Staff

CHARMAINE BRETT-MILLs

Executive Director

Charmaine Brett-Mills joined VWB Canada in June 2021 as Executive Director. Charmaine brings more than twenty years of expertise and experience in international humanitarian relief and development to her new role as Executive Director, after having lived for more than 10 years in Africa, Asia, Haiti, and the Middle East. During this time, she has worked with leading humanitarian organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Medical Emergency Relief International, and Habitat for Humanity, developing sustainable programming and responding to numerous natural and man-made emergencies. Prior to accepting the role of Executive Director, Charmaine spent approximately seven years as Program Officer for the Disaster Relief and Recovery domain at the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Immediately prior to joining the Philanthropies, Charmaine worked as Head of Programs with Action Against Hunger, where she was responsible for the strategic program leadership and overall management in Pakistan, Cambodia, and Nigeria. She also holds an honor’s degree in international development studies from Trent University in Canada, and she has worked as an educator in South Korea and Taiwan.

kristen rodrigues

Program Director

Kristen is an international development practitioner with over 10 years experience in global project management and multilateral cooperation. She holds a Masters in Development Practice, specializing in Global Health and Sustainable Development, as well as a Bachelors in Environment Resource and Business Studies. Through her experiences working across Africa and Asia, Kristen has gained deep understanding and appreciation of the importance of cross-sectoral and cross-cultural understanding. Kristen brings extensive knowledge of food security, MEL(monitoring, evaluation and learning), and women’s economic empowerment to her role within the VWB/VSF Canada team from her time with WUSC, CIDA, the Guyana Red Cross, and SEW Tanzania. She is passionate about improving the lives of the most vulnerable through international cooperation and committed to strengthening communities’ relationships with animals and their environment.

Kailash Dongol

Finance and Administration Director

Kailash Dongol brings over fifteen years of progressive full cycle accounting and financial management experience to his position. Kailash has worked with a number of organizations including the former CIDA (Global Affairs Canada) from which he received the 2002 President’s Award of Excellence in honor of his outstanding contribution and exceptional work as a Team Leader (Director of Finance) of the Canadian Cooperation Office (CCO) in Nepal for the Asia Branch. From 2010 until recently Kailash served as the National Finance Manager for the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society. He also holds a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration (specialization in Finance) along with relevant training/ knowledge of database and accounting software for effective financial management.

Katherine Clark

Asia Program Manager

Katherine is a problem solver, committed to participatory and inclusive development. She spent nine years as a communicator and project officer for the Canadian Co-operative Association, working on projects in Africa and Asia. Specializing in digital communications, Katherine supported high-profile Health Canada campaigns and consulted for the Social Enterprise Ecosystem Project. As a Project Manager working with herder co-operatives in Mongolia, she learned firsthand how the health of people is fundamentally connected to the health of animals and the environment and recognizes the importance of engaging a One Health approach to foster resilient communities.

Salem Abu Hussein

Finance and Administration Officer

For more then five years Salem has worked with international nongovernment organizations holding different financial and administrative positions. As a Finance Officer with the International Medical Corps (IMC) under the USAID funded project, Gaza 2020: Health Matter, he was responsible for financial reporting, tracking, updating partners’ budgets and supporting the internal and external audit schedules preparation and audit queries. Salem has extensive exposure to a wide range of experiences in conflict areas, with his work in the Gaza Strip. There he spent his time working with different financial and administrative systems that provided him with a distinct understanding of the difficulties and challenges encountered by the humanitarian actors and the related financial and administrative procedures. He has also engaged in capacity-building programs as a trainer and a coach aiming at supporting the local actors to apply a transparent and accountable financial system.

Esther Mburu

Local Coordinator, Kenya

Esther is a development practitioner who has spent her career devoted to capacity building, monitoring and evaluation and program implementation. She also brings experience with alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and advocacy on youth-led development. With a Master of Arts in Monitoring and Evaluation, a Bachelor of Environmental Studies specializing in Community Development and more than 6 years in development programming Esther brings with her a wealth of knowledge and practical experience. Throughout her career, she has spent 3 years leading teams developing and implementing clear risks mitigation strategies and gaining hands-on experience managing events for promoting projects and developing awareness. She is passionate about seeing community-driven solutions that are sustainable and resilient.

Greg Kannard

Local Coordinator, Vietnam

Greg has more than a decade of experience working in international development in Southeast Asia, most recently managing environmental and livelihood projects in Laos and Vietnam. He is extremely proud to be the Local Coordinator for Veterinarians without Borders in Vietnam after he had such a positive experience hosting VWB/VSF volunteers while working with Health Poverty Action. During his time with HPA Greg managed a livestock-based microenterprise project helping ethnic minority women in Laos. He hopes that his previous experience as a volunteer Australian Youth Ambassador working with agencies under the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will help him facilitate increased volunteer effectiveness and improved outcomes for partner organizations, and ultimately the well-being of the marginalized people in Vietnam through support to animal, human and environmental health (One Health) initiatives.