The Fund for Global Human Rights has a multi-ethnic professional staff of nine:
Regan E. Ralph, Executive Director
Regan E. Ralph is the founding executive director of the Fund for Global Human Rights. Prior to launching the Fund, Regan was Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington D.C. where she led advocacy, policy and educational strategies to promote the quality and availability of health care for American women. From 1992-2001, Regan helped build and ultimately directed the Women’s Rights division of Human Rights Watch, where she developed campaigns to ensure the prosecution of sexual violence in conflict as a war crime, to secure recognition of gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum, and to promote women’s rights in countries including Russia, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Pakistan and Mexico. Regan is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and studied international law at the London School of Economics and Arabic at the American University in Cairo. She chairs the board of the Center for Health and Gender Equity and serves on the advisory council of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program at Georgetown University Law Center.
Talia Bilodeau, Director of Strategy and Development
Talia joined the Fund for Global Human Rights in July 2007 as its first New York-based staff person. She develops and implements strategies for growth of the Fund, and oversees fundraising efforts. Prior to joining the Fund, Talia served as Vice President for Development at the National Women's Law Center where she led efforts to raise over $7 million in operating support a year and oversaw a $15 million endowment campaign. Previously, Talia worked as a labor and employment lawyer in Miami and in New York City. Talia earned a B.A. in English with a minor in Women's Studies from Boston University, and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
Jerusha Burnham, Grants Administrator and Program Associate
Jerusha Burnham first joined the Fund in August 2006 as its grants administrator and now also manages the Uganda program. Prior to joining the Fund, Jerusha worked as a linguist and project manager for a speech recognition technology company based in California, and interned at the U.S. Department of State. Jerusha received her BA in Language Studies from UC Santa Cruz and received her master’s degree in International Politics and Human Rights from the American University. Jerusha was born and raised in Mexico until the age of eleven, when she and her family moved to the United States. Jerusha is a native speaker of both Spanish and English and is fluent in French and German. In her master’s studies, Jerusha’s research focus was on human rights in Latin America, specifically on indigenous rights in Mexico. Jerusha also has a personal interest in East Africa/Great Lakes region.
Josh Hayes, Associate Grants Administrator and Executive Assistant
Josh joined the Fund in October 2009. He has a BA in History, French and International Studies from Loyola University Chicago. After graduation, he spent a year teaching English in Japan and then completed an MA at the Institute of French Studies at New York University. Josh interned at the Quebec Delegation of Chicago and the United Nations, where he worked with the NGO section on the 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference: Reaffirming Human Rights for All: The Universal Declaration at 60. He has a particular interest in transnational and comparative studies, especially those that engage questions of violence. Besides speaking French, Josh has retained a small portion of the Japanese he picked up while working overseas.
Mona Khan, Director of Programs
Mona Khan has fifteen years of program management and evaluation experience with a particular interest in women’s health rights and international social justice grant-making. Over the course of her career, she has provided technical assistance to Asian, Arab, African and American organizations seeking to develop human rights and public education strategies, enhance their planning, management and fundraising skills, and document learning practices for achieving positive social change. Prior to joining the Fund for Global Human Rights, she managed health and community development programs at the Aga Khan Foundation, the Stanley Foundation, and John Snow, Inc. She was a MacArthur Scholar at the University of Minnesota where she received an MA in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College with a general course certificate from the London School of Economics. She is conversant in Spanish and Urdu and originally from India.
Kaylyn Kvochak, Development Officer
Kaylyn Kvochak joined the Fund in August 2008 and serves as the Fund’s Development Officer. Kaylyn is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she simultaneously pursued a BA in International Affairs and a master’s degree in Public Administration, with a specialization in nonprofit organizations. Kaylyn was an intern at the U.S. Department of State’s Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, where she worked on issues related to the refugee and IDP return process in Kosovo. Prior to joining the Fund, Kaylyn spent a year living and working in Paris, France. She is fluent in French and has a personal interest in nonprofit capacity building.
David Mattingly, Program Officer for Latin America and West Africa
David manages the Fund’s grant-making programs in Latin America and West Africa and also coordinates the Fund’s support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organizations. David has more than ten years of experience fundraising for and grantmaking to human rights and social justice organizations in the U.S. and Latin America. After earning a BA in International Development from American University, David monitored the human rights situation in indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Prior to joining the Fund, David worked at the Moriah Fund, where he helped manage grantmaking programs that promote indigenous rights, sustainable development and women’s rights and reproductive health. David is fluent in Spanish.
Syma Mirza, Program Officer for Asia
Syma joined the Fund in September 2009. She manages the Fund’s grant-making programs in India, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines and has considerable experience in human rights, conflict, and peace issues. Syma has a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a master’s degree focused on human rights and conflict resolution from the School of International & Public Affairs at Columbia University. Prior to joining the Fund, Syma practiced law for three years at DLA Piper LLP in Washington D.C. She has researched and documented politically-motivated sexual violence against women in Zimbabwe, successfully litigated an asylum claim for a Nepali refugee, conducted a gender assessment of a conflict resolution skills training program of Burma's ethnic nationalities, and worked on peace and democracy issues in Pakistan. Syma studied international relations and women's studies at Wellesley College. She is fluent in Urdu and conversant in Hindi.
Chloée Ponchelet, Program Officer for North Africa and African Great Lakes
Chloée joined the Fund full-time in February 2006 as its Program Officer for the Maghreb and the African Great Lakes regions; she had previously worked on these regional programs for two years on a consulting basis. Before joining the Fund, Chloée worked for Medical Care Development International in Washington, DC, promoting access of marginalized groups to health care. Prior to that she worked in Paris for Agir Ici, where she organized advocacy campaigns to promote fair North-South relations. Chloée earned a BA in International Relations at the Institute of Political Science in Aix-en Provence, France, an MA in Political Science and African Studies from the Institute of Political Science in Bordeaux, and an MA in International Development from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University of Paris. Chloée is a native of France and has a high interest in the use of advocacy techniques in the promotion of human rights.
Kathryn Sommers, Director of Operations
Kathryn Sommers joined the Fund in May 2007. She manages and coordinates all administrative functions of the office and assists the Executive Director in managing the structure and operations of the organization. She has over seven years of experience in the non-profit sector ranging from direct service and program management to fundraising, operations and financial management. She has a BA in History with Minors in Religion and Philosophy and TESOL. Prior to joining the Fund, Kathryn worked in the adult education and literacy field where she worked directly with many refugees and immigrants from countries all over the world. She has spent time traveling and studying in Côte d’Ivoire and has a long-term personal interest in West Africa.
