Board of Directors

Hanna Gerdes has worked nationally and internationally for 20 years to strengthen the protection of human rights and influence the development of society. Hanna is a lawyer in international law and has previously worked in strategic management and development roles at the Swedish Armed Forces, the Human Rights Fund, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Equality Ombudsman. Hanna has extensive experience in board work, in organisations such as RFSU and Forum Syd. She has also been a member of the Swedish Committee on Constitutional Damages and has authored several books and publications on human rights. Hanna was awarded the Diversity Index Award 2018.

Noura Berrouba works full-time with democracy and human rights issues, focusing on the young civil society. She is the working president of LSU – the National Council of Swedish Youth Organisations. She has previously worked at the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa and at the department for foreign and security policy at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Noura has a background of studies in international humanitarian law and has worked in many national and international settings with democracy, human rights as well as peace and security.

Caroline Thunved has over 25 years of experience working in communication, marketing and business development in both civil society and private industry. Caroline works as CEO of the Swedish Communication Association. She has extensive experience as a leader and has previously worked at Save the Children Sweden, the Guides and Scouts of Sweden and the Employers’ Organisation IDEA. She ranked high on Resumé’s top list of Supercommunicators and she won the Stora Kommunikatörspriset 2016.

Anne Ramberg has been a lawyer since 1976, of which 13 years with her own law firm. She has been a member of the Ethical review board at the Swedish National Police Board and was between 2000 and 2019 the Secretary General for the Swedish Bar Association. She has several assignment in Sweden and internationally, among other as a member of the board at the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, IBAHRI and as an ad-hoc judge at the European Court of Human Rights as well as mediator at the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSSE, and chairperson of the board at the Stockholm Centre for the Rights of the Child at Stockholm University.

Christian is a member of the Swedish Bar Association since 1983 and has focused on international humanitarian law, labour law and criminal cases. Christian was the driving force behind the establishment of the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) in 2002 and its secretary-general until 2015. Christian has previously been chairman of the Swedish Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee and the European Human Rights Committee within the CCBE (Conseil Consultatif des Barreaux Européens). Since 2005, he has also been Sweden’s representative in the Council of Europe´s Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).

Niclas Kjellström-Matseke is a Swedish business leader, board professional, international investor and serves as Interim Group CEO of Talent Venture Group. He was previously the CEO of Novamedia from its start 2005 until 2016. Niclas has a special focus on sustainable business, and UN’s work with the Sustainable Development Goals. He holds positions on several international NGO boards, as Chairman of Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, and as board member of UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Forest Withaker’s Peace & Development Initiative, and The Robert F. Kennedy’s Human Rights Foundation.

Lars works at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he is a lecturer and researcher in leadership and change. He is also the founder and CEO of the company Enable Performance AB, which works with development of organisations and individuals . Lars previously worked as HR Director of Stora Enso, a company active in the field of renewable materials, and before that as HR Director of Nordea. He has also worked in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and the US. Lars has an education in behavioural science and economics from Uppsala University.

Ulla Andrén has worked with development cooperation and diplomacy for over 40 years, primarily within Sida and the Foreign Ministry, with a focus on Africa and Eastern Europe. Ulla has been Head of Department at Sida and the Swedish Ambassador to Mozambique. For the past five years, she has been Head of the Regional Development Cooperation Section at the embassy of Sweden in Addis Abeba. Ulla has also worked as a consultant specialised on development cooperation, as well as with efficiency audits at the Swedish National Audit Office. In total, she has lived and worked for almost 20 years in Africa.

Lena Svensson is a former certified public accountant and partner at PwC. She has several years of experience as an accountant and advisor in the nonprofit sector and has, among other things, worked with organisations within the fundraising and international development sectors. Beyond leading numerous audit teams, Lena has held several leadership roles within PwC, namely as group manager and business area manager, and has been responsible for developing PwC’s nonprofit sector department. Today, Lena holds several board positions and works as a consultant, specialising in associations and foundations.