Our Team

Janette Macleod

Director of Global Systems

Janette Macleod is Director of Global Systems.

Janette joined GOAL in Feb 2016 as Senior Humanitarian Advisor and was in that position for two years. For the last four years, Janette was Assistant Country Director Systems.

Prior to joining GOAL, Janette was Grants Officer and then Programme Supervisor with Cairngorms National Park Authority in the UK and prior to Cairngorms, Janette worked with Merlin (UK based International Charity) in Logistics, Operations and Project Management related roles.

Janette holds an MSc in Disaster Management from Cranfield University in England and an MPhys in Optoelectronics and Laser Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.

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Sanjida Tawhid

Country Director, Sudan

Sanjida joined as Sudan Country Director, based in Port Sudan in Jan 2025.

Sanjida is a seasoned humanitarian operations leader from Bangladesh with 17 years’ experience in disaster and conflict settings in multiple countries in Africa and Asia. She is committed to building strong local teams, driving the localization agenda, and mainstreaming gender, protection, disaster risk reduction (focusing on climate change) using community participatory tools, into all programming.

Sanjida joined from Relief International where she was CD in Iran since Dec 2023. Prior to that, Sanjida held CD, Roving Field Coordinator (in the Emergency Response and Readiness Unit) and communications related positions for Action Against Hunger in Bangladesh, Yemen, India, Indonesia, Cameroon, Afghanistan and South Sudan. Early in her career, Sanjida also held positions with the IRC and the IFRC.

Sanjida holds a MA in International Journalist from Cardiff University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from North South University in Bangladesh.

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Ali Kaya

Country Director, Türkiye

Ali Kaya was appointed GOAL Türkiye Country Director in August 2024 .

Ali joins GOAL with 10+ years of humanitarian aid experience from Save The Children where he held several key leadership roles including an overseas post on the Ukraine response. Most recently, Ali served as the Area Manager for the Türkiye earthquake response in Gaziantep, overseeing a diverse team of 100 staff members and an annual budget of US$ 25M. Ali’s experience extends beyond emergency response. He previously worked with NRC and CARE International in Türkiye as Programme Manager, where he managed multi-sector programs including CVA, Shelter & WASH, Food Security and Livelihood initiatives. Ali also successfully led a diverse programme portfolio and team to deliver high quality and impactful programmes working in close coordination with a range of external stakeholders, including the government, partners, and program donors.

Ali holds a Master’s Degree on International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and BSc in Economics from Karadeniz Technical University in Türkiye.

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Alphonsus Martyn

Director of Investigations

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Vicky Long

Vice President for Development, GOAL USA

Vicky was appointed Vice President for Development, GOAL USA in October 2023. Prior to that, Vicky was Interim Global Director, FBD (Funding and Business Development).

Vicky joined GOAL’s Business Development Unit in 2015, initially to support GOAL’s Emergency Response work in Guinea, Nepal, Ukraine, and Iraq in addition to leading the development of strategic bids with USAID, BHA, BPRM, EU, ECHO, FCDO and GIZ.

In recent years, Vicky took on the roles of Strategic Partnerships Manager in 2017, Senior Business Development and Innovation Manager in 2019 and more recently was appointed Head of Business Development in 2021.

Prior to joining GOAL, Vicky worked in the LAC region for eight years, principally in Ecuador in roles ranging from Institutional Development for a Regional NGO, to working for private sector companies as a CSR Lead and as principal coordinator of a public private partnership education project funded by the Spanish Government (AECID).

Vicky holds a Master’s Degree in Strategy and Innovation from University of Maynooth Business School and a BA from the University of Sheffield.

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Dawit Beyene

Country Director, Uganda

Dawit was appointed Country Director for GOAL’s Uganda in February 2023.

Dawit brings over 19 years of experience to the role, including time as GOAL Country Director in Sudan and Interim Country Director in South Sudan. Prior to joining GOAL, Dawit served as Head of Office for Mercy Corps in Darfur and Assistant Country Director – Programmes for Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Yemen. Prior to that, Dawit worked with Tufts University/ Feinstein International Centre as a consultant in various roles in Ethiopia.

Dawit’s educational background is in Rural Development (MA) and Sociology & Social Administration (BA). Over the years, he has managed humanitarian and development programmes in complex and protracted humanitarian settings.

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Luigi Loddo

Country Director, Honduras

Luigi Loddo is a forestry engineer with over 20 years of experience working in fragile contexts on business development, climate change adaptation, sustainable natural resources management, humanitarian aid, and disaster risk reduction fields.

With more than 13 years working with GOAL, as Assistant Country Director Programmes and as Area Coordinator for GOALs programmes in Northern Honduras, Luigi has played strategic roles in GOAL´s Green and Blue Economy and disaster preparedness programmes in Central America.

Luigi previously worked with UNDP in Honduras, managing a large GEF funded Climate Change Adaptation programme, and with Italian NGOs Alesei (as Country Director) and GVC in the LAC region. Experienced in developing solutions for sustainable natural resources management in multicultural and indigenous contexts, Luigi is an advocate for the implementation of an inclusive and sustainable blue and green economy.

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Gashaw Mekonnen

Country Director, Zimbabwe

Gashaw was appointed as CD of GOAL’s Zimbabwe programme in April 2022.

Gashaw brings over 20 years of experience to the role, including time as a Roving CD and CD across Haiti, Niger, South Sudan and Malawi and across various other positions in our South Sudan and Ethiopia programmes. Gashaw was CD in Sierra Leone for the last three and a half years.

Gashaw’s background is in rural development and development management. He is a trained advocate on Community Development Approaches and a ToT trainer on participatory tools. Over the years, he has managed humanitarian and development programmes in a challenging political environment.

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Leopold Buhendwa

Country Director, Niger

Leopold has over 25 years of management and senior level technical advisement experience, working in the humanitarian, international development, and public health fields.

He joined GOAL in 2016, initially as chief of party of a USAID-funded project in Malawi, and currently as country director in Niger.

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Matt Knight

Country Director, Haiti

Matt Knight was appointed Country Director for GOAL in Haiti in June 2023. He has over four years’ experience at GOAL, having previously served as Emergency Systems Director, Emergency Response Logistics, and Procurement Advisor in different GOAL locations. Matt has extensive experience from his roles at Public Health England and from other roles in Field Logistics and Logistics Management in Sierra Leone. He holds a Master’s degree in Psychotherapy from the University of Sheffield and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Hull, UK.

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Phyllis Jepkorir

Country Director, South Sudan

Phyllis Jepkorir was appointed Country Director for GOAL South Sudan in January 2023. With over 15 years’ experience at GOAL prior to this appointment, Phyllis held previous roles such as Systems Director in Ethiopia, Assistant Country Director for Systems in Malawi and South Sudan, and Logistics Coordinator. Phyllis holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Texila American University in Guyana. She has extensive experience in systems implementation, procurement, logistics, and strategic planning.

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James Riak

Country Director, Sierra Leone

James Riak was appointed as Country Director for GOAL in Sierra Leone in April 2022.

James has worked for GOAL for 15 years, most recently as Programmes Director in SL for the last four years. Prior to this, James served as Area Coordinator in Kenema and as Programme Coordinator in Bombali. James has been based in Sierra Leone since 2015, moving there after many years of service to our South Sudan programme.

James holds a Master’s in Sustainable Development and a Master of Science in Public Health.

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