Inclusive Development

Lisa Wise

Head of Inclusive Development Policy & Advocacy (currently on maternity leave)
l.wise@savethechildren.org.uk
@Lisa_dh

Lisa Wise is leads the organisation’s policy, advocacy and research on inequality and accountability, with a view to driving change for the world’s poorest and most marginalised children. 

Her current focus is on the implementation of the SDG pledge to Leave No One Behind, with emphasis on tackling structural drivers of poverty and social exclusion. 

Amanda Lenhardt

Acting up Head of Inclusive Development Policy & Advocacy 
a.lendhardt@savethechildren.org.uk
@amanda_lenhardt

Amanda Lenhardt was previously a Research Officer at the Overseas Development Institute. She has a research background in inequality, chronic poverty, and the political economy of development. She has fieldwork experience in East and West Africa and South East Asia.  

She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and an MSc in Poverty Reduction and Development Management.

Lilei Chow

Senior Policy & Advocacy Adviser
yl.chow@savethechildren.org.uk

Lilei’s focus is on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Pledge to Leave No One Behind. Lilei has over ten years of experience working in international development, including within the UN system, mostly with vulnerable and marginalised groups such as indigenous communities and persons with disabilities. She also has a background in field research, having led research looking at the human security impacts of dam-induced development and the forced repatriation, among others.

Lilei holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from Sciences Po, Paris, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She graduated Summa cum Laude with Distinction from Boston University with a BA in International Relations.

Gabrielle Szabo

Senior Policy & Advocacy Adviser - Gender
g.szabo@savethechildren.org.uk
@gabrielleszabo

Gabrielle is a human rights lawyer and has previously worked on health systems strengthening gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights with the Global Fund, community-based organisations and the UN in Asia and the Pacific.

Mareen Buschmann

Senior Research & Advocacy Adviser
m.buschmann@savethechildren.org.uk
@MareenBuschmann

Mareen Buschmann leads on development finance. She previously worked for the international development network Bond, where she convened the sector around the Third Financing for Development Conference.

Mareen has worked on development and finance issues including aid, tax, the SDGs and poverty alleviation for 10 years and has experience with the ONE Campaign, the German NGO umbrella organisation VENRO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 

Oliver Fiala

Senior Research Adviser
o.fiala@savethechildren.org.uk

Previously, Oliver was a Research Assistant at TU Dresden, Germany. He studied the effect of natural disasters on individual behaviour in developing countries, which included field work in Cambodia.

Oliver has a PhD and a Diploma (Master degree) from TU Dresden.

Claire Leigh

Director of International Development Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns (Job Share)
c.leigh@savethechildren.org.uk
@ClaireLeighDev

Claire has been Director of Save the Children UK’s International Development Department since 2016, and she currently manages the Education, and Inclusive Development teams.

Prior to that she worked on policy and research in a variety of international settings, including for the United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF in New York, the Overseas Development Institute in London, and the governments of Rwanda and Liberia.

She has a particular interest in aid effectiveness, fragile states, state-building and governance. Between 2007 and 2009 Claire was a senior policy adviser in the British Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and in the Policy Planning Staff of the UK Foreign Office.

She holds a first class degree in History from the University of Cambridge and an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford.

Simon Wright

Director of International Development Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns (Job Share)
s.wright@savethechildren.org.uk
@simoniswright

Simon Wright leads Save the Children UK's International Development Department, managing Save the Children's Health, and Nutrition teams.

He has worked in public health and service commissioning in the UK National Health Service and as an adviser to the UK parliament on HIV and health. While working for ActionAid he led its HIV campaigning and later established the European Advocacy network, Action for Global Health.

He is currently a Steering Committee member of UHC2030 and works with many organisations including the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health.