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.

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.

Alice Munnelly is Irish and holds an LLB in Law and an MA in War Studies from King’s College London. During her time at university, Alice won the Doughty Street Chambers Human Rights Law advocacy award and helped to found a pro bono mediation clinic during her presidency of the King’s College London Pro Bono Society. Since graduating from law school, Alice has been appointed to the US Embassy’s Young Leaders Council in Dublin and been awarded the Graham Turnbull Human Rights Law Prize from the Law Society of England & Wales. 

Alice is an accredited mediator and a Co-Chair of the UK-based Young Mediators’ Group. Her published articles range from topics such as mediating art & cultural property disputes to peace mediation and the role of mediation support units. She has also delivered training in conflict transformation, negotiation and mediation to NGOs in the US and Europe, and to students at a Yale Summer School. Alice has also worked in international politics at the European Parliament, and in diplomacy at the British Embassy in Paris as part of the UK Delegation to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

René studied at the International School of Geneva before starting his career in international banking in Geneva and Johannesburg. He has worked as management consultant for an American company, as a coffee and cocoa trader in Africa and Madagascar, and in administration and finance with international companies in Geneva. He completed his studies as Swiss specialist in finance and accounting in 2006 and is now member of the Board of a dozen SMEs. He also works as a consultant in finance, human resources, fiscal issues and organization with both small and large companies.

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.

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.