Our people

For security purposes, we do not name all staff

Staff

100% of our researchers and 90% of staff are from the country they work in.

  • TIM HANSEN

    Tim Hansen is Chief Executive Officer of Videre. He is a lawyer and engineer with two decades of experience across strategic development, human rights law, peacebuilding and project management. As an engineer, Tim has built and managed operations across Europe, Asia-Pacific and Sub Saharan Africa. As a lawyer, Tim has provided advice to several Pacific states and self-determination movements, advising on international human rights law, international humanitarian law, interactions with the United Nations and on engagement with negotiation and dialogue processes.

    Before joining Videre, Tim was Chief Operating Officer of peacebuilding organisation Conciliation Resources, working with people impacted by war to develop creative solutions for sustainable peace. Prior to that he was Operations Director at Reprieve, working to end the death penalty and challenging human rights abuses through strategic litigation. Tim has also co-founded an NGO providing electricity and wifi in informal refugee camps.

  • JESSE ROBERTS

    Jesse is our Senior Director of Strategic Development. Prior to this he held positions in both London and Washington D.C. with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, focusing on promoting freedom of expression and access to information in conflict-affected and closed societies. He began his career in human rights with Global Witness, and worked in Sri Lanka for the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust during the final stages of the country’s civil war to protect local human rights defenders and support civil society development. Jesse sits on the Executive Board of Airwars, a transparency watchdog that monitors and investigates civilian harm claims in conflict-affected nations. He holds a MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

  • For security purposes, other Videre staff members cannot be named.

Board

  • ROSA CURLING

    Rosa Curling is an international and UK human rights and public law solicitor. She is an expert in both areas of law, having advised, and led litigation, on issues such as freedom of information, privacy, anti-bribery, EU law, torture, immigration and refugee law, modern day slavery, right to life, right to death, welfare benefits, access to education services, death penalty, access to health services, the rule of law, international aid, unlawful detention, climate change and environmental law. She has represented clients before the UK’s High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, as well as several Tribunals, including the Freedom of Information Tribunal and the Investigative Powers Tribunal. She has also represented clients before the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Justice, some of the African Regional Courts of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court and is a co-chair of Videre’s Board of Trustees.

  • JONNY PERSEY

    Jonny Persey is the Director of Met Film. He has over twenty years’ experience in producing films with credits including The Mercy, Swimming with Men, The Infidel, Little Ashes and Wondrous Oblivion. He and his team have also produced numerous documentaries, including Sundance prize-winning How to Change the World, Grierson winner Deep Water and BIFA nominated The Great Hip-Hop Hoax. Jonny studied psychology at Cambridge University and worked for several years as a youth worker and training and organisational development consultant and is a co-chair of Videre’s Board of Trustees.

  • URI FRUCHTMANN

    Uri has been working in the film industry since 1985. He Founded Fragile Films in 1989 and has produced and directed many documentaries in locations all over the world among which were the award-winning Atlantic Hip To The Tip, All In The Family, Dar O Dur and OBI. Since 1997, he has produced feature films including Ideal Husband, Spice World the Movie and The Importance of Being Ernest. In 2001, together with his partner, he bought Ealing Studios, where Fragile Films continues to successfully produce British feature films. Uri has originated several projects involving innovative use of video cameras, including the highly successful video project conducted by BVCF, the major Conservation Organization of Mallorca. He has served on the board of several charities.

  • DAVID GOLDSWORTHY

    David Goldsworthy is the former head of the international relations and technical cooperation at the UK National Audit Office where he was responsible for managing capacity building projects with audit offices and public accounts committees across the world. He has a keen interest in anti-corruption work and has recently established Development Action an international consultancy specialising in governance and accountability. He has served on many different charity boards and is currently on the Governments Faculty Board of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

  • ROUDABEH KISHI

    Dr. Roudabeh Kishi is an expert on political violence and data methodologies. She is Chief Research Officer of the Bridging Divides Initiative, a non-partisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States, based at Princeton University. She also serves as a consultant on a wide range of projects for a variety of clients, including governments, INGOs, humanitarian organizations, and research centers. Previously, she directed research, including global data collection, at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the most widely used source of real-time information on political violence and protests around the world. Her work appears in various outlets, ranging from scholarly journals and academic books, to policy briefs and white papers, to op-eds and mainstream blogs, and has been cited by the UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, numerous policymakers, and media outlets around the world.

  • DYLAN MATHEWS

    Dylan Mathews is CEO of Peace Direct having joined the organisation in 2015. His commitment to supporting local organisations in the global south spans almost twenty years, during which time he has worked for a range of peacebuilding, international development and humanitarian organisations. While working for the peacebuilding think tank Oxford Research Group, he authored ‘War Prevention Works’ which profiled the role of non-state actors in conflict prevention and resolution – a publication that helped launch Peace Direct in 2004. He is the editor of ‘Working with Conflict 2’ a practical toolkit for local peacebuilders, published in 2020. Dylan is the Vice Chair of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a global peacebuilding network based in Washington DC.

President

  • OREN YAKOBOVICH

    Oren co-founded Videre in 2008 and served as its Chief Executive Officer for more than 10 years. In his role as President, he provides strategic advice to the organisation based on 25 years of experience challenging and disrupting unjust systems. Prior to Videre, Oren led the video department at B’Tselem where he trained hundreds of citizens fighting for justice in the West Bank through the video project “Shooting Back.” The project won several awards, including the One World Media award and International Media Award’s Cutting Edge Prize. Working at the intersection of human rights and film, he has become a leading voice on the use of visual information to create sustainable change in areas of conflict. Oren is an Ashoka Fellow and a recipient of the 2016 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Patrons

  • BRIAN ENO

    Brian Eno is a musician, producer and visual artist. He has released 25 solo albums, and has worked with artists such as Talking Heads, David Byrne, David Bowie, U2, Coldplay, Laurie Anderson, Paul Simon and many others. He has presented his visual art and installations in over 130 solo shows and several group shows.

  • FRANC RODDAM

    Franc Roddam is a film director, television producer and writer. His films include Quadrophenia, K2, Aria, The Lords of Discipline and War Party. He created the worldwide TV franchise, MasterChef, which is shown in 200 countries worldwide, and also produced the TV formats Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Harry. He directed the award-winning TV drama Dummy, which won the prestigious Prix Italia Drama Prize, and directed the Golden Globe nominated US mini-series Moby Dick and Cleopatra.