Structure and governance
VSO is governed by the International Board, which sets the strategic direction of the organisation.
International Board of Trustees
The International Board (IB) meets at least three times a year in person and four times a year via telephone. For further information on the roles and responsibilities of the International Board of Trustees, of any of the IB committees, or to contact any of our trustees with respect to their involvement with VSO, please email the VSO company secretary.
The current members of the International Board of Trustees are:
Julia Lalla-Maharajh OBE - Chair
Founder of the Orchid Project NGO, leading campaigner against female genital cutting.
Governance Committee member.
Susan Hickey
Chartered accountant, Group Finance and Investment Director at igloo Regeneration, and former Chief Financial Officer at Peabody.
Audit and Risk Committee member.
Christopher Muwanguzi
Trustee of the Uganda Board for Child’s i Foundation, and recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award at the International AIDS conference in Durban, 2000, for his contribution to the fight against AIDS.
Audit and Risk Committee member.
Janet Muir
Director of Finance with over twenty years working in the not for profit sector in international development and education. Member of Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Corporate Governance Institute.
Maryam Abisola Adefarati
Chief Financial Officer with Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster. Co-owner of a foundation that is supporting the community in the areas of health, education and poverty alleviation.
Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila
Award-winning business executive widely regarded as one of South Africa’s top independent agency leaders. Founder and CEO of Riverbed South Africa.
Vincent Mohau Motholo
Vincent Mohau Motholo is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa). He is the Chief Financial Officer at the University of Cape Town and serves as a Non- Executive Chairman of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Belay Addise
Regional Manager at the Global Partnership for Education covering East and Southern Africa. Board Member of the Horn Center for Democracy.
Geoff Skingsley
Non-Executive Board Member of Médecins Sans Frontières Foundation. On the Global Leadership Council of the Said Business School in Oxford, UK; and member of the CBI's London Council.
Governance Committee member.
Executive Board
The International Board delegates VSO's day-to-day management to the Executive Board. The Executive Board has operational oversight of VSO's global work and holds responsibility for the quarterly setting and reviewing of objectives and budgets.
Dr Philip Goodwin
Chief Executive
Dr Philip Goodwin joined VSO as Chief Executive in March 2015. Prior to taking up this position, he was Chief Executive of TREE AID from June 2010, where he led the expansion of programme work into Ethiopia and Niger, doubling the overall number of beneficiaries the organisation reaches.
He was also with the British Council for more than a decade, conducted research into poverty issues with the Overseas Development Institute, and was a community development volunteer in Mali.
Donne Cameron
Executive Director, Programmes
Donne Cameron joined VSO in 2012 as regional director for Southern Africa, having spent the previous 10 years with Habitat for Humanity International in South Africa.
She was appointed as director of Africa Group in November 2013, moving to her current executive director role in 2015, and is based in Pretoria.
Kathryn Gordon
Executive Director, People and Organisational Development
Kathryn Gordon has been with VSO since 2009, after joining the People team on a temporary basis. She was appointed to the HR Director and Global Leader roles in 2020 and was appointed as an Executive Director in July 2015.
Kathryn has a range of operational experience across the private and not-for-profit sector. At VSO she leads on organisation development, people, governance and digital. She is based in London, UK.
Clare Sisson
Finance Director
Clare Sisson joined VSO in 2022 as the Head of Finance Operations moving into the Finance Director role in 2023.
An auditor by profession, Clare has worked both in the not-for-profit and private sectors with a focus on developing strong internal controls and coherent financial reporting.
Strategic Leadership Group
The Directors on the Executive form part of a wider Strategic Leadership Group who have collective
responsibility for developing and delivering the VSO strategy and operating plan.
The members of the Strategic Leadership Group are:
- Gillian Claugher - Head of Public Fundraising, working from the UK.
- Papa Diouf - Practice Area Lead, Health, working from Cambodia.
- Ezekiel Esipisu - Programme Design and Development Lead, working from South Africa.
- Joyce Laker - Practice Area Lead, Inclusive Education, working from Cambodia.
- Kaday Mansaray Sibanda - Operations Director, working from South Africa.
- Kirit Naik - Head of Risk and Internal Audit, working from the UK.
- Martha Newman - Head of People Operations and HR Business Partnering, working from the UK.
- Tim Newman - Strategic Donor Partnerships Lead, working from the UK.
- Geoffrey Odaga - Global Implementation Lead, working from South Africa.
- Shaleen Rakesh - Volunteering for Development Engagement and Leadership Lead, working from India.
- Alok Rath - Knowledge, Evidence and Learning, working from India.
- Ruchi Tripathi - Practice Area Lead, Livelihoods, working from the UK.
Find out more about VSO
Vision, values and strategy
A fair world for everyone. Creating lasting change through volunteering.
Annual report
Read our full annual report from 2022-23, and download reports from previous years.