Maria Koulouris, Director of the Africa Division, joined ABA ROLI in March 2011. From 2004–2011, Ms. Koulouris worked at Global Rights where, in 2008, she designed an initiative on Natural Resources and Human Rights. As its director, she strengthened the capacity of civil society organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville to address economic and social injustice from a human rights perspective and to document the impact of industrial gold mining and oil exploitation on the rights to water, food, participation and information. She also worked on access to justice, women’s rights and land rights programming in DRC and Burundi. Previously, Ms. Koulouris worked in Croatia as a legal officer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She also documented war crimes and crimes against humanity in Chad on behalf of Human Rights Watch, which led to the indictment of the country’s former president Hissène Habré by Belgian authorities in 2005. She holds a LL.B in law from the Université de Montréal in Québec, Canada, as well as an LL.M. in law from Columbia University in New York, where she was also a human rights fellow. Maria is a member of the Québec Bar Association. She is fluent in English and French, and speaks Greek and Spanish. You can contact her at maria.koulouris@americanbar.org.

Diane Albrecht, Program Associate, joined ABA ROLI in April 2011. She currently supports programs combating gender-based violence in Congo and forced servitude in Mali. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, she implemented natural resource conservation and education projects in Benin with the U.S. Peace Corps. She holds a B.A. in international affairs with concentrations in international economics and development from The George Washington University, and she spent a semester studying Swahili in Kenya. Diane is fluent in French. You can contact Diane Albrecht at Diane.Albrecht@americanbar.org.

Jimmy Lim, Program Officer, joined ABA ROLI’s Africa Division in June 2008 and supports programming in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, Mr. Lim interned at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and at a law firm in the Washington, D.C., area. He holds a dual B.A. degree in political science and economics from Yale University. You can contact Jimmy Lim at jimmy.lim@americanbar.org.

Eva Matos, Program Assistant, joined the Africa Division in spring 2011, after working in the Middle East and North Africa Division since October 2009. Ms. Matos is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, and holds a dual B.A. in psychology and political science from George Washington University. She previously worked as an intern with ABA ROLI’s Latin America and Caribbean Division and as a research assistant for a study on co-parenting among low income teenage mothers and fathers. She is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of French. You can contact Eva Matos at eva.matos@americanbar.org.

Andrew Aall McPherson, Program Manager, joined the ABA Rule of Law Initiative in January 2007. Mr. McPherson is a native of Washington, D.C., but received his secondary education in the United Kingdom. He holds a B.A./M.A. in history and politics from the University of Edinburgh, and a graduate diploma in law from City University, London. Currently based in D.C., Mr. McPherson’s primarily duties involve providing programmatic support and oversight to the Liberia and Ethiopia programs. He previously managed programs in Nigeria and Cameroon. Mr. McPherson also serves as the deputy coordinator for the legal education reform focal area. You can contact Andrew McPherson at andrew.mcpherson@americanbar.org.

Brahmy Poologasingham, Program Manager, joined ABA ROLI’s Africa Division in January 2011, after serving as Special Advisor to the Director since May 2009. Ms. Poologasingham has seven years of experience in project development and finance, international business law, rule of law reform in post-conflict states and on issues of human rights and women’s rights. Ms. Poologasingham is currently responsible for oversight and implementation of ABA ROLI/South Kivu programs aimed at combating the rape crisis in eastern DRC. Since joining ABA ROLI, Ms. Poologasingham has traveled to DRC multiple times, each time traveling to various locations including Goma, Kindu, Kasongo, Bukavu, Fizi, Baraka, Uvira, Bunyakiri and Kinshasa.  Prior to joining ABA ROLI, she practiced international law in Seattle, Washington, at the law offices of K & L Gates and Dorsey & Whitney. Ms. Poologasingham’s prior human rights related legal experience includes her work for the Human Rights Commission and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. She holds a B.A., cum laude, from Brandeis University and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. A native of Sri Lanka, Ms Poologasingham speaks Tamil and French. You can contact Brahmy Poologasingham at bpoologasingham@staff.abanet.org.

Natacha Thys, Senior Legal Advisor, Africa Division, joined ABA ROLI in August 2009. She currently oversees ABA ROLI’s programs in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and provides expertise in the areas of women’s rights, labor, human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, Ms. Thys served as the project director for the International Labor Rights Fund’s Rights for Working Women Campaign, which she developed in 2001. For the campaign, she worked with local partners in Africa and Latin America to combat gender-based violence in the workplace. Ms. Thys is also a human rights attorney who worked at Conrad & Scherer, LLP and as associate general counsel with International Rights Advocates. As a litigator, Ms. Thys worked on numerous cases to hold U.S. multinational corporations accountable for human rights violations committed abroad, including forced labor, trafficking in persons and sexual violence. Ms. Thys holds a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. You can contact Natacha Thys at natacha.thys@americanbar.org.

Ryan Whalen, Program Officer, joined ABA ROLI's Africa Division in May 2011. Most recently, he lived in Cameroon while serving as a project director for an agricultural/economic development project implemented by Winrock International. Previously, Mr. Whalen worked as an agro-forestry extension agent while serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in northern Cameroon. He speaks French fluently, and has a professional knowledge of the Peul/Fulani language of West Africa. He holds a B.A. in international studies from American University.  You can contact him at ryan.whalen@americanbar.org.

Charles Guy Makongo, Country Director, became the DRC Country Director in February 2010. From June 2009 through January 2010, Mr. Makongo served as the director to ABA ROLI’s Dutch Embassy-funded program in Maniema province to combat sexual and gender-based violence. Mr. Makongo graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon with a B.A. in Law. He obtained his M.A. in international relations and international disputes from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, Mr. Makongo worked for a number of international organizations, including a SightFirst Project, funded by the Lions Club International Foundation. He was also a project manager and national expert under the sphere of European Union-Cameroon Cooperation and the PACDET human rights pilot project. You can contact Guy Makongo at guymack@yahoo.com.

Germaine Balitalike , Project Director, has managed activities for ABA ROLI’s South Kivu programs since April 2011. She first joined ABA ROLI in April 2010 as a program officer. Previously, Ms. Balitalike worked as an administrator at the hospital FOMULAC in South Kivu and a researcher at the Catholic University of Bukavu. She also served as a program officer at RCN Justice and Democracy INGO in Ituri and as a legal assistant at REJUSCO in South Kivu before joining ABA in April 2010. You can contact Germaine Balitalike at balitalikegermaine@yahoo.fr.

Anatol Clément Bannem, Project Director, is a Cameroonian national who joined ABA ROLI in April 2010. He is director of the Dutch Embassy-funded project in Maniema province. Prior to this, Mr. Bannem served three years at MONUSCO, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He worked with the military component of the mission, as DDR officer and in the Security Sector Reform section in Kinshasa. Mr. Bannem graduated from both faculties of Letters and Law, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon with a B.A. bilingual communication, and another in law. He subsequently obtained his LL.M. from the University of Douala in Cameroon. Mr. Bannem has held various positions within the national army in the field of criminal investigations, intelligence and law and order maintaining. Likewise, he had also conducted paralegal training to thousands of national and international judicial police officers. Mr. Bannem also graduated from Maisons Alfort Centre d'Enseignement Supérieur de la Gendarmerie in France.You can contact him at bacledoud@yahoo.fr.

Henri Mashagiro Bonane, Project Director, joined ABA ROLI in May 2009 and is currently managing ABA ROLI activities funded by the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Mashagiro is a lawyer admitted to the Goma Bar and has been a member of the National Bar Association of the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2007. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, he worked as an advisor for humanitarian organizations working in North Kivu. Before this, he was a teaching assistant at Goma University’s Faculty of Law . He has a law degree from Kisangani University, and he is currently pusuing his LL.M. in international criminal law at Goma University. You can contact Mr. Mashagiro at  henmash2000@yahoo.fr.

Guy Mathe Kambale, Staff Attorney, supports the efforts of ABA ROLI’s legal aid clinic in Goma. He is charged with investigations and serves as a liaison between the legal aid clinic, the police and the prosecutors. Since 2006, Mr. Kambale has worked as an assistant teacher at the University of Goma. His previous experience included presenting cases before the Court of Appeals in Goma. You can contact Guy Mathe Kambale at guymathe2@yahoo.fr.

Amani Kahatwa Mireille, Project Director, works with ABA ROLI in Goma, where she heads a USAID-funded program known as USHINDI. Ms. Amani received her law degree at Kisangani University and is currently studying to obtain her L.L.M. in international law. She is a member of the North Kivu Bar Association and has prosecuted gender-based violence cases in Goma. From July 2009 to August 2010, she also served as the project director for ABA ROLI’s MacArthur-funded program in Butembo. Prior to this position, Ms. Mireille worked with ABA ROLI as its legal clinic director in Goma. You can contact Amani Mireille at amanikahatwa@yahoo.com.

Robert Simueray, Project Director, supports the efforts of ABA ROLI’s programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Simueray has worked for the Committee of Observers of Human Rights for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also has experience presenting cases to the Court of Appeals in Goma. Mr. Simueray was awarded his law degree from the University of Kinshasa. You can contact Robert Simueray at rsimueray_codho@yahoo.fr.

Elysée Sindayigaya, Project Director,joined ABA ROLI in January, 2010 after nearly a year with the American Embassy in Bujumbura, Burundi, where he worked as a protocol and administrative specialist. He has worked on a number of USAID and World Bank projects for AECOM International Development as an administrative and finance manager. From 2004 to 2006, he served in a number of positions for PADCO and African Strategic Impact. He previously worked for Lawyers without Borders (ASF Belgium) as a training organizer and translator. Mr. Sindayigaya holds a B.A. in law. You can contact him at elysind@yahoo.fr.

Kevin George, ABA ROLI Country Director for Liberia, has had a career spanning law, international development and peace-building. He recently served for eight years as Peace Corps country director in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Prior to that, Mr. George distinguished himself as a public interest lawyer and a leader on international issues involving peace-building, good governance and humanitarian assistance in West Africa. He served as an attorney and special assistant to the president of the American Postal Workers Union. He also had an active pro bono human rights practice. Beyond the practice of law, Kevin devoted a decade to supporting peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone. From 1989 to 1999, Kevin served pro bono as president of Friends of Liberia, a U.S.-based advocacy and development organization. He was widely recognized as a leading source of information on Liberia’s civil wars in the 1990s, testifying frequently before committees of the U.S. Congress and leading fact-finding, peace-building and election observation missions. For his contribution to the peace process in Liberia, Mr. George received the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service in 1996. The government of Vanuatu awarded Mr. George the Silver Jubilee Independence Medal in 2008. He has a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh (1978), a J.D. from Antioch University (1985) and an LL.M. in international and comparative law from Georgetown University Law School (1993). He is fluent in Bislama and has basic skills in French and two Liberian dialects. You can reach Kevin George at kevin.george@americanbar.org.

Ervin Bartis, Deputy Country Director, did human rights work with Amnesty International, a Council of Europe-funded program in Romania and the European Voluntary Service after receiving a law degree and a master’s degree in humanitarian law in Romania. He represented refugees and asylum seekers in Romania, Slovenia, Poland and, just prior to joining ABA ROLI, worked for four years as mission director and coordinator for humanitarian projects in Southern Sudan and Sri Lanka. Mr. Bartis speaks Hungarian, Romanian, English and Polish, and brings a wealth of cross-cultural experience to his work with ABA ROLI in Liberia.

Kathy Ladun, Resident Advisor to the Liberian Judicial Institute, previously worked with ABA ROLI in Moldova and Kosovo, focusing on access to justice and legal skills development, and authored the latest volumes of ABA ROLI’s Judicial Reform Index for Albania and for Moldova. Prior to joining ABA ROLI, Kathy practiced law in Washington, D.C., where her focus was on securities fraud cases and legal ethics matters. Her prior international experience includes work as a journalist covering the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia and as a press officer for the International Federation of the Red Cross in Croatia and UN missions in Croatia and Bosnia. She received her law degree from Cornell Law School, and clerked for a federal district court judge in Virginia and for the Prosecutor’s Office at the International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Ms. Ladun also has an M.A. in Russian and East European studies from Yale University and a B.A. in international studies and Russian from Johns Hopkins University.

Kerry McLean, Resident Legal Advisor for Training, holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism & mass communications from New York University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She is admitted to the New York Bar and has worked for legal non-governmental organizations in Cambodia, Hungary, Kenya and South Africa on human rights litigation and advocacy. Ms. McLean’s experience includes cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; advocacy with United Nations treaty monitoring bodies; law reform work concerning Nicaragua and Nepal; and human rights trainings in the U.S., Mexico and Liberia.

Ralph Overholt, Legal Trainer, worked as an attorney in the United States for 20 years, including ten years of work as a Hennepin County Conciliation Court judge and as an adjunct professor of trial skills at William Mitchell College of Law. His practice included a variety of cases from the U.S. Supreme Court to several tribal courts in the Upper Midwest. In addition to a law degree, Mr. Overholt holds a master’s in public affairs with honors from the University of Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute.

Kpadeson Sumo, Legal Skills Program Manager, taught management and geology at the University of Liberia, College of Business and Public Administration and College of Science and Technology, for six years before he joined ABA ROLI to help develop the legal skills program. Trained in adult education techniques, Mr. Sumo also brings more than 14 years of professional experience working as a geologist or a manager in government, the private sector, the United Nations Mission in Liberia and non-governmental organizations. He earned a B.Sc. in geology, B.A. in management and an LL.B. from the University of Liberia, and did graduate work in geology at the University of Tulsa and the University of Texas in the U.S.A.You can contact Kpadeson Sumo at <kpadesonsumo@googlemail.com>

Finn Young, Deputy Director, has law degrees from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., where he was a Saint Andrew’s Society and Alexander Cross Trust Scholar. He also studied rule of law and legal reform at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. Previously, Mr. Young assisted with human rights research for the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, taught for the Council of Europe and worked as a journalist. Since arriving in Liberia in 2009, he has managed ABA ROLI’s program supporting the Liberian Judiciary’s James A. A. Pierre Judicial Institute, and now works as an attorney adviser on access to justice, prolonged pre-trial detention and law school strategic planning. You can contact Fin Young at <finyoung@gmail.com>.

Anthea Zervos, Project Coordinator, originally from Athens, Greece, Ms. Zervos has been working with restorative justice and rule of law initiatives in post-conflict West Africa since 2003. In particular, she has served as a consultant to the Sierra Leonean and Liberian truth and reconciliation commissions and as a project coordinator for labor law reform at the Liberian Ministry of Labor. Ms. Zervos completed her B.Sc. in theater at Skidmore College in 2002 and her M.Sc. in violence, conflict and development at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies in 2007. Since October 2009, she has been the project coordinator for ABA ROLI program on the reduction of pre-trial detention in Liberia.