Meet Natasha

I am the Founder and Director of Rise, established in November 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya, driven by my passion for creating long-term impact aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in gender and social inclusion, decent work, poverty reduction, health & wellbeing, and climate resilience.

Before founding Rise, I worked for Environmental Resources Management (ERM) in the UK and Kenya. I have 16 years of experience in gender equality, social safeguards, and community development, working with various development and international finance institutions and their public and private sector investees, developers and private equity firms.

My expertise includes gender assessments, gender action planning, social management systems, gender-based violence and harassment, and social impact assessments.  My work spans Africa, Europe and Asia, covering multiple sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and others.

The Team

Giselle Bernard – Project Coordination and Technical Support

Giselle Bernard is a French-British PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, specializing in the links between gender equality, gender-based violence, and development.

Since 2017, she has worked on various projects at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, including a study on the impact of gender-based violence on climate resilience and migration issues. In 2019, she co-organized a winter school in Cape Town to discuss gender equality and climate risks and reviewed policies in Burkina Faso and Mali to support local climate adaptation.

In 2022, she joined Rise Sustainability, where she is coordinating and working on various projects, including a study on GBVH risks in private sector investments for Proparco, and Gender Action Plan development and implementation for a pan-African telecommunications company.

Dr. São Miguel Silva – Gender and Social Inclusion

Dr. São Miguel Miguel Silva (PhD) is an accomplished gender expert and cultural anthropologist with 25 years of experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

She specialises in gender equality, social inclusion, and governance, working in fragile and post-conflict environments. Dr. Silva has managed complex value chain projects and led Gender Action Plans, empowering vulnerable groups and fostering sustainable development with diverse stakeholders.

Her expertise includes designing and implementing high-impact, socially responsible development initiatives aligned with donor-funded goals.

Elisabet Torà Mañós - Social Risk and Gender

Elisabet is a multilingual Social, Gender, and Human Rights expert, fluent in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French, English, and Portuguese.

With a strong focus on gender equality, she manages and implements projects both remotely and on-the-ground worldwide.

Her work spans multiple sectors including transportation, nature conservation, power, and energy. Elisabet's expertise include Impact Assessments and Management Plans; Land Access and Resettlement Plans; Stakeholder Engagement Plans; Due Diligences; Livelihood Restoration Plans; Community Management Plans and Investment Initiatives; and Monitoring and Evaluation Plans.

Hannah Phillipson – Project Coordination and Research

Hannah is a social researcher and coordinator with five years of experience, and is fluent in both French and English.

She specialises in compiling data for socio-economic, stakeholder engagement, and human rights reports by integrating primary and secondary data. In her baseline studies and human rights assessments, she has conducted gender analyses on topics such as access to resources, decision-making, and gender-based violence (GBV).

Hannah is proficient in data management and analysis, utilising databases like Microsoft Access, Flowfinity, and Excel. She also has a strong background in coordinating and managing communication within research teams.