- Making it Work (MIW) is a global multi-stakeholder initiative supporting the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- Source is an international information support center designed to strengthen the management, use and impact of information on health and disability.
- The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, currently coordinated by Handicap International, is a coalition of thousands of people and U.S. non-governmental organizations working to convince the U.S. government to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Who We Are
Our Board
Nancy A. Kelly, President
Ms. Kelly has been the executive director of Health Volunteers Overseas since it was founded in 1986. Previously, she worked for the National Council for International Health (now known as the Global Health Council) and she served as a maternal-child health worker with the U.S. Peace Corps. Ms. Kelly received her bachelor's degree in Asian studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Health Science degree in maternal and child health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Ms. Kelly is a frequent speaker at meetings of professional associations on topics related to volunteer preparation, effective cross-cultural communication, the role of education in capacity building and leadership in a cross-cultural context. She has also written numerous articles on developing programs that effectively utilize the skills and expertise of volunteer short-term healthcare professionals, and how to identify an appropriate volunteer placement.
In addition to her responsibilities at Health Volunteers Overseas, Ms. Kelly serves on the board of directors of Global Impact, as well as on the Advisory Board of the Emory Spine Center for Outreach and Medical Education and on the Open Board of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics. She also is a member of the Global Health Task Force of the U.S. Summit and Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy. In 1998, Ms. Kelly was inducted into the Delta Omega (Alpha Chapter) Honorary Public Health Society in recognition of her role in the founding of Health Volunteers Overseas. Board Service since 2009
Rosalind Grigsby, Treasurer
Ms. Grigsby has many years of experience working with nongovernmental organizations in the fields of international development and education. She has lived overseas in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where she specialized in community development and the informal economy. She has coordinated grant projects in the non-profit sector and conducted research on related issues. She currently serves as executive director of the Old Takoma Park Business Association. She, her husband and three children live in Takoma Park, Maryland. Board Service since 2006
John Lancaster, Secretary
Mr. Lancaster is a recognized leader in the disability rights movement in the United States and has been an advocate for persons with disabilities for more than 20 years. Trained in law, he brings considerable expertise and experience to disability issues; nongovernmental organization governance and management; resource development; program development and management; international and U.S. disability law; and policy, public relations and resource development to the Handicap International Federation.
He is the former executive director of The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), a national consortium of independent living organizations based in Washington, D.C. John served as director of the President's Commission on Disabilities under the Clinton administration, and in December 2010, President Obama nominated him as a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace. He spent four years in Vietnam helping the National Parliament develop law to protect persons with disabilities. In September 2009, he was elected to serve as the first treasurer of the Handicap International Federation Board of Trustees. Now retired, he and his wife live in upstate New York. Board Service since 2006
Beth MacNairn, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer
Ms. MacNairn is the Executive Director of Handicap International U.S. She has two decades of experience in international development and humanitarian relief program management, communications, fundraising and teaching/training. She has worked with non-governmental organizations and educational institutions based both in the United States and abroad.
Previously, she worked with AMIDEAST in both Washington, D.C., and in Cairo, Egypt, and then with Catholic Relief Services in Morocco and as a consultant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She worked with Health Volunteers Overseas for four years and then, in 2006, joined ResCare International as Haiti Program Coordinator, managing a job creation project. She joined the Handicap International U.S. staff in 2008, serving as the Director of Institutional Fundraising until her transition to Executive Director in June 2011.
Tapan Banerjee
Dr. Banerjee is the senior vice president for Global Partners United and senior advisor for Whirlwind Wheelchairs International. Dr. Banerjee served as the executive director of the U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD) from 2005-2008. He has more than 25 years of experience in the field of international business development with a special focus on creating opportunities for persons with disabilities in corporate and public ventures.
Dr. Banerjee is a long-time advocate on issues affecting the disability community and he has served as a counselor for the Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE); a consultant for the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) within the U.S. Department of Education; as a local representative for Wheels of the World; on the board of directors of Excel, an employment opportunity program for persons with disabilities; as a program manager for MGM Consulting Group, which deals with training and creating opportunities for persons with disabilities; a member of the board of directors of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA); and a consultant for the World Bank's Disability Program. He was recently been appointed as an Honorary Member of President Barack Obama's Kitchen Cabinet.
Before assuming his present responsibilities with the disability community, Dr. Banerjee spent 28 years working for the U.S. Department of Commerce, serving as the regional commercial counselor for West Africa in the Ivory Coast. His other postings included Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Manila and Jakarta. Board Service since 2010
Dr. Philippe Chabasse
Dr. Chabasse co-founded Handicap International's French national association and he served as its co-director for 20 years. He has more than 25 years of experience in developing and implementing programs for persons with disabilities in post-conflict and low-income countries and he has been instrumental in the international campaign to ban landmines. He began his career in international humanitarian work in the early 1980s, when he joined Doctors Without Borders, serving first as a physician in Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Poland, and then as program director in Thailand. In 1983, he joined with two other French doctors to create Handicap International. He established and ran the Paris representation office of Handicap International, developing and managing its relations with the French and European authorities and nongovernmental organization networks. He also served as a desk officer for programs in Pakistan, the Philippines, Colombia, Ecuador, Chad, Romania and Thailand.
In 1992, he attended the founding meeting of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and served as a member of the Coordination Committee of the ICBL. In the years leading up to the signing and ratification of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Dr. Chabasse oversaw the political aspects of the national and international lobbying campaign for Handicap International, which resulted in France signing and ratifying the Treaty in 1998.
Dr. Chabasse left the staff of Handicap International in 2004, to direct a consultancy firm that works with France's corporate sector to encourage socially responsible investments and long-term development. He now serves on the board for Handicap International's U.S. national association as well as on the organization's Federal Board. He and his two sons live in Paris. Board Service since 2006
Dominique Lê Van Truoc
Mr. Lê Van Truoc has worked for many years in the private sector in communications with a specialty in interactive and Web-based outreach. He joined the staff of Handicap International's French national association in 2003, serving first as communication and development director. In 2010, he was appointed deputy director of the Handicap International Federation. He, his wife and son live in Lyon, France. Board Service since 1996
Clémentine Olivier
Ms. Olivier is a French lawyer who specializes in international criminal law and the law of armed conflict. From 1994 until 2001, she held a number of positions for Handicap International, serving as head of mission in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Tanzania, before returning to Lyon, France (Handicap International headquarters), to become desk officer for the Middle East.
From 2001 through 2004, she worked as a researcher in international and comparative criminal law for the Irish Centre for Human Rights. She then transferred to The Hague for REDRESS, a British nongovernmental organization, to serve as the outreach and advocacy officer. While there, she lobbied with the International Criminal Court and organized trainings for lawyers in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 2006, she has returned to working in the field of emergency humanitarian relief. Board Service since 2010
Patrick Segal
Mr. Segal is an author, athlete and physiotherapist who currently works in the Office of the Inspector General of Social Affairs in Paris. Mr. Segal served with Doctors without Borders in Lebanon in 1976 and in Eritrea in 1980. He joined Handicap International staff in 1984, serving first in Thailand where he worked with Cambodian refugees, and then Cambodia itself. He later ran programs for Handicap International in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Senegal and Gaza/West Bank. From 1995 until 2002, he served on the board of Handicap International in France. Mr. Segal was deputy mayor of Paris from 1989 until 1995 and was the inter-ministerial delegate for People with Disabilities from 1995 until 2002. He is the author of 10 books including The Man Who Walked in his Head, which has been translated into 10 languages. He served as a member of the Disabled Sports Team of France from 1985 until 1988 and he was selected for the 1988 Paralympics Games in Seoul.
Mr. Segal's honors include Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour in 2007; National Order of Merit in 1995; Silver Gilt Medal from the City Hall of Paris in 1981; Doctor Honoris Causas from the University of Nottingham-U.K. in 2003 and recipient of the International Dag Hammarskjold Peace Prize in 1980. Board Service since 2010
Jacques Tassi (Chairman of the Handicap International Federation Board)
Mr. Tassi is a graduate of the College Ecole Supérieure de Commerce and he is a certified public accountant. He served for 22 years at Ernst & Young as a partner, then as the deputy-managing partner for France. After leaving Ernst & Young in 1999, he created Afternext, a start-up in Marseille, France, which became a financial company. In 2003, he co-founded Les Entreprises Humaines, which brings together companies committed to an ethical approach to economic activity that seeks to place people at the heart of their work.
In 1999, he joined Handicap International's Board of Trustees, where he served first as treasurer and then, in 2006, as chairman. In 2009, he was appointed the first chairman of the board of the newly launched Handicap International Federation. He lives with his wife in Clansayes, France, where he produces honey and other lavender products as an avocation. Board Service since 2010
