Team

Sarah Dousse, Executive Director

Sarah Dousse started at the ISW-SWE as an an advisor on development, partnerships and communication. She is now executive director for the movement, contributing to its advocacy work in many different areas.

A socioeconomist by training with a solid understanding of international development, particularly in the water and sanitation sector, her natural curiosity and desire for a challenge led her to work and study abroad. She has worked for local NGOs and for the water division of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). While at the SDC, she advocated for access to water and sanitation to be considered a human right, and for the inclusion of a specific water goal in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She is a native of Switzerland.

Olivier Normand, Program Coordinator for Central Asia

Olivier Normand is responsible for the ISW’s Central Asia programs, in particular in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.  He holds a law degree from the University Paris II Assas and a diploma from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris in political science, economics and sociology.

Throughout his career, Olivier has managed development projects around the world. Since 1996 he has mainly worked in Central Asia.

Laurie Fourneaux, Youth Program Coordinator

A Montreal native, Laurie holds degrees in political science and environmental science. During her studies she focused on water issues in Burkina Faso and worked in the local development sector before joining the ISW in 2009.

As youth programme coordinator she nourishes her passion for involving youth in the process of building a more sustainable world.

Clément Dolisi, European Office Coordinator

From Strasbourg, Clément studied in Paris (SciencesPo) and London (King’s College). He specialized in public affairs and international relations. Back in Strasbourg, he worked for eight years as European Affairs Officer for the City and the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg. In charge of the animation of the network of European cities of the Club of Strasbourg, he worked on projects related to the youth, the education to the European citizenship as well as the reception of the refugee persons.

The richness of the contacts he has made over the years has led him to pursue his career in the field of international cooperation, this time on the side of civil society.

Vladimir Arana, Program Coordinator for the Americas

Vladimir coordinates the organization’s programs in the Americas, most recently in Peru. Vladimir has had a long and varied career as an expert advisor and consultant. Key roles he has occupied include: senior advisor at the Latin American Development Bank for water and infrastructure; senior advisor with CARE; advisor to the deputy minister for the Environment in Peru; general director of the Environment Bureau and General Director of Urban Planning in the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation; consultant for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); consultant for the International Potato Centre; consultant for CONDESAN; consultant for the World Bank, and university professor.

Radouane Lamqaddam, Finance and development officer

With a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in political science, focus on cooperation and development, Radouane Lamqaddam is interested in the issues of professionalization, communication and legitimacy of non-governmental organizations. In order to deepen his understanding of the challenges faced by NGOs, he worked in fundraising.

Coline Arnoux, Project manager

With a background in political science and international relations before specializing in the environment, Coline worked in politics and in the associative field before joining the ISW-SWE team in February 2022 as a civic service volunteer. Her interest in international water governance led her to join our ranks, a subject on which she wrote her final thesis. She now holds the position of project manager for the Europe office based in Strasbourg, and is in charge of the coordination of the NGO coalition Butterfly Effect.

 

Svetlana Duca, Project Manager for Moldova

As a graduate in economic sciences and public administration, Svetlana has been active in the sector of public authorities, at all levels in Moldova (central, regional, and local) as well as in international consultancy. Svetlana has acquired a comprehensive vision on Moldova’s key challenges and objectives and targets in regard to national, sector/intersector, water policies as well as in the field of regionalization and decentralization.

The work within international companies active in Moldova, especially in the water and sanitation sector, allowed her to develop a systemic approach, mostly concerning efficient planning of infrastructure, economic and financial planning, and the organization of water services.

Today, Svetlana is responsible for the coordination of the water and sanitation programme implemented by ISW-SWE in Moldova, in the Nirnova river basin.

Clémence Désiré, Civic service volonteer

Clémence holds a Master’s degree in International Cooperation from the Sorbonne Paris Nord University and is a civic service volunteer. Originally from Blois, she pursued all her studies in Paris, during which she was particularly interested in human rights. She is mainly involved in projects related to youth and citizen participation in the field of water.

Elysa Vaillancourt, Youth project manager

Elysa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from HEC Montréal and completed a Master’s degree in International Studies at the Université de Montréal, focusing more specifically on the monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation projects on the international scene.

Her master’s degree enabled her to complete an internship at the Quebec Government’s Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, which ended with a job as a climate change advisor. Her work at the Ministry focused mainly on the monitoring and evaluation of projects funded by the International Climate Cooperation Program as well as the strategic improvement of the program.

Elysa is now the Youth Project Officer, where she works on the implementation and development of the ISW-SWE youth strategy.

 

 

Nina Bianchi, Junior project manager

Nina joined the ISW-SWE team in early October. Originally from Switzerland, she studied international relations and has worked in fundraising, communication and project management for several organizations. Having participated in the European Youth Parliament for Water in 2013, she has followed ISW’s activities for many years.

Michael Daoust, 1MYAC project officer

Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in communication, with a focus on sustainable development, and completed a master’s degree in environmental management at the Université de Sherbrooke. During her master’s degree, she worked for a year at Fisheries and Oceans Canada as an intern and then as a project agent on a student contract. She was involved in the partnership agreement process and followed up on projects related to the Habitat Stewardship Program for Aquatic Species at Risk.

Michael is now the 1 Million Youth Action Challenge (1MYAC) Project Officer.

Lyazzat Syrlybayeva , Co-Regional Coordinator CAY4W

Ms. Lyazzat Syrlybayeva graduated with a double master’s degree in natural resources management from the University of Padova, Italy and the University of Lisbon, Portugal; having specialized in water ecosystem services inclusion in forest management planning.

She also has an extensive experience working in the field of landscape architecture, now she is engaged in an environmental awareness-raising – particularly leading “Central Asia Youth for Water” (CAY4W) Network – focusing on empowering the youth in the water sector in the region and beyond.

Cholpon Aitakhunova, Co-Regional Coordinator CAY4W

Cholpon Aitakhunova attended American University in Central Asia (AUCA)  from 2007-2011, and the OSCE Academy in Bishkek from 2011-2012, where she got her degrees in European Studies (BA) and Politics and Security (MA), respectively. Currently, Cholpon Aitakhunova is a regional co-coordinator of the “Central Asian Youth for Water” (CAY4W) Network, where she interacts with youth all over the region and together with the network they work on youth engagement in the water sector through active youth empowerment. She organized the First Youth Climate Change Forum in Kyrgyzstan under the support of the Green Alliance and its partner organizations. Cholpon was recognized as a global teen leader by We Are Family Foundation in 2010 and attended the global Just Peace Summit together with 30 young leaders from all over the world. She is also a finalist of the FLEX academic exchange program as well as a recipient of an award from former US president G.W. Bush for her community service during her studies in the US.