The Fund for Global Human Rights has a multi-ethnic professional staff of eight:
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
Jerusha Burnham joined the Fund in August 2006 as its grants administrator and assistant to the executive director. 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 in 2001 and received her masters degree in International Politics and Human Rights from The American University in 2007. 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.
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 grantmaking. 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.
David Mattingly, Program Officer
David manages the Fund’s grantmaking programs in Latin America and West Africa. David has 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 was Program Associate for Latin America 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.
Chloée Ponchelet, Program Officer
Chloée joined the Fund full-time in February 2006 as its Program Officer for Maghreb and Central Africa; 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, Operations Manager
Kathryn Sommers joined the Fund in May 2007 as the Operations Manager. 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 and speaks conversational French. 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.
Cristina Villegas, Development Officer
Cristina joined the Fund in 2005 as its first development staff person. She conducts the Fund’s outreach, coordinates fundraising, and manages the website and online communications, among other duties. Before joining the Fund, Cristina worked for Women & Philanthropy, The World Bank, San Diego Grantmakers, and the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile. At the World Bank she worked on judicial reform projects in Venezuela and Guatemala. Cristina is active in local DC area organizations and is a co-founder of DC for Peace in Darfur, an informal advocacy group urging local activism around the continuing conflict. Cristina is a graduate of UC San Diego, where she earned two Bachelors degrees in Political Science/Public Policy and Latin American Studies (Honors), and a minor in Economics.
