About us
Our Vision – A world where people and planet are at the heart of development
Recourse has three meanings which define our mission:
- Recourse (verb: Change of course or direction)
Recourse campaigns to redirect international financial flows away from dirty, harmful investments, towards greener and more inclusive development
- Recourse (noun: A source of help in a difficult situation)
Recourse works in partnership with others to support communities in their struggle for their rights to be respected and their voices to be heard
- Recourse (noun: The legal right to demand compensation or payment)
Recourse holds financial institutions to account for harms to people and the environment
Nezir Sinani
Co-Director
- Kosovo
- Email: nezir@re-course.org
- Phone: +38344906609
Nezir is a seasoned international development specialist with experience in environmental and social policy research, strategic communications, and civil society advocacy. As a former Research Analyst for the Institute for Development Policy in Kosovo, he has in-depth understanding of the engagement of civil society to advocate for sustainable development standards and safeguards. Nezir has also served as Corporate Communications Manager for a state-owned energy company in Kosovo, where he led public outreach and media engagement during a process of structural reform in the energy sector, and as a Communications Specialist for a governance reform program funded by USAID in Kosovo, focusing on civil society engagement, civic education, and awareness campaigns. He holds an M.S. in Service Management from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in English from the University of Pristina. He is fluent in English and Albanian, and is proficient in Serbo-Croatian and German.
Kate Geary
Co-Director
- United Kingdom
- Email: kate@re-course.org
- Phone: +447393189175
Kate became Recourse’s Co-Director in November 2017. Previously, Kate led Oxfam’s advocacy on land rights, working in support of communities affected by land grabs and campaigning for policy change; and was also a policy adviser for Oxfam on climate change and the private sector. Before joining Oxfam in 2004, Kate worked for a number of environmental and human rights organisations – including TERRA in Southeast Asia – and was Coordinator of the Ilisu Dam Campaign coalition, including Friends of the Earth, the Kurdish Human Rights Project and The Corner House. She has published a number of reports including Our Land, Our Lives; The New Forests Company and its Uganda Plantations; Now or Never; Climate Change: Time to get down to business; The Forecast for Tomorrow: The UK’s climate for change; co-author of Dams Inc: The record of twelve European dam-building companies; and for several years was Managing Editor of Watershed magazine in Thailand. She has a degree in Modern Languages from Oxford University.
Petra Kjell
Campaigns manager
- United Kingdom
- Email: petra@re-course.org
- Phone: +44 (0) 7734 942760
Petra joined Recourse in March 2018. Before this, she worked with the Bank Information Center and as a Programme Manager at the Bretton Woods Project, monitoring the World Bank, for over five years where she coordinated the work on environment, human rights and social impacts. She has previously worked at organisations, such as Progressio, the New Economics Foundation, and the World Development Movement, focusing on social and environmental issues, including sustainable and equitable water resources management and climate change. She has also spent one year working in Tanzania for a conservation organisation. Petra holds an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London, a BSc in Social Science from University of Stockholm, Sweden, and a PGDip in Environment and Sustainability from Birkbeck, University of London.
Fran Witt
Gas Campaign Manager
- London
- Email: fran@re-course.org
- Phone: +447970799121
Fran has over 30 years international development experience, with an emphasis on climate justice, economic justice, development finance and international human rights. As a consultant in development finance advocacy, Fran has worked to support and advise Eurodad, the Financial Transparency Coalition, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Publish What You Fund and Financial Justice Ireland, as well as working with Anti-Slavery International to build their Climate Change and Modern Slavery strategy.
Previously Fran worked as International Advocacy Manager at Christian Aid where she worked with staff, international partners and coalitions to influence the UNFCCC climate negotiations. She was instrumental in establishing the Big Shift Global campaign which has strongly influenced energy investment policy at the World Bank. Fran holds an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS, University of London, and is a fluent Spanish speaker, and proficient in French.
Mark Moreno Pascual
Clean Campaign Manager
- The Philippines
- Email: mark@re-course.org
- Phone: +639366104897
Mark Moreno Pascual joined Recourse in 2022 as its Finance Campaigner. Mark has over 10 years of experience working in the field of international development finance with particular focus on public financing flows from both donor governments and international financial institutions. Prior to joining Recourse, Mark served as Global Coordinator for the Reality of Aid Network – a Southern-led platform working on the reform of the international aid regime. He previously coordinated the DAC-CSO Reference Group – a CSO platform directly engaging with the OECD-DAC on matters relating to ODA. Before this, Mark also led campaigns against neoliberal free trade agreements in Asia Pacific such as RCEP and the now defunct TPPA. Mark is fluent in both English and Filipino.
Federico Sibaja
IMF Campaign Manager
- Belgium
- Email: federico@re-course.org
- Phone: +32491199367
Federico Sibaja joined Recourse in 2023 as IMF Campaign Manager. As an economist from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Federico has experience working in policymaking and in civil society in Argentina and Belgium. As a former researcher in Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) in Argentina, he led the work on the link between the debt crisis and climate policy, including the IMF’s role in accelerating fossil fuel extraction and the risks entailed by proposals like debt-for-climate swaps. His work also focused on the role of international public finance institutions in Vaca Muerta. He has previously worked in Sandbag as EU Climate Policy Campaigner during the wrapping up of the Fit for 55 Package files. He also has experience in Argentina in policymaking on climate and environmental policy. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French, and is proficient in Italian and Portuguese.
Marjorie Pamintuan
Finance Campaigner
- Philippines
- Email: marjorie@re-course.org
Marjorie Pamintuan joined Recourse in 2023 as its Finance Campaigner. Prior to joining Recourse, she worked with civil society and feminist organisations in Asia Pacific on sustainable development issues, including on the nexus of human rights and trade and investment agreements. Marjorie is fluent in both English and Filipino.
Jen Derillo
Communications and Research Fellow
Jen Derillo is a graduate of Media and Culture studies and has been working in development communications for the past 5 years. Jen is currently taking a doctorate in Anthropology and its role in development in Belgium at the University of Ku Leuven.
Ceren Temizyürek
Ceren is an undergraduate Economics student at Wellesley College in the US, with a strong interest in development and environment-related issues. For the past year she’s been working with Urgewald and Recourse on development funding, with a focus on Multilateral Development Banks and financial intermediaries. Ceren is fluent in English, Turkish, German and proficient in Italian.
Board
Susanne Breitkopf
Susanne Breitkopf, Policy Manager at the Environmental Investigation Agency in the US, has worked on forests, natural resources and governance for over 20 years. For eight years, she served at Greenpeace International as forest campaigner, political advisor, and team leader for international forest and climate policy. A German national, she has lived and worked with different civil society organisations in Europe, Africa and North America. Susanne joined Recourse’s Board in 2015.
Joe Athialy
Joe Athialy is Executive Director of Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi. He has previously worked with the Bank Information Center, Amnesty International, Narmada Bachao Andolan, and various other human rights and accountability institutions in leading positions. He is a key organiser on issues of accountability of International and National financial institutions with regard to the impact of their activities on human rights and environment. He joined Recourse’s Board in March 2019.
Makoma Lekalakala
Director of Earthlife Africa Jhb an environmental justice and anti-nuclear organisation. Makoma is a strong campaigner for a just and fair society. Her commitment to climate justice in South Africa has led civil society to win the first South African climate change legal court case against the government and the reversal of the nuclear deal by the South African and the Russian government. For her efforts she received the WWF Living Awards Honourable Mention in 2017 , the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa in 2018 and the Nick Steel Environmentalist of the Year 2018 amongst other accolades. Recently appointed to the Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Committee a body tasked in advising the President on process of a just transition to a low carbon development.
Theodoros Chronopoulos
Theodoros Chronopoulos, Senior Programme Officer for Africa and Russia at EMpower – The Emerging Markets Foundation. He previously led the Social Justice Programme of the Sigrid Rausing Trust which supported innovative strategies designed to strengthen accountability for human rights violations perpetrated in the pursuit of economic development. As part of this work, Theodoros helped support activists and advocacy organisations to build legal instruments, bring transparency and accountability to public and private development financing institutions and protect human rights. Over the past decade, Theodoros has worked with activists and NGO leaders in Africa and Europe, facilitating communities of practice, co-designing and implementing research, learning and reflection projects and collaboratively developing strategies to strengthen social and economic rights and public participation in decision-making.
Ryan Brightwell
Ryan Brightwell is Director of Research and Communications for BankTrack and leads its human rights campaign work. He joined BankTrack in 2012, before which worked as a specialist in ethical financewith The Co-operative Bank in the UK. He is also a board member at the Customer Union for Ethical Banking. He has been working at the intersection of private sector banks and sustainability for over 15 years and is a leading advocate for respect for human rights at private sector commercial banks. Ryan joined the Board of Recourse in January 2022.
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