Our Team
HTF Leadership
Led by Dr. Ashish Bajracharya and Jessica DeMulder, and advised by Dr. Thoai Ngo, the Humanitarian Task Force (HTF) brings together the Population Council’s rigorous research capabilities, knowledge, experience, and expertise to inform strategies to best respond to humanitarian crises.
Jessica DeMulder
SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER, POVERTY, GENDER, AND YOUTH; HTF CO-LEAD
New York, NY
Jessica DeMulder co-leads the Humanitarian Task Force. DeMulder oversees the day-to-day operations of the Poverty Gender and Youth Program at the Council, and provides research and technical assistance in areas of adolescence, vulnerability and gender, including in humanitarian settings, globally, with a focus on sexual and gender minority adolescents. Since 2017, DeMulder has co-chaired the Coalition for Adolescent Girls (CAG) and served as the Council’s focal point for the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action (CYPHA) and the Girls in Emergencies Collaborative. DeMulder is based at the Council’s office in New York.
Ashish Bajracharya
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, COUNTRY STRATEGY & REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE – SOUTH AND EAST ASIA; HTF CO-LEAD
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ashish Bajracharya co-leads the Humanitarian Task Force. Dr. Bajracharya is a social demographer and behavioral scientist whose research interests include gender, transitions to adulthood, maternal, sexual and reproductive health, family planning outcomes of vulnerable populations in humanitarian and emergency settings. Dr. Bajracharya’s work has a particular focus on South and East Asia, where he has lived and worked over the last decade, covering Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, India, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam. He is based in the Council’s office Dhaka, Bangladesh, from where he oversees the Council’s work in social and behavioral science in the region.
Advisory Group
An Advisory Board of senior research leaders at the Council, representing diverse thematic expertise and with extensive prior experience and interests in research in humanitarian settings, advises the HTF.
Judith Bruce
Senior Associate and Policy Analyst
Poverty, Gender and Youth Program
HTF Advisor
New York, NY
Core Group
A diverse group of Council researchers and programmatic staff with expertise and experience in research in humanitarian settings form the Core Group of the HTF. HTF Core Group members represent the diversity of Council programs, geographic regions and research expertise.
Bidhubhusan Mahapatra
Project Director, Co-Lead PERCC Initiative
HTF Core Group Member
New Delhi, India
Liaisons
Representatives of each of the Council’s 13 country offices and three US based offices serve as HTF Liaisons. Liaisons, nominated by country directors or leaders of our offices, facilitate effective communications and strategic collaborations on work related to humanitarian settings, including the Council’s response to COVID-19, between the HTF and their respective offices and among each other.
Yetenayet Akalehiywot
Project Manager
HTF Liaison-Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Sarah Kennedy
Project and Knowledge Management Coordinator
HTF Liaison Washington DC Office
Washington DC
Silvana Larrea
Program Officer
HTF Liaison Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico
Monica Maher
Research Coordinator
HTF Liaison Egypt
Cairo, Egypt
Edith Namukonda
Program Officer
HTF Liaison Zambia
Lusaka, Zambia
Samia Shah
Project Director
HTF Liaison Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan