Our staff and volunteers

Nepal Project Committee Members

Michael Beer-USA, first interned with PBI in 1986 and has been involved with PBI ever since. Michael is a founding member of the Nepal Project. Today Michael serves on many other PBI committees, many of which he co-founded. He served on the International Council from 2001-2004. Michael currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his family and is the Director of Nonviolence International.

Samar Badouin-Palestine, resides in Jerusalem where she manages Bread for the World Local Support Office in the Middle East. She has extensive experience in working with civil society, with emphasis on social development and mobilization through empowering, strengthening and supporting community based organizations, civil society organizations and NGOs. She is also a trainer in areas of project planning, management, fundraising and evaluation. 

Erika Jennerjahn-Meyer-Germany, joined PBI Nepal in January 2006 as a member of the Human Resources Subcommittee and later also as a member of the Project Committee. She worked with the German Development Service (DED) as a trainer and also served 6 years in Nepal as a country director for DED. She worked also two years as a programme director with KURVE Wustrow, a centre for education and non-violent action. Erika is now retired.

Núria del Pozo-Spain, joined the PC in November 2007. She has a degree in Law and a master in Communitarian Law and a diploma in European Studies and International Relations. Núria has worked as an In-house counsel in various companies and as a volunteer in different NGO's. Actually she is also a member of the board of PBI Catalonia regional group and a Spanish state representative as observer in the International Council of Peace Brigades International.

Nikki Evans-UK, joined the PBI Project Committee in November 2007. She previously worked with PBI Colombia as a field volunteer from 2005-2006. Before joining PBI Colombia, she spent 3 years in the Asia and Latin America divisions at Christian Aid, followed by 18 months with the environmental/legal organisation Protimos. She holds a degree in Anthropology and Spanish and is currently the director of Alekto c.i.c, an organisation dedicated to supporting access to justice projects in Latin America.

Debra Stanislawski-USA, has a background in International Relations and French. She worked with refugees in Chicago in 2005-2006, volunteered with PBI-USA in Chicago in the organization of an event about PBI Colombia in 2005, went to a PBI-USA orientation session both as preparation for volunteering (2005) and as a contact person for the Nepal Project (2007). She then served on the PBI-Nepal field team from September 2006 to December 2007 and has since been involved in the Project Committee and Strategy Sub-committee.    

Frauke Ricking-Germany, joined the PBI-Nepal Project in 2006. She stayed on the team in Kathmandu from October 2006-October 2007 and is currently deployed by PBI-Germany as Nepal Advisor and serves on the Project Committee of the Nepal Project. Frauke has a bachelor in Social Work and a master in Intercultural Work and Conflict Management.   

Kalle Bergkvist-Sweden, studied in Uppsala and holds a Degree of Master in Peace and Conflict Studies. He was on the PBI-NEP team from September 2006-May 2007 and is a member of the Strategy Sub-committee since October 2007. Currently, Kalle is working with a Human Rights Organisation in India. He is interested in the interplay between armed conflict and Human Rights.

Christopher Shier-USA, joined PBI Nepal's strategy committee in mid-2007. He received a BA in Economics from Northwestern University and a MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford. Prior to his current position focusing on socio-political crisis in Southeast Asia, Christopher had worked in Nepal and Afghanistan in the 1990s.

PBI-Nepal Staff

Deborah Smith-Canada, joined PBI-Nepal as Project Coordinator in March 2008.  She is a lawyer with a concentration in international law and social justice.  Her professional background in law and communications includes work with the Canadian Red Cross, Refugee Coalition, and a community legal clinic program helping women escape domestic and sexual violence.  She is a longtime human rights activist with Amnesty International, and a Red Cross disaster response volunteer

Michael Bluett-UK, worked with children and young people at risk in the UK for over 10 years. He then worked in Naples, Italy, with immigrants from the Roma community. He has an interest in poverty, social control and community empowerment. µMike joined PBI Nepal project in the new post of In Country Coordinator in March 2008. Before this he worked in Papua Indonesia as a volunteer with PBI in 2006/07.

Roy Taylor-UK, part-time finance worker. He has been connected with PBI since 2002, when he started working for the Colombia Project. He is now a voluntary member of the PBI International Finance Committee. Roy lives with his wife, daughter and grand-daughter in Canterbury, UK. He has extensive experience of living and working in a variety of countries, including Angola, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain and France.

Raghu Menon-India
Raghu worked as a journalist in New Delhi for two years after receiving a B.A. (Honours) in Journalism. He completed a M.A. in Social Sciences in 2007 and undertook studies in Germany, South Africa and India. In late 2007, he researched and drafted the periodic report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child for UNICEF Chhattisgarh (India).

Krystal Mason-USA
After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in behavioural neuroscience from Lehigh University, she worked as a biology teacher for two years (2005-2007) with American Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa. After hearing about PBI’s work at a college seminar, she became interested in the work of Human rights defenders, especially in Nepal.

Giorgio Ferlisi-Italia
He worked previously in Sri Lanka for Non Violent Peace Force in 2006 -2007, in Colombia with PBI Colombia on the sub team of Uraba in 2005, and in Nigeria for Women Environmental Programme in 2002. He holds a degree in law at University of Torino and a Master in Law at School of Oriental and African Studies (London).

Chaya Shapiro-USA
Chaya received her B.A. in Anthropology from Northern Arizona University in 2003 and an MSc in Ethnicity and Multiculturalism from the University of Bristol in 2005. She has worked as a journalist in Arizona and in various human rights organisations in Central and North America, Europe and South Asia.