Background

Staff profiles

15 January 2022 | Project news

Luiz Vieira, Coordinator

Luiz coordinates the work of the Project. Previously he served for eight years as the chief of mission for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Timor Leste, where he worked with UN bodies, donors and IFIs on strategic development planning. His past experience includes working with the IOM in Nauru, as well as with NGO Mercy Corps in a variety of emergency response situations, including in El Salvador, Kosovo and Macedonia, as well as on democratic governance in Angola. He served as a guest lecturer on conflict and development at the Columbia University School of International Public Affairs (SIPA). Luiz holds an LLM in International Law and a Masters in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, as well as a degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.
lvieira[at]brettonwoodsproject.org

 

Isabel Alvarez Medina, Communications Manager

Isabel Joined BWP in July 2018 as the Communications Manager. Before moving to the UK, Isabel served as Communications and Outreach Specialist for the Global Development Policy Centre at Boston University and collaborated as digital media consultant for Refugees International in Washington DC. Previously, she worked as Communications Fellow for the Global Economic Governance Initiative and spent three months at the Department of Press and Public Diplomacy at the Delegation of the European Union to the US. Isabel holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and International Communication from Boston University.
ialvarez[at]brettonwoodsproject.org

 

Robert Bain, Financialisation and Human Rights Lead

Robert joined the Project as Financialisation and Human Rights Lead in April 2022. He previously worked on human rights and conflict in South Sudan for the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, building a civilian-led early warning network for identity-based violence. He has also worked on human rights in the Middle East/North Africa region for Amnesty International, and as a consultant for a coalition of international donors supporting civil society in the Syrian civil war. Robert has lived and worked in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. He holds a Master’s Degree in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
rbain[at]brettonwoodsproject.org

 

Laure- Alizée Le Lannou, Environment Project Officer

Laure Alizee Le-Lannou profile photo Laure-Alizée joined BWP as Environment Project Officer in October 2023. Before joining, Laure-Alizée worked with the ZOE Institute-for Future fit Economies, where she conducted research on socio-ecological transformation within the European Union. Laure-Alizée is passionate about new economic thinking, focusing on why our current system leads to ecological collapse and rising inequalities, and exploring ways to transform it for climate and economic justice. She holds a Master’s in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she studied the impact of the Washington Consensus on development experiences, and an undergraduate degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of St Andrews.
llelannou[at]tbrettonwoodsproject.org

 

Amy McShane, Gender Equality and Macroeconomics Project Officer

Amy joined the Project as Gender Project Officer as part of the Gender Equality and Macroeconomics Project in February 2022. Before joining BWP, Amy managed a funding portfolio of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) grassroots organisations, as well as leading on Monitoring and Evaluation (MEL) initiatives for two specialised cohorts as a Senior Associate at Comic Relief, a UK-based international charity. As a part-time journalist for several years, Amy is a skilled storyteller and communicator. Amy holds an MSc in Globalisation and Development from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), where she focused on postcolonial critique of hegemonic development discourse, and an MA in Politics and Sociology from the University of Glasgow.
amcshane[at]brettonwoodsproject.org

 

Tara Povey, Gender Equality and Macroeconomics Project Lead

Tara joined BWP as Gender Equality and Macroeconomics Project Lead in May 2024. Before joining, she was an academic and researcher at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work focused on the policies of the IMF and World Bank and their impact on gender-based social movements and civil society organisations in the Global South. She has published extensively on social movements, austerity and neo-liberalism in the Middle East and North Africa, and women’s movements in contemporary Iran. Tara also has a background in policy and campaigning, previously working as Policy and Research manager at Refugee Action. Tara holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Sydney and has taught courses in gender and international politics.
tpovey[at]tbrettonwoodsproject.org

 

Mihaela Siritanu, Strengthening Accountability in the Global Economy Lead

Mihaela joined the Project as Project lead for Strengthening Accountability in the Global Economy in September 2022. She previously worked as a finance and projects officer for International Planned Parenthood where she supported the fundraising efforts, strategy development and grant management of a political movement advocating for women’s reproductive rights. Mihaela is also co-founder of a pan-European, progressive, political movement organising various campaigns to promote democracy and citizen participation in politics. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University of Warwick, as well as a BA in business economics from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
msiritanu[at]brettonwoodsproject.org

 

Jon Sward, Environment Project Manager

Jon joined the Project in August 2017 and oversees its work on environmental issues. He completed a PhD at the University of Sussex that focused on the internal migration of tenant farmers, changing land tenure norms and environmental variability in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. A key dimension of this work was to better understand diverse migrant livelihood outcomes in light of overlapping economic and environmental risks faced by migrant farmers in rural Ghana. He also has experience as a research consultant, undertaking consultancies spanning a wide range of migration-climate and migration-development issues. In addition to his doctorate, Jon holds a MA in the Anthropology of Conflict, Violence and Conciliation from the University of Sussex and an undergraduate degree in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews.

jsward[at]brettonwoodsproject.org