On Our Team:

Kristin Kalla

Interim Executive Director

With nearly three decades of experience in humanitarian work, Kristin Kalla has made significant contributions to global humanitarian programs involving development, human rights, gender justice, and public health responses. Her expertise stretches across more than 25 countries, particularly those coping with conflict and post-conflict scenarios, underscoring her commitment to uplifting societies in need.

Kristin dedicated her life as a humanitarian working for the United Nations, International Criminal Court, and other international organizations, traversing the globe, and working tirelessly in various communities affected by armed conflict, natural disasters and pandemics across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Most recently, Kristin was a manager on the COVID-19 pandemic response in New Zealand’s Ministry of Health; and the Deputy Director at the United Nations University's International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia where she led the business continuity strategies in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and an initiative with Wilton Park, a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) executive agency. Their joint efforts focused on convening international discussions addressing issues surrounding vaccine hesitancy and confidence.

Kristin led the creation of the programs at the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trust Fund for Victims in The Hague from 2007–2015 where she was responsible for overseeing the country-based operations for victim survivor rehabilitation assistance and reparations programs, including responding to sexual and gender-based crimes. She not only stepped into the role of interim Executive Director, guiding the Secretariat through a period of significant transition, but also skillfully chaired high-level Board of Directors' meetings. Her leadership shone particularly during a key Special Session of the ICC Assembly of States' Parties held at the United Nations in New York. At this event, she engaged with prominent Board Members among them The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and the esteemed Simone Veil of France, former President of the European Parliament, fostering dialogue and steering discussions towards constructive outcomes.

In this role at the ICC, Kristin was a senior gender expert to the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative to the G7 leadership of the United Kingdom’s Chair to respond to sexual violence in armed conflict settings by supporting states to build national accountability capacities. She was also a gender expert to the Swedish Government and authored “Advancing justice and making amends through reparations: legal and operational considerations,” in The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict (2018).

From 2001 – 2005, at CARE International, Kristin led an office in Washington, D.C. directing a significant global health initiative valued at $50M under USAID PEPFAR. The initiative reached 26 countries across Africa and Asia, and involved supporting faith and community leaders, Ministries of Health, and National AIDS Councils. Her responsibilities extended to briefing the White House Faith-based Office and Congressional leaders on global health matters impacting the Global South. In this role, she spearheaded a multi-agency team in Uganda with the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, originating a USAID project aimed at financially, technically, and programmatically aiding orphans and vulnerable children in post-conflict northern Uganda.

Kristin spearheaded UNICEF’s first multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS program in Ethiopia in 2000-2001. In post-genocide Rwanda in 1997-2000, her expertise was instrumental in rebuilding capacities within the Ministry of Health, a project supported by USAID and the World Bank. Her humanitarian efforts also extended to post-conflict regions such as Kosovo and Tajikistan with Islamic Relief and Relief International. Kristin played a pivotal role with International Medical Corps in strategizing for transitioning from relief to development efforts following the Southern Lebanon/Israeli conflict in 2006.

In Kenya, Kristin contributed to the government's initiatives in the Governance Justice Law and Order Sector, focusing on understanding the impact of the HIV epidemic within the justice and prison system. She co-authored a review, "Ensuring Justice for Vulnerable Communities in Kenya: A Review of HIV and AIDS-Related Legal Services" for the Open Society Institute, which led to designing HIV-related legal services that leveraged local partnerships to provide legal support for victims of HIV-related human rights abuses. And Kristin’s earlier work focussed on strengthening reproductive health, nutrition and maternal and child health programs in Egypt serving Sudanese refugees, as well as working with the Inter-African Committee in Geneva where she developed materials on the negative impact of harmful traditional practices on reproductive health.

Kristin holds master’s degrees in public health (MPH) and African area studies with an emphasis in Medical Anthropology (MA) from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She also has a bachelor of arts in communication from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

In 1997, Kristin was selected to participate in the inaugural United Nations Leadership Academy hosted by HM King Hussein and HM Queen Noor of Jordan, an initiative launched by the then UN Secretary General during the UN's 50th Anniversary to prepare future leaders by learning directly from world leaders, donor organizations, and corporations from the private sector. The academy included significant engagements with government officials and civil society in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.

In 2014, Kristin was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is also an inaugural honoree of the Gender Justice Legacy Wall launched at the United Nations by the Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice in 2017. And in 2023, Kristin was recognized as a UCLA Global Alumni Ambassador.

Raised with a Palestinian Muslim father from Safad who became a refugee in 1948’s Al-Nakba and was deeply spiritual and influenced by Sufi traditions, and later, a Jewish American stepfather whose extended family survived the Holocaust, Kristin has been uniquely positioned to experience and understand the power of empathy, compassion, and oneness in the face of adversity. Amid the enduring conflicts in the region, cultural differences, varied lived experiences, and contrasting historical narratives, her fathers’ joint effort to foster an environment of dialogue, understanding, cooperation, and mutual respect with one another has significantly shaped her perspectives on life and humanitarian leadership.

Kristin’s own journey of healing inter-generational trauma and spirituality has further enriched her ability to guide others on their path towards recovery, wholeness, and self-growth through soul-based coaching. Soul coaches function as mentors, helping others navigate the complexities of life, unraveling the layers of societal norms and self-imposed limitations to reveal one's authentic self and soul or career purpose.

Kristin embraces a life with her partner that flows between the radiant red desert of Arizona and the lush paradise of Aotearoa-New Zealand. These two locations offer contrasting but equally enriching sources of inspiration, renewal, and indigenous and ancestral wisdom.