Our Team

A small but highly effective team

The Power of Nutrition has a lean but highly experienced team of experts in finance, international development, and nutrition, primarily based in the UK. The team drives the main areas of our work, including convening partnerships, managing our investments portfolio, monitoring progress, conducting due diligence of new partners and programmes, and delivering communications and advocacy activities to encourage new and diverse funding for global nutrition.

 

OUR Team

  • Jim Emerson

    Chief Executive Officer

    Jim joined The Power of Nutrition in June 2023.  He is a senior international development and humanitarian leader with 40+ years’ experience across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, 27 of them in developing countries.  He has wide-ranging governance (chair/trustee) and senior executive (CEO, CFO, COO) experience in global and local organisations, and a track record in establishing, leading, and governing organisations working on sustainable development, humanitarian action, social justice, and human rights.  In recent years, Jim has focussed on providing interim executive services and supporting organisations with strategy and governance development.

    Jim took time off in 2015/16 to complete an MSc in International Strategy and Diplomacy at LSE IDEAS to reflect on his experience and to see the world from a fresh perspective.  Previously he studied Public Health, Development Policy, Philosophy and Theology.

    Jim is from the UK.  His spouse, a teaching assistant, is from Burkina Faso, where they have a second home.  They have three (adult) boys.

  • Chris Skeet headshot

    Chris Skeet

    Director, Finance

    Having worked at The Power of Nutrition since July 2015, Chris has brought a wealth of finance and operational experience from over 25 years spent in commercial (private equity, compliance software and healthcare) and not-for-profit finance roles. Chris qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town.

  • Carla Martins

    Director, Human Resources and Operations

    Carla joined The Power of Nutrition in March 2016. She leads all HR and Operations activities and is responsible for the provision of a comprehensive and professional Human Resources service, implementation of strategic initiatives and management of operational HR activities. Additionally, Carla organises and oversees all office operations, and ensures the organisation is running effectively by continuously enhancing business improvement strategies.

    Carla joined us with more than 20 years’ experience in the private sector, in leading and driving the delivery of strategic plans as well as strategic and operational leadership. Carla holds a Coaching certification, a CIPD Level 7 diploma in Human Resources Management, a MBA in International Management and a Master’s degree in Management.

Jim joined The Power of Nutrition in June 2023.  He is a senior international development and humanitarian leader with 40+ years’ experience across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, 27 of them in developing countries.  He has wide-ranging governance (chair/trustee) and senior executive (CEO, CFO, COO) experience in global and local organisations, and a track record in establishing, leading, and governing organisations working on sustainable development, humanitarian action, social justice, and human rights.  In recent years, Jim has focussed on providing interim executive services and supporting organisations with strategy and governance development.

Jim took time off in 2015/16 to complete an MSc in International Strategy and Diplomacy at LSE IDEAS to reflect on his experience and to see the world from a fresh perspective.  Previously he studied Public Health, Development Policy, Philosophy and Theology.

Jim is from the UK.  His spouse, a teaching assistant, is from Burkina Faso, where they have a second home.  They have three (adult) boys.

Having worked at The Power of Nutrition since July 2015, Chris has brought a wealth of finance and operational experience from over 25 years spent in commercial (private equity, compliance software and healthcare) and not-for-profit finance roles. Chris qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town.

Carla joined The Power of Nutrition in March 2016. She leads all HR and Operations activities and is responsible for the provision of a comprehensive and professional Human Resources service, implementation of strategic initiatives and management of operational HR activities. Additionally, Carla organises and oversees all office operations, and ensures the organisation is running effectively by continuously enhancing business improvement strategies.

Carla joined us with more than 20 years’ experience in the private sector, in leading and driving the delivery of strategic plans as well as strategic and operational leadership. Carla holds a Coaching certification, a CIPD Level 7 diploma in Human Resources Management, a MBA in International Management and a Master’s degree in Management.

  • Alok Ranjan

    Director of Programmes & Investments

    Dr. Alok I Ranjan joined the team as Director of Programmes and Investments in January 2021. Alok has over 17 years of experience across various public health and nutrition programs and is a medical doctor with a post-graduate degree in Community Medicine.

    Prior to The Power of Nutrition, he led the Nutrition program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Asia. Prior to that, Alok worked with UNICEF and led nutrition programs for the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, states which collectively contribute to around 10% of the global burden of stunted children. He also has extensive experience working on child health, maternal health, routine immunisation and emergency health at UNICEF; working on Polio Eradication at WHO; and health research with Indian Institute of Management -Ahmedabad.

  • Shelley Pigott

    Director of Strategic Engagement

    Shelley joined the team part time in August 2022 and then full time from November 2022 as Director of Strategic Engagement.  She has spent 20 years working for international charities, and the majority of those in organisations that seek to serve the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.  These include Unicef UK, Save the Children, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and a small but inspiring charity called We See Hope, all across which she has developed multi-million-pound partnerships and projects to deliver interventions at scale.  Shelley serves on the board of Medair UK and advises the global organisation on income growth.  She has also been a consultant for several other large NGO’s in the UK and the US.

    Shelley leads the team to develop innovative funding strategies to deliver the greatest results for those we support and work with in Africa and Asia.  She is passionate about building effective and mutually beneficial partnerships across the private and public sectors to deliver sustainable change at a local, national and global level.

Dr. Alok I Ranjan joined the team as Director of Programmes and Investments in January 2021. Alok has over 17 years of experience across various public health and nutrition programs and is a medical doctor with a post-graduate degree in Community Medicine.

Prior to The Power of Nutrition, he led the Nutrition program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Asia. Prior to that, Alok worked with UNICEF and led nutrition programs for the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, states which collectively contribute to around 10% of the global burden of stunted children. He also has extensive experience working on child health, maternal health, routine immunisation and emergency health at UNICEF; working on Polio Eradication at WHO; and health research with Indian Institute of Management -Ahmedabad.

Shelley joined the team part time in August 2022 and then full time from November 2022 as Director of Strategic Engagement.  She has spent 20 years working for international charities, and the majority of those in organisations that seek to serve the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.  These include Unicef UK, Save the Children, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and a small but inspiring charity called We See Hope, all across which she has developed multi-million-pound partnerships and projects to deliver interventions at scale.  Shelley serves on the board of Medair UK and advises the global organisation on income growth.  She has also been a consultant for several other large NGO’s in the UK and the US.

Shelley leads the team to develop innovative funding strategies to deliver the greatest results for those we support and work with in Africa and Asia.  She is passionate about building effective and mutually beneficial partnerships across the private and public sectors to deliver sustainable change at a local, national and global level.

Lucia joined The Power of Nutrition in July 2019 as Team Assistant. She provides support in the general running of the office. Prior to this, Lucia worked for The Health and Safety Executive as an administrator assisting Inspectors.

Anne joined The Power of Nutrition as the Senior Nutrition Specialist in 2017. She has over 25 years of experience in the humanitarian relief and development sector, specialising in nutrition and public health. Most recently she was Head of Innovation and Consumer Needs at the Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor. Prior to that she was Director of Programmes for Valid international, managing technical assistance and operational research into treatment of acute malnutrition and bringing about the WHO endorsement and international mainstreaming of community based management of acute malnutrition. Prior to that she was Programme Director and Senior Health Advisor for Children’s Aid Direct covering multisectoral emergency relief and development programmes.

Anne has worked in the UK, the US, and extensively across Africa and Asia. She is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in public health.

Jeffrey works with The Power of Nutrition’s implementing partners and governments to identify investment opportunities and oversee the design and implementation of evidence-based programmes. His current portfolio includes investments in  Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Prior to joining The Power of Nutrition, he was a Program Officer at the ELMA Philanthropies where he developed and managed catalytic grants to improve maternal and child health outcomes across Southern Africa. This followed five years of technical assistance support to the governments of Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa to strengthen health systems towards  achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis services. Jeffrey was a Global Health Corps and Aspen New Voices Fellow and is an alumnus  of the Universities of Malawi, Bristol and Oxford.

Charlotte Morgan-Fallah has over 15 years’ experience in international development and humanitarian response, with a particular focus on maternal and child health and nutrition, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, and mental health and psychosocial support.

Before joining The Power of Nutrition, Charlotte was the Head of Region for West and Central Africa at the British Red Cross, leading humanitarian and development teams, programmes and partnerships within the region. Before this, Charlotte oversaw the health grants strategy and portfolio at Comic Relief as the Strategic Lead for Health and Wellbeing. Prior to this, Charlotte held a range of Programme and Grant Management roles with organisations including Save the Children, Concern Worldwide and Children in Crisis, working predominantly across West and Central Africa.

Charlotte has an MSc in Global Health from the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) at the University of Manchester, and a BA in English Literature from University College London.

Before joining The Power of Nutrition, in her previous roles with Valid International and Valid Evaluation, Basia managed a large portfolio of nutrition and humanitarian research projects in Asia and Africa. While working for Valid International, Basia provided technical support to partners and helped build local capacity. She also worked on the design and implementation of coverage evaluations for CMAM nutrition programmes in the field (such as SQUEAC/SLEAC). Since 2009, Basia worked in Niger and Burkina Faso (for UNICEF, HKI, World Vision and Save the Children) and managed nutrition projects in Chad, Mali and Mauritania. More recently, under Valid Evaluations, she managed a 5 year evaluation  for DFID Multi-Year Funding Evaluation in DRC, Sudan, Pakistan and Ethiopia, and was  closely involved with the DRC and Pakistan research component, implementing qualitative field work on resilience in North and South Kivu and Peshawar in Pakistan. Basia is fluent in Polish, English, French and Spanish.

Suleiman is a Public Health Specialist with over 10 years of working experience in health systems strengthening, improving maternal, adolescents  & child nutrition programmes, innovative financing mechanisms,  impact measurements, public-private sector engagements and advocacy for universal healthcare coverage.

 

He has experience working in both the public and private sector and UN Agencies,  implementing projects like Primary Healthcare Systems Strengthening, healthcare quality improvement development of Multi-sectoral Health and Nutrition Policy, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning and Implementation Research.

 

He is a graduate of the Senior Executive Program in Global Health Innovation Management (SEP-GHIM) from the IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain and holds a Masters degree in Health Economics, Policy & Management from the London School of Economics & Political Science. 

Russell has over 20 years experience working in grant and programme management in the non-profit sector. He joins The Power of Nutrition team having spent nine years at Save the Children UK supporting advocacy programming to influence health, nutrition and education policy and financing in both donor markets and implementing countries. In this role he managed a decade long partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focussed on Child Survival, helped develop a new partnership with the LEGO Foundation on skills-based education, and supported the SUN Civil Society Network Secretariat (hosted by Save the Children UK) to manage donor funding and relationships.

Prior to Save the Children, Russell spent seven years with The Prince’s Trust, and also worked for the Big Lottery Fund, where he supported projects in the UK to reengage young people with education, training and employment. Russell studied International Relations with French, and is both Prince2 and CIMA qualified.

Anna joined The Power of Nutrition as Programmes Support Officer in 2023. She has a degree in French and Spanish from The University of Edinburgh, as well as a joint master’s degree in International Relations from The University of Glasgow and Aix-Marseille University.

Anna has prior experience working and volunteering for NGOs and supranational organisations with a focus on upholding human rights and responding to humanitarian crises. This includes an internship in Donor Relations at the United Nations Department of Peace Operations in New York; working as a research assistant and proofreader for Greek NGO Inter Alia; and volunteering with several charities in France working to protect the rights of refugees and migrants.

Chris joined The Power of Nutrition in August 2022 as Head of Corporates and Foundations, working with our existing supporters and exploring opportunities to welcome new partnerships to tackle malnutrition.

Chris has extensive experience working in the charity sector building lasting and collaborative corporate partnerships at local, national and global level. Chris joined from Drinkaware, the UK’s leading alcohol-education charity where he worked for nine years helping organisations to deliver on their CSR and ESG commitments.

Susan joined The Power of Nutrition in 2023 to secure funding from government sources globally to expand the organisation’s work to finance nutrition programmes across Africa and Asia.

From 2012 to 2022, she played a significant role in growing and diversifying institutional income across Africa and Asia for Sightsavers, increasing revenue from £10 million to about £60 million a year. During 2021, Susan also had responsibility for the overall programme operations and delivery of the UK aid flagship disability inclusive development programme.

Prior to her role at Sightsavers, she spent more than 10 years at the UK Department for International Development in policy, programme and corporate roles, including a posting to Malawi.

Kathryn joined The Power of Nutrition as a consultant in December 2022, and took on the permanent role of Head of Foundation Partnerships in August 2023. In this role she provides responsive relationship management for our existing Foundation partners and leads on our approaches to new foundation partners.

Kathryn has managed donor partnerships for charities focused on both UK and international causes. Her longest tenure to date was at VSO where she led their new corporate partnerships team following a year long volunteer placement in Accra, Ghana. Working as a VSO volunteer she supported the development of fundraising capacity in locally-based disability organisations.

In her last role Kathryn was the Head of Partnerships for Orbis, an international eye care charity, where she had responsibility for their portfolio of corporate and foundation partners.

Nadia has over 11 years experience in Private Partnerships within the United Nations and INGO sector. Based in Dubai, she has been in charge of fundraising and managing new and existing partnerships within the private sector as well as with Foundations and High-Net-Worth Individuals. She has raised funds for various causes such as education for school children in war torn countries, women empowerment, minority groups and most recently supported the provision of basic and essential services for Syrian and Palestinian refugees across the Levant.

Prior to her full-time role within the UN/INGO sector, she worked within the Financial Institutions arena working in strategy and various technology-service functions in London and Dubai.

She has a passion for development work and spearheaded various voluntary initiatives including her own fundraising movement “Walk for Iraq” which was set up in June 2007. She has a very strong interest in the subject of empowerment, particularly through using the tools of the power of mind, which are the source of motivation in her day-to-day work.

Nadia is a MSc graduate in Mathematics and Information Systems from London School of Economics and also holds a BSc in the same subject from Kings College London.

Hannah joined The Power of Nutrition in 2022 as Communications & Advocacy Manager, where she is responsible for elevating the organisation’s brand and purpose amongst the international development sector, policy makers and investors. She leads on The Power of Nutrition’s third strategy pillar of global advocacy, helping the organisation to become a “tenacious sector champion and public good”.

Hannah has 15 years’ experience working in leading PR and marketing agencies. She has a track record of delivering award-winning campaigns for a diverse range of private and public sector organisations including Unilever, The British Army, Nestle and Diageo.

Zubeda recently completed her graduate studies from University of Warwick in International Development. She has seven years of professional experience and has worked on varying social development projects on education, skill development and emergency healthcare, working with donors such as WHO, Australia Awards, GIZ and FCDO. She was also a key contributing member in finalizing and implementing a multi-million-dollar Public Private Partnership with the Government of Sindh, Pakistan on sustaining emergency medical services in Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi. She also has experience working with private sector actors on Corporate Social Responsibility and marketing.

Mathilde joined The Power of Nutrition in December 2022 after completing an MSc in Conflict Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science in November 2022. She also holds an LL.M in International Law and a second one in Human Rights, Security and Development from the Catholic University of Lille, France.

Mathilde has experience in Policy and Advocacy from interning at two non-profits working for nuclear disarmament. She also served as a Youth Coordinator in the Francophone Chapter of Reverse The Trend, a New York-based nuclear weapons and climate change-focused non-profit.

Before joining The Power of Nutrition, Mathilde was working on business development and investor relations for a financial services company. She is now putting to use the knowledge and skills she developed through those experiences as an Analyst and Support Officer for the Partnership and Brands Team.

Azam joined The Power of Nutrition in 2023 as an Analyst & Support Officer, having completed an MSc in Business Analytics from Essex Business School and following experience at Coca-Cola İçecek and Nestle Pakistan.

Azam has always had a strong passion for creating positive social change. In 2018, he set up a Foundation to support families in Pakistan affected by Covid-19 and then the floods, delivering food parcels and support.

Alongside his role at The Power of Nutrition, he is also the founder of Gafferin—an initiative dedicated to equipping individuals with the tools for success in startups.

Erin joined The Power of Nutrition in 2023 as our Communications Associate, having completed her degree in Advertising, PR and Media in 2017 from Middlesex University.

She has experience working in in-house communications roles within the third sector. Before joining TPoN she worked for a economic and social research institute, prior to that she was the Marketing Assistant at a cancer support charity based in the south of England.

Amy has dedicated her career to the non-profit sector and has 15 years’ experience working in a range of senior fundraising and programmes roles.  She spent 11 years at Sightsavers where she worked collaboratively to secure and cultivate seven to eight figure gifts from both government and foundation donors.  From 2019-2021, she was on the delivery team to implement a large-scale neglected tropical disease programme spanning 13 countries in West, leading on the learning and innovation components. She is a results-driven development specialist with strong track record in securing and managing multi-million contracts to fund community projects across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Sarah joined The Power of Nutrition in January 2024 as Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager, focusing on new partnership development to expand The Power of Nutrition’s work and tackle malnutrition.

With over 15 years’ worth of experience within the commercial field including sales, business development, fundraising and partnerships around the world, Sarah has a proven track record of identifying and capitalising on business opportunities to drive strategic change, growing income to deliver impact at scale, and building and managing strong relationships both in the private and public sectors.

Prior to joining The Power of Nutrition, she was a Senior Partnerships Manager at Drinkaware where she looked after a wide range of projects, programmes and funders, harnessing the power of partnership to deliver meaningful impact.

Sarah speaks several languages including English, French and Spanish.