Synergy ™




	Synergy is an employee-owned company with headquarters in Oxford, UK, and staff based in UK and Southern Africa. Our specialised international team of staff, associates and partner organisations offers a strong blend of practical experience, creative solutions and the latest technical thought to address local and global social development issues. We have particular skills in working with and between the private sector, civil society and governments. We work with local organisations and individuals wherever possible, building the capacity of our clients and partners in order to deepen the value of our efforts, effect lasting change and ensure our work contributes to sustainable social development.

	Katharine Gotto Walton Director Katharine is an experienced project manager specializing in sustainable development, and social and environmental performance with experience of working across corporate, non-governmental, governmental and academic sectors. Drawing on international experience including more than four years working on the ground in Latin America as a Sustainable Development Manager with Shell, she has developed a thorough understanding of the practicalities of integrating sustainable development within extractive industry projects in sensitive social and environmental situations. Her exceptional management and mediation skills have been critical to facilitating effective engagement and dialogue on numerous projects including those in Venezuela, Iran and Kazakhstan. Before joining Synergy she was responsible for the management and globalization of the BP Conservation Programme over a five year period. The Programme was based on a proactive partnership between BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International and BP. Katharine has a background in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, and speaks fluent Spanish.

	Edward O'Keefe Director Edward is an experienced international sustainable development project manager. His key skills include applying a livelihoods approach to institutional analysis; planning and development at national and local levels; and building processes for effective stakeholder partnerships. He has a background in Africa and now leads Synergy's work in the continent. He has worked with organisations including Shell, IFC, Fauna & Flora International, and HP to understand and integrate complex social issues into management systems. With Fauna & Flora International, he was a major contributor to the development and management of the Community & Business Forum of the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan, which helped mediate relationships between the mine and the local communities. He acts as an external assessor for Newmont's Five Star Community & External Relations management system. Before joining Synergy Edward worked for the UK Department for International Development mainstreaming natural resource and poverty issues into the Ugandan government programme to reform agricultural advisory services. He has also worked for international NGOs in developing and managing local and national sustainable development projects in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South-East Asia.

	Paul Kapelus Director Paul's mission is to promote business in Africa as a force for good. He has 15 years experience in the field of corporate responsibility with a focus on mining, oil, infrastructure development, finance and telecommunications. Paul was the founder and CEO of the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship. He has experience in undertaking social impact assessments, the development of social development plans, sustainability reporting and assurance, stakeholder engagement strategies and plans, and resettlement. Paul's experience with the mining sector has been at an academic, policy and corporate level. His work in the mining sector includes coordinating the South Africa Mining and Society research study with the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED) and Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) in Southern Africa, as well as strategic advice to a range of companies. Paul has worked in a number of countries throughout Africa. In recent years Paul has played a role in establishing partnerships between companies and NGOs in Southern Africa, has facilitated stakeholder panels for companies and has also coordinated various initiatives with the finance sector, including the development of an Investor Guide on HIV/AIDS. Paul is a stakeholder council member of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), and a council member of AccountAbility. He also participated in the Chairman's Advisory Group of the ISO26000 Social Responsibility Initiative. In January 2006 he was elected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and is a judge on the Mail & Guardian Investing in the Future Awards and ACCA Sustainability Reporting Award, South Africa, and sits on the advisory committee of the Wits Center for Sustainability in Mining and Industry.

	Hope Sherwin Consultant Hope is an experienced practitioner in Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with knowledge of the private, voluntary and governmental sectors. While living in the United Arab Emirates Hope co-founded, together with the Emirates Environmental Group, a forum for cross-sector dialogue bringing together public and private organizations to address sustainability issues. She also has been involved in the social impact assessment and stakeholder engagement for several infrastructure projects in the UAE. She has experience in CSR reporting, assurance, benchmarking, auditing and strategic advice gained as a consultant with CSR Network and as part of the BT Social Policy Team. She has worked with a number of NGOs including the Amnesty International Business Group. Hope has worked in Bihar, India, and as a trainee political analyst in the South Asia unit at the European Commission's External Relations Directorate. Hope speaks French, German and basic Arabic.

	Kathryn Tomlinson Consultant Kathryn is a social anthropologist with a particular focus on human rights and indigenous rights. She has consultancy experience in a wide range of projects concerning CSR, development and government policy. Kathryn has more than five years experience on both desk and field based research, having completed a PhD on indigenous peoples' land rights relating to a conflict over the building of an electricity power line through indigenous lands of Venezuela. During her doctorate, Kathryn spent 13 months carrying out fieldwork in Venezuela, researching and analyzing both the legislative and practical on the ground aspects of indigenous land tenure. Since working as a consultant, Kathryn has worked on several projects concerned with resettlement, land tenure, indigenous peoples, human rights, social assessments and stakeholder engagement. Key project experience includes the in-country auditing of the West African Gas Pipeline Resettlement Action Plans in the French speaking countries of Benin and Togo, the development of a resettlement policy framework for the Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System, and social risk reviews for mines. Kathryn also has a wide experience of writing papers for an academic audience, having presented her work at numerous UK and international conferences. Kathryn is fluent in French and Spanish.

	Emily Keeble Consultant Emily is currently developing Synergy's Helica® training toolkit for revenues transparency and human rights issues. She has a MA (Hons) in Understanding and Securing Human Rights from the University of London and a BA (Hons) in Political Sciences from the University of Leeds. Emily has previous experience of working on social and environmental issues with government agencies, NGOs and companies including Oxfam, the Climate Care Trust and the Medical Foundation. Furthermore, while undertaking her Masters degree Emily co-founded a student led network of academics, students and members of the public, which facilitated debate on civilian protection in Darfur. During both undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, Emily received extensive exposure to current debates surrounding human rights, corruption, HIV/AIDs, conflict resolution, international relations and civilian protection within both the public and private sectors and has broad academic experience engaging with international and specifically human rights law.

	Kerry Brewer Office Manager Born and raised in South Africa, Kerry moved to the UK at the end of 2000 after obtaining her degree in Office Management and Technology. Prior to joining the team at Synergy, Kerry built up six years of administrative experience including a period at BP on the Block 18 project in Angola. During her work at BP she broadened her capacity to work in international environments and travelled to Norway and Paris to establish satellite offices for the project.



	Judith Schorscher-Righetti Judith is an experienced rural sociologist with over 12 years field experience in applied research, social analysis, community consultation and empowerment, group facilitation, conflict resolution and gender. She has worked in Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Guinea. She is fluent in English and French, has a good working knowledge of Spanish and some basic Sudanese Arabic. Judith has been working with Synergy on the establishment of a comprehensive communities programme for the Rio Tinto project in Guinea and on other mining community projects.

	John Rowley John has had over 25 years experience in development work with NGOs, bilateral and multi-lateral agencies. His specialist expertise lies in training and participatory methods, project design, planning, evaluation and management; and strategic planning at programme and institutional levels. He has undertaken research into social development and food security. He also has excellent French skills, both written and spoken. John has worked in Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia, Burkina Faso/Upper Volta, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guinea, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Malagasy/Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom and N. Ireland, Vietnam, Former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

	Henry Thompson Henry has focused for more than 20 years in promoting and applying sustainable and equitable use of natural resources in arid and semi arid regions. He has worked to achieve these goals with governments, NGOs, corporate's, communities and academia including IUCN. DfID, JICA and BP across Africa and the Middle East. Henry has key experience in community-based organisations, developing effective multi-sector dialogues, participatory surveys, programme-orientated research and analysis, impact assessment, rural development and the management of corporate community affairs. Since 2001 he has concentrated on work in Yemen, balancing work for the oil and gas sector on environmental and social impact management with work in the broader field of development in the interface between the hydrocarbon sector, civil society and governance.