The REAP Secretariat

Ben has worked in the humanitarian sector since 2003 and within the Red Cross & Red Crescent Movement since 2012. He has worked in emergency contexts in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean and held roles such as Head of Emergencies and Head of Climate Adaptation & Early Action at the British Red Cross. Ben is now the Head of Secretariat for the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership, which aims to make 1 billion people safer from disaster by 2025, and is passionate about improving and scaling-up anticipatory action for the communities most affected by disasters and crises. He brings a deep knowledge of the humanitarian sector – of its structure and actors, of its challenges and of its opportunities. Within REAP, Ben now aims to connect the various stakeholders across climate, development and humanitarian sectors; and across governments, civil society, international organisations, private sector and academia in order to scale-up interventions and achieve more together

Vanessa is working as Resource Mobilization and Engagement Consultant in UNDP’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery for Building Resilience Team. She supports the team on resource mobilization, partnerships, advocacy, communication, knowledge management, and monitoring & evaluation. Prior to this role, she worked in the Secretariat of the Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative (CADRI) and with GIZ on Transitional Development Assistance as an Instrument for Crisis Management. Vanessa has a Master of Arts in “Ethics – Economics, Law and Politics”.

Emma is the Implementation Lead with the Risk Informed Early Action Partnership supporting partners to turn ambition in action with a special focus on REAP Target Two and creating an enabling environment to mainstream and scale early action. Former emergency response specialist with almost 15 years experience leading programmes and teams across a variety of complex contexts including armed conflicts, public health crises and climate related disasters. Passionate about cutting through jargon, making sense of science, local leadership and asking hard questions! Happily home based after 10 years of living and working in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Pakistan, Somalia, Philippines

Gavin is currently the Thematic Lead for Partnerships and Marketplace at the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) responsible for supporting the Partnership’s early action partners to promote and exchange innovative anticipatory action solutions across the climate, humanitarian and development communities. Prior to this position, Gavin spent much of his career with the Red Cross Movement, coordinating responses to disasters, designing humanitarian guidance documents and training teams on the ground. As a consultant, he has also conducted evaluations of international aid operations and drafted responder curricula. He has a particular passion for humanitarian partnership models and helped launch the World Economic Forum’s Disaster Resource Partnership and the IFRC’s One Billion Coalition initiative. A dual French and US citizen, Gavin worked and lived for 16 years in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East and is now based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Simon is based in Geneva, Switzerland, currently working as the MEL & Advocacy Coordinator within the Secretariat of REAP, the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (hosted by the IFRC). In his role he leads on operationalising the Partnership's MEL Framework, drawing insights from Partnership successes and challenges to inform strategic decision-making and the evolution of REAP. He also leads on COP engagement, loss and damage policy, and strategic communications. Prior to his role with REAP, he worked for the Platform on Disaster Displacement, also based in Geneva, and brings extensive private sector experience to his work. In his spare time he is rediscovering the joys of skiing, and exploring the landscapes of Switzerland.

Lorraine Youds is Policy Coordinator for the REAP Secretariat. Prior to this position, Lorraine was a Scientific Officer for the World Weather Research Programme of the World Meteorological Organization. Lorraine is from the United Kingdom, where, until 2021, she was the manager of a large science to operations aid programme, which delivered improvements in African weather forecasting capability and communication, from hours to seasons. In this role, she led on the strategic development of weather forecasting policy asks, making gains in data access and forecasting development for African centres. In her role for REAP, Lorraine leads on advancing policy asks to scale up early action, linking global momentum with local drivers. Lorraine is a qualified project manager and has significant experience in climate action, international development, project management and research development. She has an undergraduate master’s degree in earth sciences, an MSc in environmental monitoring, modelling and reconstruction, and a PhD in strategic decision-making for UK energy policy for contribution to sustainable development goals.