International secretariat

Dave Hirsch joined Friends of the Earth International in April 2012 as the International Coordinator. He oversees the work of the International Secretariat and works closely with the Executive Committee to facilitate decision making and support their role in steering the federation. He previously lived in Washington DC, where he worked for Friends of the Earth United States. He held several different positions for the organisation and was most recently its Managing Director. He has also served as a member of Friends of the Earth International's Executive Committee and on its Membership Development Team. He has a degree in political communication and a masters degree in political management.

Wieke Wagenaar joined in May 2000 and is the Operations Manager. She is in charge of the Support team, overseeing finance, human resources, office management and logistics. She previously coordinated the international secretariat of an NGO focused on academic freedom and the right to education. She studied economics and philosophy for a few years but eventually graduated in English language and literature in Amsterdam. Wieke is Dutch and has one son.

Nina Ascoly is our International Programmes Facilitator. Prior to joining Friends of the Earth International in May 2010, she was a coordinator at the Clean Clothes Campaign International Secretariat. Nina has degrees in journalism, political science and women and development and more than 20 years experience with social and environmental justice organisations, ranging from strategy development and coordination to communications and fundraising.

Loreto de Amunátegui is since 2020 the Internationalist Solidarity System Officer. Loreto joined the International Membership Development team in January 2017. She is the Environmental Human Rights Defenders Project Manager in APAC region and since 2013 she is part of the Human Rights Defenders working team at the International Secretariat. She joined the Friends of the Earth International familiy in July 2011, working as Events Coordinator during more than 5 years. Previously she coordinated an International film and contemporary art Festival in Madrid and Paris. Originally from Spain, she has a masters degree in Cultural Management but since she moved to Amsterdam in 2011 she joined our revolution.

Metha de Vries is a bookkeeper. She joined Friends of the Earth International in January 2014. She worked previously as a bookkeeper at other NGOs in the Netherlands (WISE, Hivos and IKV Pax Christi). She studied biology. She loves walking in nature and going to small concerts. She is Dutch and lives in Utrecht with her partner.

Myra de Bruijn is the International Fundraiser. She started fighting for social justice in her early twenties by creating a foundation to support and fundraise for a project in Ecuador. During and after her studies she worked for various development organisations including ICCO, Oxfam and ActionAid. She has extensive fundraising and partnership management experience with EU, US foundations, UN agencies and other donors. Myra has degrees in European Public Administration, International Relations and Conflict Studies and Human Rights. Having lived in Haiti for eight years she moved back to the Netherlands and started with Friends of the Earth International in August 2014.

Celia Alldridge joined the International Membership Development team in March 2016. She has over 15 years of experience working and struggling with social movements in Brazil and internationally, including rural and urban workers movements and the World March of Women. Celia is specialised in programme coordination and grassroots feminism work, training and organising, with a Masters in Gender and Development and many years of activism in the feminist movement. Celia is based in Brazil.

Amelia Collins joined the comms team in October 2016. She comes from Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland where she worked in the comms team for nearly nine years. At the secretariat she works on all things to do with communications and is also a photographer. She has a degree in philosophy and lives in London with her dog.

José Elosegui has been a journalist at Real World Radio since July 2004 and the Coordinator of this project since early 2018, when he officially became part of Friends of the Earth International's Communications Team. José holds a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of the Republic of Uruguay. With the radio, he has always followed the agenda of several social movements and organizations from different parts of the world and our member groups. In his work as part of the Friends of the Earth International family, José also worked in the Economic Justice Resisting Neoliberalism program and co-coordinated the Climate Justice and Energy program of Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC).

Colleen F. Halley, with FoEI since 2018, serves as the International Fundraising Officer focused on raising funds from US-based donors to support the federation. Her work is informed by 10 years as Associate Director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, 25 years of volunteer leadership with Amnesty International, and a decade strengthening civil society in Russia and the former Soviet Union. She has an undergraduate degree in Writing and History and a master's degree in International Studies - Russian. Colleen spends her free time surfing in New Jersey where she lives with her 2 rescue dogs.

Fieke Jagers  joined in September 2018, as the International Program Officer for the Climate Justice and Energy program and the Economic Justice Resisting Neoliberalism program. She previously worked as a Program Officer for ActionAid. She holds BAs in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology and Fine Arts, and a MSc in International Development.  

Willie Meester joined us as Human Resources Officer in October 2018, following four years living and working in Thailand. She has studied Hospitality Management, Communications and Human Resource Management and has held various HR roles. Willie lives in Amsterdam, where she also runs a coaching and holistic health practice working with clients to boost their overall performance, health and wellbeing