The SDG2 Advocacy
Hub Secretariat Staff

Paul is a strategic innovator and executive leader with twenty five [25]+ years of expertise managing complex stakeholder relationships, designing campaign strategies, and extensive knowledge of the not-for-profit sector. He possesses strong business acumen, exceptional advocacy skills, and the ability to build deeply engaging relationships to influence decision makers, improve practices, drive change, and deliver impactful solutions to complex problems alongside communities around the world. A skilled communicator with a narrative that entices people to get on board, Paul starts movements that make global impact and drives change in sustainability and food systems, delivered through consistent and competitive methodologies, strong network development, innovative communications and superior client service and executive presence. Paul Newnham founded the SDG2 Advocacy Hub in 2015, a secretariat convened to connect NGOs, advocacy groups, civil society, private sector, and United Nations agencies around Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Paul is based in Australia.

✉️: paul@sdg2advocacyhub.org    : @paulnewnham

Chilufya has vast experience in international development and civil society leadership. She has led: pro-poor policy influencing, social policy research and advocacy, grant-making and monitoring and evaluation initiatives. Her core competencies are in strategic thinking, policy analysis and advocacy and organisational development.

Chilufya, has diverse experiences in Senior Leadership positions and as a policy analyst and researcher in various roles across Africa, Asia and Europe. As an avid analyst of Africa-China relations, she pioneered and supported foundational research and dialogue. She is Board Chair of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. A supporter of artistic development and empowerment of young people, including as founding board member for a Foundation, that employs a novel work-based learning model to support young adults with intellectual disabilities be linked to jobs. Chilufya holds degrees in Public Administration and International Development from Universities in Zambia, South Africa and UK. Chilufya lives in Lusaka, Zambia.

✉️: chilufya@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Asma has extensive experience in policy advocacy and coalition building. Prior to joining the Hub in 2021, she served as director of Bread for the World Institute, where she oversaw the Institute’s policy analysis, education and advocacy on issues related to US and global hunger. She was previously interim executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, director of policy and programs at Citizens for Global Solutions, senior international analyst in the Government Relations Department at Bread for the World and a consultant at UNCTAD and the ILO. 

Asma currently serves on USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Assistance and until 2021 served on the Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. She also co-founded and co-chaired the US-based International Financial Institutions Working Group. Asma was a member of the CSIS Task Force on Women and Family Health.

Asma holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, a post-graduate diploma in economics from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in geography from McGill University.

In her role as Policy and Advocacy Lead, Asma works across the SDG2 space to strengthen alignment between nutrition, agriculture and climate, to achieve SDG2 and Good Food For All. Asma is based in Washington DC, United States of America.

✉️: asma@sdg2advocacyhub.org    @asmalateef 

Keren brings more than 20 years experience of working alongside people, in both strategy, management, coaching, mentoring and leadership roles. Keren has focussed her career on education, community and international development, working in project and programme management as well as supporting vulnerable people build lives of their choosing. A firm believer in removing barriers that prevent people from making choices for themselves, Keren seeks to learn through actively listening and working with people to achieve a shared future. Having lived in multiple communities around the world, and run events all over the globe, Keren is affectionately known as a ‘fixer’, capable of resolving complex issues quickly and efficiently, with desirable outcomes.

With a Bachelor Degree in Anthropology and English, Post Graduate Degree in Secondary Teaching, Masters Degrees in International and Community Development, and a Certificate in Therapeutic Mentoring, Keren’s knowledge and practical experience in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Mexico, Kenya and Malawi, brings a deep breadth of experience to her role as Project & Partnerships Lead for the Hub Secretariat. Keren lives in Melbourne, Australia with her 4 children and Groodle, Remy.

✉️: keren@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Kristin is Project Lead of Beans is How, a campaign to double global bean consumption by 2028. She is an accomplished Executive Producer with a special focus on campaigning for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adept at making intricate ideas tangible and getting seemingly impossible things done.

Throughout her career, she has advised and worked with multiple UN agencies, (UNICEF, UNDP, WFP), NGOs and governments. She has led such celebrated initiatives as the United Nations Virtual Reality Project, spearheaded the introduction of new media and interactive storytelling to the UN, and designed countless interactive exhibits, XR productions and events. From 2014-2015, she led communications and partnerships for the MY World 2015 survey to collect 10 million peoples’ priorities and stories to ensure citizen voices informed the SDGs political debate. Most recently, she led the events portfolio for Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet. She is also Co-Founder and CEO of Overview Collective, an experiential studio bringing big ideas down to Earth.

Kristin has an MA in Development, Management and Policy from Georgetown University, and a BA in English and Spanish Literature from Fordham University. She is a trained Climate Reality Leader, a mentor at New Inc, and a board member at BEAT Global. She speaks English and Spanish and is conversational in several other languages. She lives with her family in Lisbon, Portugal.

✉️: kristin@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Ali is a Registered Public Health Nutritionist working at the intersection of health and sustainability. She develops advocacy, policy and behaviour change programmes that are win-win for people and planet.

Ali is passionate about the opportunities that arise from drawing the dots between health and sustainability, and believes we can address the failings of the food system faster and smarter by working across these disciplines. She maintains to move the needle in the food system at the pace that’s needed, we need to collaborate boldly, find new ways of working and look to climate – nutrition smart solutions like beans!

Ali works for global and national NGOs and UN institutions and is based in the UK.

✉️: ali@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Alice leads the Hungry for Action campaign – a global campaign to end the food crisis. Alice is an international development professional with over 15 years of experience in advocacy, policy and communications work across the private, political and not for profit sectors. She most recently served as Campaigns and Policy Director at Project Everyone, where she led efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals, working closely with the United Nations. Her previous roles include leading the global action/2015 campaign at Save the Children which helped secure the successful adoption of the SDGs. 

She has extensive experience of developing and implementing advocacy and campaign strategies at national, regional and global level. She has worked around the world from Ethiopia and South Africa to Rwanda where she was a governance adviser. She began her career at the British Labour Party where she headed the Research Unit and was senior political adviser to the Rt Hon. Harriet Harman, MP. 

Alice holds a Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Alice is based in Norwich in the United Kingdom. 

✉️: alice@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Talisha is an Executive Assistant who holds a joint BA in business development and management. She has extensive experience with all business support tasks, having held positions in agriculture, biotechnology and sports development fields. Talsiha has a proven talent for aligning business objectives with comprehensive administrative knowledge, to achieve maximum operational potential. 

✉️: talisha@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Charles is passionate about people and stories. As a versatile storyteller, he believes in the power of stories, how they incite conversations and facilitate change among people and communities. With over a decade of experience in spearheading communication efforts for global humanitarian organisations and mainstream media outlets, Charles recently became a part of the SDG2 Advocacy hub in 2023. As a smallholder farmer himself, Charles deeply understands the transformative power of good food for all. In his role at the Hub, he oversees communication strategies across multiple platforms and campaigns. His educational background includes a Master of Science degree in Communication for development and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. Residing in Lilongwe, Malawi, he is actively involved in leading initiatives aimed at promoting education for marginalised children.

✉️: charles@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Rosie has a BA International Relations and Development from the University of Sussex and an MSc Public Health from the University of Sheffield. Over the last five years working at the SDG2 Hub Secretariat, Rosie has transitioned from Advocacy Intern to Team Support Coordinator to her current post as Policy & Campaigning Officer with a focus on nutrition. In this role, Rosie supports the nutrition policy analysis, coalition and campaigning work streams, connecting the dots between nutrition, the five SDG2 sub-goals and the Global Goals. Rosie speaks English and Spanish. Rosie is based in London, England.

✉️: rosie@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Julia has over 10 years experience working with international organisations and in the non-profit sector on project coordination, advocacy and resource mobilisation. She is skilled in multilingual, intercultural and intergenerational team work focused on global challenges in development and humanitarian work. She is particularly passionate about nutrition, food security, and children’s rights. Julia has helped to develop nutrition advocacy in the humanitarian sector, working with UN agencies, alongside governments and NGOs, and more broadly looking at food systems. She has strong experience in project management and event planning, having coordinated multiple international conferences and events, in addition to local and global projects. Julia holds a Masters in International Cooperation, Humanitarian Action, and the Politics of Development, in addition to a Masters in Nutrition, and a BA in Sociology and French.  

In her role at the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, Julia works to support key workflows across campaigns and projects as the Strategic Support Officer. Julia lives in Paris, France.

✉️: julia@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Nanzala is a vastly experienced professional with over 10 years’ related experience in Food Security and Climate change programming. In this role Nanzala supports our work on climate adaptation and food systems with a focus on smallholder Agriculture.  Prior to joining the SDG2 Hub Secretariat he was the Food Systems and Climate Justice Lead at Oxfam. Nanzala is based in Nairobi Kenya. 

✉️: nanzala@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Arhantika Rebello has a BA in Photojournalism and an MA in Education, International Development and Social Justice. Arhantika’s interest in social development, food and sustainability comes from a childhood of having grown up across Africa, Asia and Europe. Having seen first-hand the growing complexity of issues we face in our changing world she is particularly keen to do her part in helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. An ardent photographer, she also runs a youth-focused creative digital content platform called QUAKE Digital, that aims to support, celebrate and connect young creatives globally. In her role at the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, Arhantika works across the Beans is How and Good Food For All Campaign as well as the Chefs’ Manifesto, helping to amplify the messaging by driving online engagement through the production of curated creative content.

✉️: arhantika@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Ceanne has a BA in Mass Communication from the University of Hertfordshire. Having volunteered at a children’s charity aimed at educating children on cultural diversity, Ceanne has gained valuable experience in promoting racial harmony and fostering inclusivity amongst young minds. Through creative campaigns, educational initiatives, and community engagement, Ceanne has witnessed firsthand the power of cultural diversity and dialogue in cultivating empathy, understanding, and harmony. Passionate about harnessing the power of social media to make a positive impact on the world, Ceanne is dedicated to using social media and designs to raise awareness and inspire critical social actions. In her role, she assists the communications team on design assets and supports the management of the Good Food for All campaign. She is based in London, United Kingdom.

✉️: ceanne@sdg2advocacyhub.org

Emiliana Mbelenga has a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Foods Nutrition and Dietetics. She has 16 years’ experience in public health nutrition. She has worked for various organisations such as UNICEF, FAO, Save the Children, Sygenta Foundation, Concern Worldwide among others. Emily has implemented programmes on the integrated management of acute malnutrition, micronutrient supplementation, coordination of multi stakeholders, development of food composition tables and recipes, evaluation of nutrition programme and advocacy campaigns. Emily is an author of the Kenya Food Composition Tables 2018, Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition Guidelines 2018 for Government of Liberia, and FAO INFOODS Compilation Guidelines for Food Composition Tables. She is a co-author of The Kenya Recipes Book 2018 and the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition Guidelines for Kenya. Emily is passionate about mental health and joined ACNA (Association for Care Leavers Networks in Africa) as a board member in 2023. ACNA works with youth-led organisations in Africa. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya

Lavender is an accomplished campaigner with more than 7 years specializing in advocating economic, social, and cultural rights, focusing on the right to adequate housing, healthcare, food, and the rights of indigenous peoples. Her unwavering commitment to reducing inequalities has been a defining characteristic of her career. Lavender’s extensive background includes an MA in Human Rights from Central European University and a BA in Integrated Social Sciences from Jacobs University. These academic achievements have equipped her with a solid foundation in understanding and addressing complex social and human rights issues. During her tenure at Amnesty International, Lavender was pivotal in advocating for policy changes, community mobilization, and stakeholder engagement at local, regional, and international levels. Her remarkable contributions included a campaign based in Kenya, which called for universal access to the COVID-19 vaccine when intellectual property sharing was a contentious issue among nations. Beyond her work in human rights advocacy, Lavender is also a dedicated animal rights activist. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya, where she continues her commitment to creating positive social change and championing the causes she holds dear.

✉️: lavender@sdg2advocacyhub.org