Associates

gabriela desiderio 

Gabriela is a Brazilian marketeer who moved to The Netherlands after doing her MBA in the UK.

Although her  background is in science, Gabriela’s interest is in Digital Marketing. With skills in content creation, online ads planning, social media management, data analysis, Google Adwords, Facebook Business and Google Analytics, Gabriela is the perfect person to join The Funding Lab team. 

Gabriela is passionate about how  technology can help impact on people’s lives for the better.  In her words “having a great sense of purpose in work is something that I have always sought. In this sense, working with IFC is an incredible opportunity for me and I am very glad to join the team, keen to meet new people, and looking forward to new ideas and projects”.

Marije Oosterhek

Marije is an experienced persuasive writer and international fundraiser, in (small) inclusive businesses, inclusive finance and impact investing sectors. Marije helps to identify opportunities, and co-create project plans and proposals. She coordinates the proposal/tender process, co-creates, writes and reviews proposals, and handles submissions. Experienced in developing relationships with donors and stakeholders as well.

After leaving ING Bank in 2015 Marije founded a non-profit organisation for small and growing entrepreneurs in Cuba. The foundation supports the entrepreneurs – and Cuban organisations that work with entrepreneurs – with capacity building and coaching. Marije has been, and still is, responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with the Cuban stakeholders, and fundraising.

Phoebe Walker

Phoebe has a successful background in supporting the growth and resilience of organisations with unique and urgent stories to tell. She is experienced in arts, social policy and front-line services fundraising and development, with previous full-time roles at Toynbee Hall, a social justice organisation based in the East End of London; The Poetry Society, the UK’s leading organisation for poetry; and The Bush Theatre, an independent new writing theatre in West London. Her diverse portfolio of NGO clients has also included an Iraqi heritage institute; an organisation supporting young journalists; and a charity which leads participatory workshops across the UK’s detention system. Her wide-ranging experience covers capital campaigns, corporate partnership development, pro bono programme management, and high-level private and statutory grant fundraising. She has a particular interest in the participatory arts, community leadership and access to education.

Phoebe is an alumnus of the prestigious Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Fellowship Programme and holds a Masters degree in English Literature. She is also an editor, reviewer and published poet.

Jemini Shah

Jemini is a qualified, multi-skilled fundraiser with over 10 years’ experience, specialising in event management, community and corporate fundraising within the non-profit sector.

Having worked in both local and national charities in the UK, some of Jemini’s notable achievements include leading a small team accountable for the successful growth and restructuring (including realising process efficiencies) of a patient-centered, health charity ’s multi-source £600,000 revenue stream.

Jemini is well aware of the broad range of intractable challenges faced across the non-profit sector and is keen to engage with organisations to support the delivery of their strategic goals. She has a particular passion for marketing with a strong background in online and digital communications. Jemini truly understands the added value of these digital marketing channels and the benefits of combining these with donor relationship management to generate increased funding, whether it be from the organic fundraising activities of the organisation or supporter-led fundraising.

With a creative and innovative mindset, Jemini takes pride in engaging with cross-functional stakeholders at all levels and working closely with them to ensure that problems are identified and solved in a structured and robust manner. Jemini has always been able to maximise return on investment and brings the necessary skills and experience to help deliver success on your next project, from brainstorming during the concept phase, right through feasibility and implementation.

Twyla Jenner

Twyla is an experienced international fundraiser in the medical research, animal welfare, sustainable development and social welfare sectors in small and large international organisations.

Specialising in legacy marketing and major donor development, she is passionate about donor motivations and how we can create and maintain happy relationships. She has lead teams through organisational restructures and worked with organisations during rebranding exercises. She loves bringing people together and sharing their enthusiasm to make change happen.

Twyla’s background is in political science with an interest is food security.

CLARA SABINA BOWLEY

Clara is an anthropologist and public health professional with fifteen years of work experience in the non-profit sector including five years in Africa. After many years of working with direct project implementation, quality assurance and monitoring & evaluation, she started working as the institutional fundraiser for a Dutch non-profit based in Amsterdam called Health Works. As a member of the fundraising team, she helped to identify and plan all tender submissions. Clara coordinated the process from identification, through actual proposal development, to submission.  In 2016, Clara coordinated the winning proposals for a 3M EUR World Bank project and a 1.2M EUR UNFPA project, both for Afghanistan. Parallel to fundraising she held the role of the portfolio manager, where she focused on Afghanistan, the largest portfolio of the organization with 14 projects funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Global Fund, European Commission, UNFPA, and World Bank among others. Clara established close coordination with the country team and technical advisors to execute donor contracts. She monitored the project’s budgets and gave advice on optimal spending as well as on the quality of implementation. Clara also coordinated the registration of the organisation in Pakistan and networked to re-start the portfolio.

Currently, in addition to being an Associate consultant at IFC, Clara is also involved as a volunteer institutional fundraiser for a start-up organization called She Matters, which is empowering refugee and immigrant women by connecting them with jobs.

In Clara’s own words “Supporting non-profit organizations in the international development sector is more than just a job for me, it’s a passion and something I thoroughly enjoy and take pride in”.

STEVEN HAWKES

Steven has a range of experience in the non-profit sector, from small local start-ups to well-established international development NGOs. Most recently Steven worked at WaterAid and Consumers International, securing significant long-term funds from some of the world’s largest and most prestigious funders including governments, multilateral institutions, and private foundations.

Prior to this Steven spent five years at FoodCycle in London, managing fundraising and communications for a rapidly growing start-up that brings communities together over the issue of food waste. In this role Steven developed a number of fruitful relationships with funders, local governments and corporates, as well as experience working on campaigns and project management.

Steven is currently studying a Masters in Public Policy and Governance at the University of Amsterdam. He has a particular interest in food systems, climate change, sustainable development, social justice and human rights.

HAYLEY ROSE

As well as major gifts experience, Hayley has worked for three start up NGOs. At the age of 26 she was Chief Executive of Beauchamp Lodge Settlement a struggling charity in London.  In three years she turned its fortunes around to become a thriving organisation with a sustainable and diverse income and funding stream.

Hayley instigated and conducted a thorough overhaul of: staffing structures, accounting systems, programme delivery, impact reporting & quality assurance and asset management (the organisation owned considerable assets which were consistently being undermined through lack of investment and through sale in order to generate short term income).

With this strong foundation Hayley:

• Secured a number of long-term grants to support the educational and community development programs delivered to residents in some of London’s most deprived   boroughs.
• Put in place an investment plan for the organisations assets.
• Developed the social enterprise aspect of the charity to ensure that assets were maximised to increase earned income.

From 2007 – 2012, Hayley worked with Aflatoun an Interntional NGO based in Amsterdam.  She saw the organsiation grow from its start-up phase to become a thriving organization working in over 100 countries, reaching over 2 million children with its educational programme.  Hayley initially oversaw the expansion of the organsation in the European region but finally left Aflatoun as Head of Resources responsible for overseeing finance, fundraising and operations.  Hayley was responsible for ensuring that over 1 million euro annually was raised both for the Dutch office and for Aflatoun’s partners globally.

Most recently Hayley has been the lead consultant on a project to develop Major Gift Fundraising at the Hartstichting.  She has been working with them over the last year to develop the strategy and operational plan in order to establish Major Gift fundraising within the organisaiton.

With Hayley’s experience of Higher Education fundraising and alumni relations, Hayley has also played a prominent role in the Erasmus Trustfonds 100Mil Euro campaign and has been the lead consultant on several areas of the project including prospect management.

BECKY WALSH

Marketing consultant with 23 years business experience. She has run several successful businesses, worked with everyone from plcs to start ups and knows how to make your marketing really effective.

For the last 12 years Becky has been working as a marketing consultant with a wide range of organisations including an award-winning London design agency, an international strategic marketing consultancy, a Middle Eastern cancer foundation and a small African HIV sports development charity.

Becky has worked in the international marine industry for a long time and to add diversity to an already diverse profile, has owned and run her own profitable restaurant, developed a brand and marketed a gardening service in North London, worked with a leading women in business network, done a Bordeaux harvest, learnt to cook in New Zealand and have worked in six countries including three years in Saudi Arabia.

Becky studied business and languages at university, majoring in marketing .