Ariane Waldvogel is the Executive Director of the Pro Victimis Foundation. After a few years spent with an NGO in Lebanon, she made her career with the United Nations (UNDP and WFP) and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). Over the years, she has held various posts abroad, particularly in Tanzania, India, Burkina Faso and Laos, as well as in New York and Geneva for the Swiss Mission to the United Nations. She brings a wealth of experience in development, human rights, and governance, as well as in philanthropy. Ariane has a BA in Political Science from the University of Lausanne and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2022.
Bert Verstappen was HURIDOCS staff member from 1987 until his retirement in 2020. He coordinated the work of various Task Forces and co-authored the HURIDOCS Standard Formats, Micro-thesauri and other publications. He provided workshops and presentations on human rights information management and documentation techniques in collaboration with HURIDOCS’ partners in about 60 countries. This helped him to gain insight in the strengths (and weaknesses) of many different human rights organisations. After his retirement, he stayed actively involved in other international NGOs. Bert is originally from the Netherlands and lives in Geneva since 1993. Bert joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2026.
Professor Edward (Eddie) Abbott-Halpin is an expert on human rights and information communication technologies. He was a member of the HURIDOCS Board from 2009 until 2018, serving as Chair from 2011-2016. He teaches in the School of Computing and Creative Technology at Leeds Becket University, where he is Co-Chair of the Digital Research Centre. Eddie has worked for the European Parliament’s Scientific and Technical Options Assessment (STOA) Unit on human rights information, the Child Rights Information Network, and the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children. He co-published Human Rights and the Internet (2000) and co-edited Human Rights and Information Communication Technologies: Trends and Consequences of Use (2012).
Georgios Damtsas is a Partner at Capital Group. He is a global portfolio manager with Capital World Investors. Georgios joined the Capital Group in 2003 in Los Angeles. Since 2006 he has been based in Geneva.
Georgios earned a MPhil degree in European Studies from Cambridge University, and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) with First Class Honours. He joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2019.
Grace Kwak Danciu was a Product Manager at Google for over 19 years, and worked on products such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google Calendar. Prior to Google she worked as a Programme Manager at Microsoft. In these roles, Grace led teams in developing products that connect technology with real user needs. Grace has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Harvard University and a master’s degree in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2022 and became the Chair in 2024.
Hannah Forster is Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, a position that she has held since 2001. She was a member of the HURIDOCS Board from 2009 to 2019, having previously served as a member of the HURIDOCS International Advisory Council (1992-2009). A human rights activist with a background in information management, Hannah has served as Chair of the African Democracy Forum and has worked for adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. In 2007, Hannah was the first Gambian to receive the U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.
Jose Grau is an Equity Research Analyst at Capital Group in Geneva where he focuses on diverse sectors including consumer staples, technology, and transport. Previously, Jose worked as an Investment Analyst at Copernicus Wealth Management in Lugano, helping manage equity funds with a focus on energy transition, real estate, and infrastructure. He began his career in investment banking with J.P. Morgan. A graduate of the University of St. Gallen, he holds both a Master’s degree in Banking & Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2025.
Laura Carter is a feminist human rights researcher with a particular interest in the impact of technology on equality and non-discrimination, as well as expertise in open and participatory research. She is a Programme Manager at OLS, an Associate Fellow at the Ada Lovelace Institute, and a Research Fellow with Women in AI Ethics+, and is a former Researcher and Policy Advisor with Amnesty International and Tech Policy Fellow at UC Berkeley. She holds a PhD in Human Rights & Research Methods from the University of Essex, an MA in Gender Studies from SOAS, and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Originally from the UK, she currently lives on the unceded ancestral lands of the Duwamish people, past and present, in Seattle, USA. She joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2026.
Louis Bickford has worked in the international human rights field for over 25 years at institutions including the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), RFK Human Rights, and the Ford Foundation. He has consulted on truth commissions, memory sites, and human rights documentation, as well as philanthropic strategies in human rights more broadly, with various national and international institutions including the United Nations and various philanthropic foundations. He is currently the Founder and CEO of two social enterprises, Memria and MindStory. Bickford is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University, where he teaches regular graduate seminars on human rights and NGOs. He has a PhD from McGill University and an MA from the New School, both in Political Science.
Nighat Dad is a Pakistani lawyer and digital rights activist with extensive experience advocating for online freedom of expression, privacy, and women’s safety. She is the founder and executive director of the Digital Rights Foundation, which supports digital security and counters online harassment, particularly for women in Pakistan.
Her work has earned international recognition, including TIME’s Next Generation Leader, the Atlantic Council Digital Freedom Award, and the Human Rights Tulip. She serves on the boards of The Tor Project and Facebook’s Oversight Board, and is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s AI Advisory Body.
Noah is a Senior Manager at Humanity United, where he leads strategic partnerships and manages programs and grantmaking for the foundation’s Forced Labor and Human Trafficking portfolio. He works with civil society partners across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, including funders, NGOs, grassroots activists, and journalists, to promote worker power, migration, and corporate accountability. Noah is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center on Global Democracy at Cornell’s Brooks School of Public Policy and an advisory board member of Human Rights First. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2026.
Stanley Ibe is a lawyer, human rights advocate, and strategic leader with substantial experience advancing access to justice, legal education, and rule-of-law reforms across Africa. He is Senior Partner at Goodshare & Maxwells, a consulting firm that provides strategic advisory services to government and non-governmental institutions. Previously, at the Open Society Justice Initiative, he managed criminal justice reform programmes, led regional strategic litigation, and contributed to the development of regional human rights standards. Stanley holds an MSc in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, an MBA from the University of Essex, and an LL.M. from Maastricht University. He is Co-Editor of the African Human Rights Law Journal, serves on the inaugural board of the African Network of Clinical Legal Education, and joined the HURIDOCS Board in 2026.