Our Team

Adrian started the International Human Rights Programme on joining Oak Foundation in February 2003. In its first year of operation, the programme had an annual budget of USD 2 million and largely focussed on supporting international NGOs. Since then, it has expanded to a programme with six staff and an annual budget of around USD 30 million, operating in diverse geographies with both local and international organisations.

Adriana leads Oak’s organisational development and capacity building work, which she established after joining Oak in 2013. She advises and helps grantees with their organisational strengthening journeys, recognising that strong organisations enhance the effectiveness and impact of both the foundation and our partners. Capacity building is an essential part of Oak’s support to our partners, with approximately 15% of the annual budget invested in this area of work.

Anne joined Oak Foundation in 2007 as a programme officer for the Environment Programme. In her role, she oversees grant portfolios in the food systems sub-programme, with a focus on fisheries, and leads the foundation’s work on climate justice.

Cheryl joined Oak Foundation as Chief of Staff in 2019. In this role, she supports the president, coordinates organisational strategy and planning, and serves as a liaison between various foundation functions.

Chris is campaigns lead for the Environment Programme. He works across both energy and food, with a focus on single use plastics reduction and tackling food injustices across Europe  especially via healthy, sustainable and just food environments. He joined the Oak Foundation in late 2019 after leading international campaigns with NGOs and politics. See Chris profile on LinkedIn.

Doug joined Oak Foundation in January 2019. In his role as President, he is thrilled to knit together his professional experiences advocating for human rights, humanitarian relief, social development and environmental protection. The president’s office includes a team of six that work to ensure that we have: robust monitoring, evaluation and learning systems; efficient communication practices; and a strong foundation working to achieve our mission.

Esther joined the Oak Foundation Denmark programme in 2007. The programme currently has an average grant-making budget of USD 6 million and has two staff. The Oak Foundation Denmark Programme supports innovative solutions to improve the lives of socially vulnerable and marginalised groups at the community level. As well as supporting not-for-profit organisations in Denmark, it also support organisations in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Géraldine joined Oak Foundation in 2021 as Head of Finance and became Director of Operations in January 2023. She leads the teams responsible for Oak’s core services including: Finance; Grants Administration; Information Technology; Human Resources; and she oversees real estate and facilities. Her mandate extends from setting clear priorities to optimise delivery of the objectives of a knowledge-based organisation to ensuring that the foundation meets the highest standards of fiscal stewardship, risk management and operational excellence while remaining agile and innovative.

Greg joined Oak Foundation in 2009 as a consultant and has been a programme officer in the International Human Rights Programme since 2011. He works across the entire human rights portfolio, with a particular focus on the strategic grant-making priority areas of pre-trial detention and torture, corporate accountability and the countries of Brazil and India.

Heather joined Oak Foundation as the director of the Learning Differences Programme in December 2017. The programme has an average grant-making budget of USD 30 million in 2022 and has five staff.  The programme envisions a world in which schools unlock the creativity and power of every young person and equip each one to shape more just and equitable communities.

Helena joined Oak Foundation in 2017 as a programme officer for the Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme. She currently holds the position of Head of the Solutions sub-programme. The Solutions team focuses on building the evidence base on what works to prevent child sexual abuse and ensuring that solutions are widely implemented and impactful. The solutions team is funding predominantly in East and Southern Africa, as well as Europe. The Prevent Child Sexual Abuse programme has an annual budget of USD 45 million per year.

Katharina joined Oak Foundation in 2013 as a programme officer for the Issues Affecting Women Programme. She currently holds the position of director. The programme has an average grant-making budget of USD 32 million and has six staff. The programme envisions a world where women have the rights, capacity and opportunity to live their lives free from violence and enjoy their full and equal human rights.

Masego joined Oak Foundation as the director of the Environment Programme in 2021. The programme has an average grant-making budget of USD 70 million and has thirteen staff.  The programme seeks to safeguard our future by restoring our connection to nature, and help change the ways we feed and fuel our world. 

Medina joined Oak Foundation in 2010 as a programme associate for the Issues Affecting Women Programme. She was promoted to programme officer in 2015. In this role, Medina works with partners around the world who are focused specifically on ending trafficking and exploitation and advancing women’s rights movement building.

Millie Brobston joined Oak Foundation in April 2013 as Programme Officer for the Special Interests Programme. Millie has more than 20 years of experience working in philanthropy, both in the US and internationally. Millie works on a wide range of issues and has a deep knowledge of the philanthropic sector and a lifelong commitment to working on issues that affect disadvantaged populations.

Nevin joined Oak Foundation in 2018 as a programme associate for the Issues Affecting Women Programme. She was promoted to programme officer in 2021. In her role, she manages grant-making in Brazil and the women’s funds sector, in addition to leading the programme’s Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation, and Communications.

Rachel joined Oak Foundation as the director of the Special Interest Programme in 2014. The programme has an average grant-making budget of over USD 80 million and has six staff. Special Interest grants cover a wide range of fields, including health, humanitarian relief, education and the arts. They are made to organisations whose activities the Trustees wish to support, irrespective of country or region.

Raji joined Oak Foundation in 2020 as the director of the Housing and Homelessness Programme. The programme has an average grant-making budget of USD 30 million and has six staff. It partners with organisations working both nationally and locally in Boston, New York and Philadelphia in the United States and in London, Belfast, South Wales, Glasgow and Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Vinit Rishi currently works part-time as Director of the India Programme and Special Advisor to the President at Oak Foundation. The India Programme, focuses on supporting acutely marginalised populations living in the tea gardens of North Bengal and in the Sundarbans. He previously served as Director of Administration and  Foundation Secretary.

Vinit serves on the boards of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the ‘Partners for a New Economy’ donor collaborative fund, and the ‘Tanya’s Dream’ initiative. He is a founding member of the Operations Professionals Network which he previously chaired. He has also served on the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre (now Philea).

Virginia joined Oak Foundation as a communications officer in 2011. Her current position is head of communications. In this role, she works in collaboration with staff, Trustees and partners to develop communication strategies that support internal and external goals. She is the main media contact for the Foundation. There are also two other full-time staff members in the communications team (Rachel McKee and Mia Moore).