Our team

Executive Leadership team

Sir Roger Singleton

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Sir Roger has spent his career working with and for vulnerable children. He was Chief Executive of children's charity Barnardo’s for 20 years. He was also the UK government’s chief adviser on the safety of children; chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority; interim director of safeguarding at the Church of England; and has conducted many reviews, audits and investigations into the circumstances in which children have been abused.

In 2005 he worked with J.K. Rowling and others to create Lumos and was a trustee for eight years. Then, after a period as interim managing director, he became a consultant, returning to Lumos in September 2019 as the Interim Chief Executive.

Alex Christopoulos

Deputy Chief Executive

Alex leads Lumos’ programmes, research, advocacy and training and technical support functions. Alex joined in 2016 and has a background in designing and leading a range of complex programmes to help meet the needs of marginalised children across a number of countries.

Alex has led a number of international programmes aimed at preventing, recognising and responding to the harm children and their families face. He is a strong advocate of locally-led development, ensuring that children, and the communities they live in, are given a voice and can influence decisions that affect them.

Andrea Sanseverino Galan

Global Director of Development and Communications

Andrea leads Lumos’ global communications and fundraising strategy from our New York office. She joined Lumos in September 2019 from the China Institute in America, where she was Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer.

Andrea was Vice President for Advancement at Manhattan School of Music and served as Senior Director of Foundation and Institutional Giving at Americas Society/Council of the Americas in New York. She taught cultural policy at New York University and also served as the State of Ohio Arts Council's representative in Argentina, establishing a bilateral cultural cooperation agreement between Ohio and Buenos Aires.

Chris Cuthbert

Global Director of Research

Chris leads the Lumos Evidence Unit, capturing new data and research about the scale, costs and consequences of child institutionalisation – harnessing evidence to influence policy and practice globally.

Chris was Director of Learning and Development for A Better Start, Head of Strategy and Development at the NSPCC, and Deputy Director of the government’s Social Exclusion Task Force. He co-authored the government’s Social Exclusion Action Plan and has worked in the Department of Education and the Children and Young People’s Unit. He has a Social Epidemiology MSc from University College London and is a Trustee of social innovation organisation Spring Impact.

Debra A Jones

Global Advocacy and Campaigns Director

Debra guides Lumos’ evidence-based advocacy and campaigning work from our New York office. She has over 25 years’ experience as a senior advocate, partnering with UN agencies, government delegations and civil society partners to create lasting positive change for the world’s most vulnerable children.

Prior to joining us, Debra was the President, UN Representative and Director of Save the Children’s US global advocacy office. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Group of the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. She also served for 20 years as an Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, held senior positions at Family Care International, and co-founded the Paraíso Assistance Program and the International Organisation for Adolescents (IOFA).

Global team

Irina Malanciuc

Regional Director of Europe

Irina has a background in paediatrics, starting her career in children’s health in rural areas where many vulnerable families lacked vital social services.

She is experienced in the strategic reform of child health and child protection systems, having worked in the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova and with UNICEF in Moldova. She also contributed the National Strategy and Action Plan to reform the residential childcare system.

As Lumos Head of Europe, Irina is responsible for projects demonstrating successful deinstitutionalisation. Her hope is that we can build a society where no child knows loneliness, marginalisation and adults’ indifference.

Rosario Del Rio

Country Director for Colombia

Rosario worked for over 20 years for international non-governmental organisations such as Plan International and Mercy Corps, promoting children´s rights and gender equality in Colombia and other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

She has a Masters degree in Regional Development Planning and Administration and an MA in Business Administration. She is a proud mother of three.

As Country Director of Lumos Colombia, Rosario is leading work to support the Colombian Government and society to move away from institutions and towards family and community-based care, so children can thrive in safe, caring families.

Petra Kačírková

Country Director for Czech Republic

As a mother of two, and someone who has spent more than a decade working in mental health, Petra understands how much attention and human contact children need every day to be happy. She maintains that, despite the best efforts of staff in institutions, those needs cannot be met in a setting where there are as many as 48 children.

In the Czech Republic, around 11,000 children live in institutions, including 0–3-year-olds. There is not enough quality foster care, and establishments can house vulnerable people into adulthood – some will never leave. Petra is dedicated to changing this.

Bisser Spirov

Country Director for Bulgaria

Bisser has worked as an educator in a children's home, a teacher, a consultant and a trainer.

He has dedicated his career to ending the systematic institutionalisation of children, joining Lumos to support the process of care transformation in Bulgaria.

As Country Director of Lumos Bulgaria, Bisser aims to use his knowledge and experience to help transform a system that has historically seen institutions as the universal solution to children's problems. His team promotes children’s rights and best interests, and Bisser hopes they can encourage everyone to see children, regardless of their age, origin or disability, as human beings.

Daphne de Souza Lima Sorensen

Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean

Daphne joined Lumos in April 2019 after almost five years as Bolivia Country Director for Save the Children. As Regional Director, she leads across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including our demonstration programmes in Colombia and Haiti. A citizen of Brazil, she is based with her family in Panama.

Daphne has over 20 years’ experience in international development, social justice and human rights, leading multi-cultural teams across Latin America and Africa. She is passionate about working with allies, partners, coalitions and social movements towards a future where orphanages cease to exist and all children grow up in loving families.

Domnica Ginu

Country Director for Moldova

Domnica completed doctoral studies in Special Psychology at the Institute of Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences in Moldova, where she was a speech and language therapist and teacher for children with mental disabilities. She was manager of the Secretariat of the National Council for the Children's Rights Protection and has authored scientific publications on child development and inclusive education.

As a specialist member of the Lumos team, and a mother, Domnica is dedicated to strengthening the child protection system in Moldova and sharing expertise in care reform across Europe, helping families offer their children happy childhoods.

Eugene Jr Guillame

Country Representative and Chief of Party for the BEST (Building Enduring Systems to End Trafficking) project in Haiti, funded by USAID.

A fervent advocate of deinstitutionalisation, he co-founded a local social development organisation before joining Lumos in 2015. Over nine years, he has worked to prevent family separation and human trafficking in Haiti and west Africa, helping pioneer the Haitian foster care family network. In collaboration with the government and others, he helped 350 separated children back to their families. In 2017, he was given a Human Rights Hero award by the US government in Haiti.

Georgette Mulheir

Global Strategic Advisor

George has worked for three decades on large-scale programmes to transform child protection systems. She pioneered a model of deinstitutionalisation used in many countries and has authored four books on children’s and women’s rights. George has worked in 33 countries, advising governments, major donors and the international community on deinstitutionalisation.

Having worked previously with UNICEF and other international organisations, in 2007, George joined Lumos as Director of Programmes. In 2011 she was appointed as CEO.During this time, she led the organisation from a small start-up to become a global authority on transforming systems of care and protection for children.In 2019, she took up the post of Global Strategic Advisor.

Heather McCormick

Director of Marketing and Communications

Heather is Director of Marketing and Communications and is responsible for leading a team to profile Lumos’ work globally, raising awareness of the harm that orphanages cause children.

Heather has a background in leading communications strategies in the not-for-profit sector, with a focus on young people. With a degree in Social and Economic History, she is fascinated by human stories and the power of determination. As a mum, Heather is delighted to be amplifying the voices of millions of children hidden in orphanages. She is proud to support Lumos’ work, believing passionately in protecting the rights of children everywhere.