Staff

QUNO has fully-staffed offices in Geneva and New York.

Geneva

Jonathan Woolley

Director

Jonathan Woolley holds an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Applied Biology from the University of Cambridge, UK. He joined QUNO in 2011, bringing more than thirty years’ professional experience of agricultural research, development and capacity building in some fifty countries. Starting as a volunteer teacher in Kenya, he then worked directly with poor farmers in Nigeria, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico. From 1999 to 2009, he led two research networks directed at institutional reform, building cohesive small teams and strengthening innovative partnerships: a ground-breaking agricultural research fund in Ecuador, and the first phase of the "CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food" based in Sri Lanka and active in nine river basins around the world.  He originally joined Friends in the UK some forty years ago, and is a member of Mexico City Monthly Quaker Meeting.

Lindsey Fielder Cook

Representative for Climate Change

Lindsey holds a BA in Politics from the Durham University, an MA in Literature of Conflict from York University, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from DeMontfort University. She joined QUNO in 2013, following a career in conflict areas, initially as a volunteer in reconciliation youth work in Northern Ireland and as a teacher in the Israeli Occupied West Bank.  She has worked with UNRWA on refugee protection in the West Bank, with OHCHR (formerly UNCHR) during the war in the Former Yugoslavia, with UNOSOM in Somalia to help coordinate humanitarian efforts, with UNSCO in Gaza on donor coordination to implement of the Oslo Peace Accords, and in Bonn with UNV on communication of development efforts. Lindsey’s work at QUNO focuses on climate change and environmental degradation as a peace and justice concern, engaging at a international level with the climate change negotiations, climate science, human rights efforts, while seeking to connect international progress with grassroots efforts.  Lindsey is a Member of German Yearly Meeting and lives with her family in Bonn, where QUNO has an office space.

Florence Foster

Representative for Peace and Disarmament

Florence holds an MA in International Relations from Bristol University, UK, and has since specialized in displacement and conflict analysis, with an increasing emphasis on disarmament, mediation and conflict transformation. She began her career as an intern at the Global Protection Cluster and the International Service for Human Rights in Geneva, before moving on to focus on West African conflict dynamics at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, with work in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. Through her latest roles as Programme Manager at the Fondation Suisse de Déminage and Finn Church Aid, Florence led mediation and armed violence reduction initiatives in the Central African Republic.

Joachim Monkelbaan

Representative for Sustainable and Just Economic Systems

Joachim Monkelbaan joined QUNO in March 2019 as Representative for our Sustainable and Just Economic Systems programme, which seeks to foster economic systems that deliver prosperity for all. Joachim holds a Masters degree in International Law and Economics (World Trade Institute, Berne), an LL.M. in European Law and Languages (Maastricht University and University of Westminster), and a PhD in sustainability governance (University of Geneva). He brings 15 years of professional experience with organizations such as UN Environment, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), World Health Organization (WHO), Institute for Developing Economies (Tokyo, Japan), and Climate-KIC (Brussels) and with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Joachim directed several Sustainability Impact Assessments of trade and investment agreements for the European Commission. He is co-founder of the Sustainability Leadership Lab, a training institute focused on raised awareness of complex adaptive systems, group dynamics, and leadership competencies.

Laurel Townhead

Representative for Human Rights and Refugees

Laurel Townhead has a Degree in Law & Politics from the University of Manchester and a Masters in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. Laurel joined QUNO as Human Rights and Refugees Representative in 2014 and has over 15 years experience working on human rights protection nationally and through the UN human rights system, during which time she has worked on a wide range issues, including women’s rights and refugee protection. Immediately before coming to QUNO, Laurel was Policy and Campaigns Manager for Women in Prison; a role that included advocating for national implementation of the Bangkok Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners, which she contributed to drafting. At QUNO Laurel continues to work on human rights and criminal justice, with a focus on the rights of children of incarcerated parents. Laurel leads our work on human rights of migrants. Building on work to secure an ambitious, effective and human rights based Global Compact for Migration, Laurel focuses on how the UN system can better promote and protect the rights of migrants regardless of status. Laurel also takes forward our long term commitment to recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service. Laurel is an attender of Geneva Monthly Meeting.

Marisa Leon Gomez Sonet

Programme Assistant, Human Rights and Refugees

Marisa León-Gómez Sonet holds a master’s degree in global affairs with a concentration in international peace studies from the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame (IN,USA). She earned her bachelor’s degree in global affairs, international development and French from Salve Regina University (RI, USA). She most recently worked as Legislative Associate at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) on immigration and refugee U.S. domestic policy. Prior to this she worked with the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) on issues regarding U.S. foreign policy to Latin America, human rights, immigration and social justice.

Marisa's global affairs background also includes working with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa, The Trust for the Americas, an organization affiliated to the Organization of America States (OAS) in Washington, D.C, and the Auschwitz Institute in New York. Marisa is originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras and is deeply committed to incorporating an intersectional lens to advocate for more humane, dignified and people-centered migration and refugee systems. 

Maya Street

Programme Assistant, Peace and Disarmament

Maya holds a degree in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Sheffield and an Msc in Humanitarianism, Aid and Conflict from SOAS. Over the years, Maya has worked on humanitarian responses to conflict and crisis in the Philippines with Filipino NGO ECOWEB and focussed on community-led responses to crises as a Researcher for Local to Global Protection. She has also volunteered on refugee programmes with Caritas Jordan and locally in the UK. These experiences have shaped her interest in peace processes, local climate action and humanitarian response. Maya comes from a long line of Quakers and has attended various Quaker meetings throughout her life.

 

Andres Naranjo

Programme Assistant, Climate Change and Sustainability

Andres holds a B.A. in Political Science from Kenyon College (Gambier, OH, USA), having performed a year abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In his personal life, Andres has been exposed to many of the themes that drive the Human Impacts of Climate Change and the Sustainable and Just Economic Systems programmes at QUNO. After completing his undergraduate studies, Andres decided to pursue a double Master’s degree in International Relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy & International Relations, as well as the University of Business International Studies.

In Geneva, Andres has supported United Nations work on disarmament (UNODA), humanitarian action (UNICEF), and has contributed to academic work on sustainability and climate change. Andres is guided by the principle of justice and loves to incorporate human touch stories into his professional and academic work. Andres looks forward to contributing to the work of QUNO, and is highly motivated by the prospect of finding nexuses in the work of QUNO's various programmes.

Susan Sprague Parachini

Finance Officer

Susan, a Canadian with a B.A. in Geography from the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, joined QUNO in March 2014. She traveled the world extensively as an administrative manager of different resorts of a well-known hotel chain before settling in Geneva to work as office manager and assistant to the ambassador of the Colombian Mission to the World Trade Organization. Susan then worked as project finance officer for the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association (IUF), running educational projects on health and safety in the workplace for IUF members worldwide. Most recently Susan and her husband created and ran a restaurant in Burgundy, France, before returning to Geneva in autumn 2013.

Tamara Wiher

Office Manager

Tamara comes to QUNO with over 15 years experience working with governments, the United Nations, companies, and civil society organizations in four different continents to promote respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and corporate social responsibility. Before joining QUNO she has led the secretariat of the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes initiative based in Geneva. Previously she worked in the Human Rights Policy Office of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern, helping to shape Swiss foreign policy on human rights, managing projects and organizing events and trainings. Before returning to her home country Switzerland in 2012, she had also worked with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, the UN Development Programme in Niger, and with a local NGO in Timor Leste. Tamara holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.

New York

Andrew Tomlinson

Director & Quaker UN Representative

Andrew Tomlinson is Director of the Quaker UN Office (QUNO) in New York. He holds Masters Degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Pennsylvania, where he specialized in South Asia and the Middle East. Andrew joined QUNO in 2008 after working in international finance and socially responsible investing in London and New York. Andrew’s programmatic focus includes the integration of peacebuilding and prevention perspectives across the UN system, and upholding the role of peaceful, just and inclusive societies within development frameworks and beyond. A Quaker since he came to Philadelphia from the UK on an exchange scholarship, Andrew is now a member of Chatham-Summit Monthly Meeting in New Jersey.

Megan Schmidt

Quaker UN Representative

Megan joins QUNO with knowledge and experience in the fields of human rights and atrocities prevention, and holds Masters degrees in Humanities and Social Thought from New York University and in Human Rights and Genocide Studies from Kingston University. Having worked with the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, the Wiener Library, and the Kurdish Human Rights Project, Megan has conducted comparative genocide research, worked to advance the Responsibility to Protect at the UN and globally, and implemented a diverse range of atrocity prevention programs throughout the world. She has written a range of materials focusing on the Responsibility to Protect, women’s rights and participation, among other issues related to the field of atrocity prevention. In her role at QUNO, Megan leads the organization’s Peacebuilding Program, working in the United Nations environment to support more holistic and people-centered peace strategies and policy development. Outside of QUNO Megan is an avid runner and serves as a Run Director for a local running group, and resides with her husband and dog in Manhattan.

Kavita Desai

Quaker UN Representative

Kavita joins QUNO from the UN Foundation's Global Policy Team where she supported UN processes around sustainable development and led engagement at the regional and global level across development and human rights issues. Prior to that she was Adviser to the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, from 2010 to 2016, where she negotiated the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, advocating for the adoption of SDG 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies. 

Kavita holds a BA from Rutgers University College where she double majored in political science and art history, and a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Pace University Law School with certificates in environmental and international law.

Andrew McKenna

Office Coordinator

Andrew joined QUNO after completing 2 years of volunteering with the Peace Corps. Serving as a community agribusiness specialist, Andrew lived in Uganda for 2 years, working with a local community-based organization on reducing the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS, and trying to help women and families improve their economic and nutritional security. Before that, he worked in the Office of Student Life at Northern Virginia Community College. Andrew graduated from James Madison University with a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.B.A. in Hospitality and Tourism Management. After college, he worked for a few years as a restaurant manager before transitioning into administrative management and support roles.

He misses the beautiful starry nights from Uganda, and loves talking about news in astronomy. Andrew is excited to try and support the work QUNO does in promoting global nonviolence and human rights.

Hannah Patterson

Programme Associate

Hannah joins QUNO after graduating from Middlebury College with a BA in Political Science and Philosophy, and a minor in Spanish. In her studies she explored different conceptualizations of enacting ethical justice by grounding this work in the materiality of how oppression and inequality are experienced, and focusing on the specific interrogation of the systems that preclude the realization of justice both locally and internationally. Her thesis explored the philosophical relationship between empathy and morality and the practical ways in which empathy can be harnessed to facilitate social change, specifically through its unique positioning as a means to transition away from retributive justice towards restorative and transformative models.

Her current areas of interest include human rights, holistic and transformative policy development, and the promotion of equitable representation of traditionally marginalized perspectives in diplomacy, as well as in the development of dynamic and contextualized processes that attend to the both the root causes and long-term effects of conflict.

Having been raised Quaker, she is looking forward to putting her Quaker values into practice and applying them to complex crisis resolution as well as sustainable peacebuilding on an international scale. Outside of QUNO, Hannah enjoys horseback riding and loves talking about regenerative farming.

Cecile Adrian

Programme Assistant

Cecile joins QUNO after a year of childcare work and mutual aid organizing with Tubman House, a group fighting food apartheid by building food sovereignty in Sandtown, Baltimore. She graduated from Goucher College in 2020 where she majored in Peace Studies and minored in Africana and Religious Studies. In 2019 she studied abroad in Durban, South Africa where she interned at Asiye eTafuleni, a civil society group advocating for self-employed/informal workers’ rights, and conducted research on gender and work precarity. As a Peer Educator at Goucher’s Title IX office she worked on gender-based violence prevention on her college campus.

Cecile’s four years at a Quaker school sparked her interest in religion and its role in social movements. She is looking forward to learning about the UN system and QUNO’s Quaker working methods. She is passionate about learning pottery and dance techniques from around the world.