Plan International's Leadership Team
Plan International's global leadership team is dedicated to our ambition to see All Girls Standing Strong Creating Global Change.
Our supreme governing body is our Members’ Assembly, made up of delegates from the governing bodies of our 20 National Organisations.
(Information updated January 2024)
We are a not for profit corporation registered in the State of New York, U.S.A. Our constitutional documents include our Certificate of Incorporation (PDF 1.49 MB) and our By-laws (PDF 242 KB), which set out the roles and responsibilities of our governing bodies. We also have a Conflicts of Interest Policy (PDF 426 KB) to manage potential and actual conflicts of interest.
Our registered office is located on the 15th floor, 228 East 45th Street, New York NY 10017, U.S.A.
Members’ Assembly
Our supreme governing body is our Members’ Assembly, made up of delegates from the governing bodies of our 20 National Organisations as well as two delegates under the age of 25 from countries where we implement programmes through our Country Offices. The Members’ Assembly decides on our Global Strategy, annual budget, financial statements and Global Policies. It also elects our International Board members in accordance with the Members’ Assembly approved Election Procedures. It is chaired by Gunvor Kronman, who also chairs the International Board.
The Members’ Assembly has two committees: the Board Oversight Committee (Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås (Chair), Sam Worthington, and Lori Evans) and the Nominating and Governance Committee (Aoife Kelly Desmond, Kazuyuki Mori, Paula Salovaara, Margarita Vargas, and Susan Blankhart).
International Board
Our International Board, responsible for overseeing management of our affairs, is comprised of up to 11 individuals, 7 of whom must also sit on the governing bodies of National Organisations. The Board is responsible for overseeing the Leadership Team’s management of Plan International, Inc.
The Board has two standing committees: the Financial Audit Committee and the Programme Committee, each of which also includes non-voting delegates from the Members’ Assembly. It has also established a People and Culture Committee.
Information about each of our Board members is below:
Gunvor Kronman (Chair)
Gunvor joined the International Board as Vice Chair in November 2014 and became Chair of the International Board and Members’ Assembly in November 2020. She has a wealth of experience in the field of international development, previously working for 16 years in the International Red Cross movement and serving on several humanitarian missions. She has chaired the Development Policy Committee for 10 years, advising three Finnish governments on global issues, and has experience in child rights.
She has served as the vice chair of Crisis Management Initiative, an independent organisation that works to prevent and resolve violent conflicts and has held Board Memberships with UN Live and Friends of the UN, amongst others. Gunvor is motivated by trying to make the world a better place by pushing for a better life for all children and especially girls, and for gender equality.
Madhukar Kamath (Vice Chair)
Madhukar Kamath is a marketing services professional, with over four decades of experience. Madhukar is currently the Chair Emeritus of the DDB Mudra Group, a mentor for Interbrand India and the Chair of Multiplier Brand Solutions. He has served as the Chair for the Advertising Standards Council of India, the Advertising Agencies Association of India and the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Madhukar helped to build MICA into India’s foremost Strategic Marketing and Communication Management and Business School and has also been conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Advertising Association of India. He is a member Emeritus of the Board of Plan India and is committed to achieving the organisation’s ambition of all girls standing strong creating global change. Madhukar is a member of the Financial Audit Committee.
Carlos Aparicio
Carlos Aparicio is a Colombian national and a member of the board of Fundación Plan in Colombia. He is a specialist in academic,
administrative and financial education. A certified public accountant from the Central University in Colombia, magister in university administration from los Andes University with a diploma in financial and administrative management from Central University and a diploma in Political Management and Governance from George Washington University.
Carlos has served as the executive director of UIIX University, chancellor and legal representative of UNITEC University in Colombia and has worked as director and teacher at the Central University, Sergio Arboleda University, Iberoamericana University, Libertadores University and Los Andes University. He has been an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in Colombia, a consultant for the Organization of the Iberoamerican States, and coordinator of interinstitutional relations at Pan American Association of Educational Credit Institutions. From the age of 5 to 18, Carlos was a Plan International sponsored child.
Carlos is a member of the Programme Committee.
Axel Berger (Treasurer / Financial Audit Committee Chair)
Axel Berger joined the Board in 2017. He spent most of his professional career for the German arm of KPMG, the accounting firm, thereof 14 as managing partner of Cologne and Munich. He is also the former Vice-President of Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel. He received an Honorary Doctor of the University of Eichstätt.
Axel has sat on the Board of Plan International Germany since 2004 and joined the International Board in 2017. Axel is a member of the Financial Audit Committee.
Elbia Castillo Calderon
Elbia currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Scotiabank Mexico, and was previously Vice President of Audit, Security and Research of Scotiabank Peru S.A.A.
Elbia holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Universidad de Lima. She joined the International Board in 2017.
She is a member of the Financial Audit Committee and the People and Culture Committee.
Rabia Garib (Programme Committee Chair)
Rabia has been an entrepreneur in the area of technology media since 1999 and produces business-technology content for web, television and radio. In 2007, she brought the world’s largest business-technology magazine, CIO, to Pakistan. She co-founded ToffeeTV in 2010 which develops local language content, making learning fun through animated songs and stories and producing e-learning content for several companies. ToffeeTV is now expanding into curriculum-aligned educational content.
In 2017, Rabia co-established The New Spaces, a website dedicated to AI, Fintech, IOT and Infosec content. Rabia was previously the head of the Pakistan chapter of Eisenhower Fellows. She is the Chair of the Programme Committee and a member of the People and Culture Committee.
Sibongani Kayola (People and Culture Committee Chair)
Sibongani is a mental health professional whose career has focused on providing psychosocial, mental health and social protection services to children and families affected by HIV and AIDS, conflict, and poverty. Sibongani currently works in Sudan where she leads a team delivering projects that cover the triple nexus approach with projects interlinking the humanitarian, development and peace sectors.
Sibongani holds an Msc in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from the University of Oxford and an Msc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from the University of Ibadan. She is the Chair of the People and Culture Committee.
Rachel Samrén
Rachel joined the International Board in 2024 bringing in-depth understanding of the trisector relationship between business, government, and civil society from her career as an external affairs, governance and risk executive with 25 years’ experience across the telecommunications, strategic intelligence, and financial services sectors in publicly traded, private, NGO and government JV entities.
A corporate diplomacy and responsible business expert, Rachel has managed stakeholder relations, regulatory affairs, sustainability/ESG and crisis situations on behalf of corporate and non-profit entities internationally, and in the global south in particular. Involvement in the telecom sector has provided Rachel with thorough insights into the positive enablement effect, as well as the risks, of technology, making her a passionate advocate for the responsible use of technology and for digital and financial inclusion of women and girls specifically. She sits on the Programme Committee.
Mark De Smedt
Mark has over 30 years experience in Marketing, Operations and Human Resources at Apple and Citigroup. He moved to the Adecco Group in 2013 where he was on the Executive Committee until 2019. Mark is currently on the Boards of the Copus Group and SD Worx. He is passionate about people and supporting young entrepreneurs. Mark is a member of the People and Culture Committee.
Ikufumi Tomimoto
Tomi is a Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Advisor to the Vice President of International Cooperation of Yamaguchi University in Japan. He worked for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 1974 to 2010 and served as a Director of JICA in its Paris, Vienna, Washington DC, and Bangkok offices. He is an expert in the fields of International Public Management and Development Cooperation. Tomi serves on the Board of Plan Japan and is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and Plan International’s Purpose. He is a member of the Programme Committee.
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