemic demands for change.

He is a passionate believer in bring out the most in his team through opportunities that take people out of their comfort zones in a controlled and supported manner.