IDRC - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Governor / Gastonia, NC
• Senior Fellow at the US

Akwasi is a senior fellow at the US-based Humanity United and he sits on the boards of Human Rights Watch and the Fund for Global Human Rights. He held several leadership positions at the Ford Foundation in New York and in West Africa, and he was the executive director of African grant-making foundation TrustAfrica. He is the former chair of the board of the Fund for Global Human Rights, the Resource Alliance, and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa. He served on the boards of the Society for International Development and Oxfam America, among others. In 2015, he received the Africa Philanthropy Award in Tanzania. Akwasi holds a PhD in medical sociology from the University of Connecticut and a BA Honours in sociology from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Governor / Nairobi
• Principal Scientist at CIFOR - ICRAF

Alex O. Awiti is a Principal Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF. He is also an adjunct Professor in the Department of Planning, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC, Canada. He was Vice Provost and Professor at Aga Khan University. He also served as Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communication and Founding Director of the East Africa Institute of Aga Khan University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the City of New York. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. Awiti began his research, academic, and policy career at ICRAF in Nairobi. He and his colleagues pioneered novel approaches for rapidly diagnosing soil, vegetation, and land health using Near Infrared Spectroscopy. Awiti is a trans-disciplinary systems scholar whose research intersects agriculture, food systems, ecology, biogeochemistry, education, and policy political economy. As a public intellectual, he has written over 800 opinion articles in leading Kenyan newspapers and international publications, including the International Policy Digest and The Conversation. He holds a PhD in Ecosystem Ecology from the University of Nairobi.

Job Titles:

• Governor
• Member of the Board

Job Titles:

• Director of Digital Solutions and Information
• Director, Digital Solutions and Information Governance

Denis Trudeau is Director of Digital Solutions and Information Governance (DSIG). Before joining IDRC, he worked as part of the global team of Sanmina Corporation. Prior to that role he was Director of IT Solutions at the University of Ottawa, BlackBerry, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nortel. Denis has a bachelor of electrical engineering with a computer option from McGill University.

Job Titles:

• Chairman
• Chairman of the Board
• Leader and Founding Member of Gender Summit Africa
• President and Chief Executive Officer of Mennonite Economic Development Associates

Dr. Dorothy Nyambi is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a non-profit organization with a mission to create business solutions to poverty around the world. Dorothy is a thought leader in international development, devoted to creating dynamic organizations that respect diversity, equity and inclusion and succeed in times of challenge and change. Dorothy has experience providing knowledge-based, strategic leadership for effective implementation of an organization's mission and goals. With a 25-plus year career in the sector and applied governance experience, Dorothy's work is founded on and informed by unique life experience and a commitment to authentic leadership.  With a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Dorothy has undertaken extensive research on capacity building, advancing gender equality in developing countries and innovation economies around the world. Prior to joining MEDA, she was Executive Vice President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Dorothy's professional experience includes strengthening business processes and mobilizing funding in support of grassroots movements, community impact and diversity in Africa, North America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East. Passionate about gender equality and inclusion, Dorothy has been a leader and founding member of Gender Summit Africa (Cape Town 2015 and Kigali 2018); member of the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) for the past 15 years; board director, Kigali Collaborative Research Centre (KCRC) - Carnegie Mellon University; and member of the Board Room Africa focused on mentoring and getting young African women into governance roles across the continent through selection, training and mentoring. She consistently demonstrates an ability to step forward and challenge the status quo, re-imagine and strengthen business processes, challenging old paradigms and programs in support of respectful human-centered design thinking.

Job Titles:

• Director of IDRC 's Sustainable Inclusive Economies
• Director, Sustainable Inclusive Economies

Erin is the director of IDRC's Sustainable Inclusive Economies program. Erin joined IDRC in November 2020. She brings over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian sectors within Canadian and international non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and bilateral development programs. She worked with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) in Malawi, CARE Canada in Bosnia Herzegovina, the Unites Nations Refugee Agency in Thailand, Algeria and Ghana, the United Nations World Food Programme in various countries in sub-Saharan Africa and with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pretoria, South Africa. Erin has worked on various applied research projects and was the coordinator of research for the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Partnership on HIV and Mobility in Southern Africa, generating new evidence and thought leadership in applied policy in this field. Most recently, Erin worked on a governance program with Global Affairs Canada together with the South African government. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French Literature from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Windsor.

Job Titles:

• Vice - President, Resources, and Chief Financial Officer

Serving as the Board-appointed treasurer of the organization, the Vice-president, Resources and Chief Financial Officer is responsible for the financial management and stability of the Centre. Through the activities of the Resources Branch, Geneviève oversees the provision of specialized services in the areas of finance and administration, travel, conference management, information technology, grant administration and information management. Prior to her role as Vice-president, Resources and Chief Financial Officer, Geneviève was the Director of the Finance and Administration Division and assumed the role of Deputy Chief Financial Officer at IDRC. Geneviève joined the Centre in 1998 and has held various management positions within the Resources Branch. During that time, Geneviève led several system replacement projects and oversaw the review of key business processes. Before joining IDRC, she worked at the Office of the Auditor General. Geneviève holds a bachelor's degree in accounting science from the Université du Québec en Outaouais and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA).​

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Governor
• Member of the Board

Gilles is a consultant and media analyst on international relations. He served in many senior positions in the Government of Canada. He was formerly Canada's ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations and former ambassador of Canada to Haiti. He also served as senior advisor to Global Affairs Canada on UN peacekeeping operations. Gilles is an associate expert of the Canadian Research Institute on Humanitarian Crisis and Aid and he has sat on several boards, including the board of Oxfam Québec. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2014 he received the Operational Service Medal - Humanitas in recognition of his work as ambassador during and following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

Job Titles:

• Governor
• Member of the Board
• Alberta As a Member of the Bylaws and Ethics Committee
• Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta

Hilary Rose is a Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, trained facilitator and certified internal auditor. She is an outgoing, personable governance and financial leader, with a deep commitment to serving communities through accessible, relevant, inclusive lifelong learning. She is a champion of positive change and diversity and has overseen various human resource initiatives. Hilary serves the International Development Research Centre as Governor and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. She is Board member and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee of Legal Aid Alberta, a Board member of Genome Alberta and a member of the Registration Committee of the College of Patent and Trade Mark Agents. Previously, she served as a Trustee and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee of the National Film Board of Canada, member of the Alberta Provincial Audit Committee, and Treasurer and Finance Committee chair for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and several not-for-profit boards and advisory committees, including the Edmonton Opera, Friends of Rutherford House, sporting organizations and the University of Alberta's Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST). Hilary serves CPA Alberta as a member of the Bylaws and Ethics committee, and has also served as a CPA Ambassador to not for profit organizations in the local Edmonton community. Hilary graduated with a degree in Economics and Political Science from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. She developed her career with Price Waterhouse, the Government of Alberta, the University of Alberta, the Auditor General of Alberta and Peace Hills Trust Company, an Aboriginally owned and federally regulated financial institution.

Job Titles:

• Director, Internal Audit

As Director, Internal Audit, Jennifer is responsible for establishing, leading, and directing an internal audit function to enhance and protect organizational value by providing stakeholders with risk-based, objective and reliable assurance, advice, and insight. This is accomplished by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of IDRC's internal control framework, governance, and risk management processes. Prior to this, Jennifer contributed to IDRC through other roles within the Internal Audit division and as the Manager of Budget and Financial Management within the Finance and Administration Division. Before joining IDRC in 2015, she held various positions within the federal government and the private sector, gaining extensive experience in finance, internal audit, and other consulting engagements. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta, with a major in Accounting. Jennifer is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), a Certified General Accountant (CGA), and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).

Job Titles:

• President
• President of the Board
• Strategic Leader of Mission

With 30 years of applied international development experience, Julie is a strategic leader of mission- and impact-driven organizations, across the not-for-profit and public sectors. She served variously as the executive director, Oxfam Canada; director, Central America Program, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada; and as a senior advisor to development policymakers. Most recently, Julie brought her expertise to diverse organizations including Oxfam International, the United Nations, and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. She is a subject matter expert on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and on the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in international development programming. Earlier in her career, Julie held numerous posts supporting the Government of Canada's development and human rights efforts, including as deputy director for human rights; senior advisor to the Iraq Task Force; and director for gender equality and child protection. She also held research roles with various organizations, including the North-South Institute, and has written extensively on issues of gender and employment, women's rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and globalization.  Through her career, Julie has lived and worked in Honduras, Jamaica, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. She holds undergraduate degrees in law and legal studies and a graduate degree in international affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Canada.

Job Titles:

• Vice - Chairperson of the Board

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Governor / Redwood City, CA

Job Titles:

• Governor