OUR TEAM

Meg supports Root Change and its partners - international NGOs, movements, foundations, civil society organizations, and more - to identify, develop, and apply innovative tools and approaches to contribute to local solutions for local problems. She is responsible for providing management and direction to the Community Independence Initiative and the Center for Peer Driven Change at Root Change. Before Root Change, Meg worked at Pact managing and overseeing the Global WORTH program – an appreciative-based savings group model for women’s economic and social empowerment. Meg got her start in Tanzania, supporting the community-based programming at Jifundishe. She holds a MA in Intercultural Leadership & Management from SIT Graduate Institute and a BA (Hon.) in Political Science & African Studies from the University of Toronto. In her spare time, Meg can be found daydreaming about her next trip while trying a new gluten-free, dairy-free baked good recipe.

Aaron is the Board treasurer and an executive committee member. He is the founder and president of Context Matters – a Netherlands based consulting firm specializing in inclusive governance, social accountability, and the strengthening of civic space. His work focuses primarily on fragile and conflict affected states and combatting the burgeoning threat of authoritarianism. Aaron designed and led some of the largest local governance and civil society programming for Pact in Myanmar from 2013-2019; he promoted South-South cooperation and competitions for development as a member of the World Bank; and he has worked as a teacher, gardener and campaigner in previous professional lives. After work, Aaron enjoys exploring mountains, lakes, and food with his family and friends. He makes his home in the Netherlands.

Laura Nyirinkindi is a human rights lawyer living in Uganda and working to support change management and organizational development processes for civil society organizations and government entities. She believes that processes of empowering groups and communities to articulate and shape their aspirations best succeed when expressed and implemented by the men and women in those spaces.   She continues to be passionate about promoting social justice for vulnerable and disempowered communities particularly in Africa. Before joining the Root Change Board, Laura sat on the African Development Bank-Civil Society Committee where she represented the East African Region on issues of people centred development. She holds a Master’s degree from Oxford University in International Human Rights Law and is keen to promote human rights education in Africa. She feels at home in the creatives and has been known to produce musicals, pen poems and dabble in African fashion.

Tanja is based in Belgrade but she is often on the road all over the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe working with drivers and supporters of social change. In the past 20 years, she has founded and led a community organization, worked with peace building and women’s organizations, and served as Development Director with one of the leading local grant-makers in the Balkans. Tanja’s particular area of interest is philanthropy., and she enjoys playing as a broker. She guides and encourages grassroots groups to approach fundraising as if giving people new opportunities to contribute, while advising important philanthropists on their giving strategies. She managed the fundraising campaign that is building the first Endowment Fund in Balkan civil society. She currently runs the consulting agency Tabula that provides services in philanthropy and organizational development. Her passion for alternative approaches to development linked her with Root Change. Tanja loves to read, write and socialize.

In the early 90’s when working as an architect in Nepal on a community led school design project, Tara first knew she wanted to engage with social justice issues. In the last 30 years she has been employing her design skills, shaping strategies and action in the areas of development, environment and human rights, working with non-governmental groups such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the World Wildlife Fund as well as bilateral and multi-lateral organizations in Asia and beyond. Her work has taken her to Vietnam, Bhutan, Nepal, Denmark, and the UK. Tara enjoys designing for collaborative change and combining complexity, design thinking, and systems thinking with action research. Recently she set up Our Groundworks, a  design thinking entity that embraces complex challenges and works  on RINGO – Re-imagining the INGO – a systems change lab and Complexity University’s  Gigatonne Challenge - a global bottom up climate action strategy. Tara lives in Bangalore. She loves travel, music and tennis, and simply can’t do without humor and laughter.