BIHR Staff

BIHR has ten staff, and is also supported by interns and volunteers. We have eleven trustees, and more than twenty members on our advisory board. We have over two hundred Friends who support us in financial and other ways. See BIHR's organisational map here.

Director: Katie Ghose

Katie has been the Director of BIHR since September 2005. She is a public affairs specialist and barrister with a background in human rights law and immigration and was a Commissioner on the Independent Asylum Commission. She has worked for several third sector organisations including Age UK (then Age Concern England), where she was the Campaigns & Parliamentary Manager and Citizens Advice.  She is a former Chair of Asylum Aid and Bail for Immigration Detainees and is currently a Stonewall trustee.  Legal Action Group published Katie’s first book, Beyond the Courtroom: a lawyer’s guide to campaigning, in 2005. Katie is an experienced trainer, who has developed and delivered seminars and courses on campaigning in the UK for charities and the legal profession.

kghose@bihr.org.uk

Training and Consultancy Manager: Hannah Clayton

Hannah joined BIHR in January 2007. She initially led BIHR’s work on developing the capacity of public sector organisations to understand and use human rights in their work. She now manages BIHR’s training and consultancy services and leads on our two main public sector projects in health and local government.
 
Prior to joining BIHR Hannah worked in the Development Education Unit at Save the Children UK and as a VSO teacher in China. She has also worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She has a law degree and an MSc in Human Rights from LSE.
 

Acting Policy and Public Affairs Manager: Sanchita Hosali

Sanchita joined BIHR in October 2008 as Policy Officer and as of Feb 2010 is our Acting Policy and Public Affairs Manger. Together with the Director, she is responsible for developing and delivering BIHR's growing portfolio of policy activities and public affairs work.
 
Sanchita completed an LLB in Law in 2001 and a LLM in Human Rights Law in 2002, during which she interned with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York and the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Sanchita has a background in human rights research, policy and strategy development, with a particular emphasis on women's rights and Black and Minority Ethnic communities. Before joining BIHR Sanchita worked in academic institutions on multi-country projects, national and pan-regional organisations and as a freelance researcher. She has been involved in the research, drafting and editing of a number of publications and campaigned for legal reforms on a number of human rights issues, including asylum and immigration, domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriage, discrimination and equality, access to justice and human rights monitoring. Sanchita is currently Chair of the Management Committee of Rights of Women, a national women’s organisation.
 

shosali@bihr.org.uk

Information and Communications Officer: Lucy Matthews

Lucy joined BIHR as a member of staff in January 2005 after completing her MA in Human Rights at University College London. Lucy manages the planning and delivery of BIHR's information resources and publications such as the Your Human Rights guides. She has has responsibility for the development of BIHR's marketing and communications activities, including managing our website, newsletter and regular e-bulletin. Prior to this role, Lucy was involved in the delivery of our Training and Consultancy services including our national Human Rights in Healthcare project. 

lmatthews@bihr.org.uk

Poverty and Human Rights Officer: Roisin Cavanagh

Roisin joined BIHR in February 2007. She initially led BIHR's work on building the capacity of civil society organisations to understand and use human rights in their work. She currently manages the Poverty and Human Rights project, a 2 year project which aims to help people and communities in London experiencing poverty to use human rights to challenge their situation. Prior to coming to BIHR, she managed the UK-wide Refugee Week education project Global Communities at the Refugee Council, which aimed to provide educational resources and training to teachers, educational professionals and young people around the UK on global migration issues, with the aim of reducing discrimination towards those seeking sanctuary in the UK. Before moving to London, Roisin lived and worked in Brighton where she undertook a range of roles providing practical and emotional support and advocacy to young people experiencing poverty and other forms of social exclusion. Before embarking on these roles, she studied an MA in Gender and Development at the Institute of Development Studies - gaining a wide knowledge base of social and economic development, the gender implications of poverty and participatory methodology within a community development context. The two years preceding this, Roisin lived in Japan and worked as an English teacher on the JET Programme.

rcavanagh@bihr.org.uk

Training and Consultancy Officer: Ellie Keen

Ellie joined BIHR in July 2009 as Training and Consultancy Officer. Her experience prior to this included work at international level, as project manager, trainer and consultant on human rights advocacy and education. She lived and worked in Russia for several years and was engaged in long-term projects throughout Europe for Amnesty International, Conciliation Resources and the Council of Europe.

Ellie has experience of working with a wide range of clients in both the public and voluntary sectors, particularly in the field of education. She has authored various training manuals and awareness raising publications on human rights at national and at international level. At BIHR, Ellie is responsible for the delivery of training and consultancy to public and third sector clients.

ekeen@bihr.org.uk

Voluntary and Community Sector Development Officer: Sonia Omar

Sonia joined BIHR in September 2008 as Voluntary and Community Sector Development Officer. She is responsible for leading the Principles to Practice work with a focus on capacity building with the voluntary and community sector across the UK.

Before joining BIHR she worked as an International Campaigner and Human Rights Education Officer, and delivered training for Amnesty International in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa on identity based discrimination and violence against women. More recently she ran a human rights advocacy training programme for UK-based refugees and asylum seekers with Education Action International.

Prior to human rights work, Sonia worked in Middle East broadcasting as a researcher and productions assistant for Abu Dhabi TV and Arab News Network. She also led educational trips around Morocco and taught English as a Foreign language. She is fluent in French and also speaks Arabic.

somar@bihr.org.uk

PA/Office Co-ordinator: Geraldine Creaven

Geraldine joined BIHR in August 2009, as PA to Katie Ghose, and office co-ordinator (maternity cover). Prior to joining BIHR Geraldine was Manager of Forum for the Future's Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development, and prior to that she managed the administrative team and training programmes at Regent's College School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. She has also worked in a variety of NHS settings in an administrative capacity, including managing the secretariat of an HIV/AIDS clinic and community mental health resource centres. She also trained and worked as a Relate couple counsellor for 5 years.

gcreaven@bihr.org.uk

Training and Consultancy Assistant: Ed Wilcox

Ed joined BIHR in March 2010 as our Training and Consultancy Assistant. He is responsible for the administrative coordination of BIHR's training and consultancy work.
 
Prior to joining BIHR, Ed completed an MA in Diplomacy at the University of Nottingham, and also studied peace and human rights, and the UN system, at the United Nations University, Tokyo. Ed also taught English in rural Japan for two years, as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme.
 

Events and Fundraising Officer: Ellen Stuart

Ellen joined BIHR in May 2010 as our Events and Fundraising Officer. She is responsible for the delivery of BIHR's 2010 Annual Conference and for the organisation of fundraising events.
 
Prior to joining BIHR, Ellen managed events and operations for the Speak Network. She has held administrative and event coordination roles in NHS Education for Scotland, in local authorities and at National Museums Scotland. She has a History degree from Durham University and an MA in Heritage Interpretation and Education from the University of Newcastle.
 

estuart@bihr.org.uk