Board Elections 2026

Every year, new directors from member EWBs are elected to the board of EWB International. This year, each national EWB on the website list received 5 votes. Voting opens on September 29th, and each designated voter will be emailed directly with voting instructions, a link to the voting platform, and the individual voting password. Everyone then has until Monday, 26 October at 23:59 UTC to cast their vote.

There are eleven (11) candidates up for election, sorted in the order in which we received their applications. Each of them provided a headshot, a written statement, and a video.

Callist Tindimugaya

EWB East Africa, Board Chair

I am Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Commissioner for Water Resources Planning and Regulation at Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment and Board Chair of Engineers Without Borders East Africa. I bring over 30 years of technical and leadership experience spanning research, public policy and strategy, governance, resource mobilization, stakeholder engagement, partnerships, multilateral water diplomacy, and community action. I seek to join the EWB International Board to help strengthen a connected, inclusive global network that enables knowledge sharing across continents, supports regional member associations, and advances human-centered wide engineering that safeguards natural environments. I will bring a Global South perspective to EWB-I governance, helping connect global strategy with regional experience and grassroots realities. I will contribute to embedding climate resilience, adaptation and water security in engineering practice; strengthening equitable partnerships across the network; and advancing approaches that empower communities beyond individual projects. Above all, I will champion engineering that protects natural systems while improving the nexus of health, livelihoods and economic opportunities of vulnerable communities.

Nnenna John-Anozie

EWB Nigeria, Board Member

I aim to join the EWB International Board to leverage my strategic leadership to scale EWB’s global impact, driving sustainable engineering solutions for underserved communities worldwide. To this role, I bring over 20 years of robust experience as a Mechanical Engineer and Project Coordinator, managing complex projects from concept through completion. My career involves leading multidisciplinary teams, managing engineering budgets, and liaising with diverse stakeholders—skills essential for board-level governance and international coordination. In my leadership roles, I have honed my ability to translate technical requirements into actionable plans, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and on budget. Furthermore, my technical expertise in root-cause analysis, troubleshooting, and resource management equips me to evaluate and optimize global programs for long-term operational efficiency and sustainability. My motivation to support the global movement stems directly from my ongoing tenure as a Board Member of Engineers Without Borders Nigeria. In this capacity, I have seen firsthand how outcome-driven engineering can tangibly transform lives and uplift local communities. I am deeply committed to the EWB mission to help foster international collaboration, empower grassroots initiatives, and champion inclusive infrastructure that addresses pressing global challenges on a much larger scale.

Ranjith Dissanayake

EWB Sri Lanka, President

Engineering holds the power to transform lives – not only through structures, but by advancing dignity, justice, and opportunity. My intention in joining the EWB International Board is to strengthen global-local collaboration, amplify underrepresented voices, and help scale EWB’s collective impact through partnerships, governance, and inclusive innovation. I bring over 30 years of leadership across academia, government, and grassroots initiatives. As Founder of EWB – Sri Lanka, I’ve led rural bridge construction, water access projects, and engineering outreach in vulnerable communities. As Secretary to two State Ministries, I initiated national programs in climate resilience, infrastructure development, and environmental protection. My key skills include strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, nonprofit governance, public policy advisory, and international collaboration. As Chairman of the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka and Chair of the Kandy Conference, I’ve connected engineers, youth, and policymakers in driving sustainability and innovation. I’ve built strong partnerships with EWB Karlsruhe, UNDP, and universities worldwide. If elected, I will bring deep experience, systems thinking, and a commitment to advancing the EWB movement as a global force for equitable development.

Melissa Montgomery

EWB USA, Chief Programs Officer

I have been privileged to work alongside local organizations, governments, volunteers, and communities across Africa and Latin America to strengthen engineering programs that improve health, water, and infrastructure systems. As Chief Programs Officer at Engineers Without Borders USA, I serve on the Executive Team and lead our global programs, strategic partnerships, volunteer engagement, and program strategy. In this role, I have helped shape organizational strategy while advancing partnerships rooted in trust, shared ownership, effective governance, and long-term systems change. I am passionate about advancing a more equitable model of international development. I believe the future of our sector depends on shifting power, resources, and decision-making closer to the communities and organizations leading change. I believe EWB International has a unique opportunity to strengthen collaboration across member organizations, amplify locally led innovation, and build a more connected global network. I would be honored to contribute my experience strengthening partnerships across the EWB network, advancing locally led development, and building collaborative governance models that help member organizations achieve greater impact together.

Janne Byfors

EWB Sweden, Vice Chairman & Treasurer

I believe that I can bring solid knowledge and experience of how to lead and develop organizations, both commercial and volunteer-based, such as EWB. Today I am a senior advisor but have previously held leading positions in one of the Nordic countries’ major construction companies and as CTO. I have had close contact with the academic world through my many years as an adjunct professor. Furthermore, I have been member of several boards as well as chairman. I have been a member of the EWB Sweden board since 2013 and was chairman between 2018 and 2022. Today I am vice chairman. I have been supporting many of our projects, as WASH and energy are recurring issues and challenges. Furthermore, I have had a strong focus on our finances and our fundraising. Here I would like to emphasize that when I joined EWB, we had a turnover of about 60.000 USD, today our turnover is about 700.000 USD. In summary, I see that I can bring the following to EWB International: 1. I know well how national EWBs work and what their needs and challenges are 2. I have good insights and a good understanding of the needs of vulnerable groups and how volunteer work is run 3. I know how to develop and run organizations, both commercial and non-profit. I have good strategic thinking and I am analytical 4. I have extensive experience in board work.

Michal Dolev

EWB Israel, CEO

As the CEO of EWB-IL and a former EWB-International Board Member, my motivation for joining the EWB-I Board is to strengthen our global movement’s capacity to deliver sustainable, human-centered development. Having navigated the evolving international aid landscape, I am deeply committed to reinforcing EWB-I’s strategic position as a global leader in appropriate technology (ApTech) and community resilience. I bring extensive executive expertise in resource mobilization, strategic partnership building, and cross-sector governance. Throughout my career, I have successfully secured complex international funding and established collaborative ecosystems uniting academic institutions, INGOs, government bodies, and local civil society networks across Israel, Kenya, Ghana, and Eastern Europe. As a dual Israeli and Dutch citizen with deep experience in international development, I specialize in building trusted, cross-border coalitions that turn technical innovation into scalable, field-tested impact. My focus on the EWB-IN Board will be driving agile resource mobilization strategies to diversify our global funding base amidst shifting donor landscapes. I intend to leverage my track record in multi-stakeholder engagement to forge high-impact partnerships with impact investors, global foundations, and private sector leaders, ensuring our international movement achieves long-term financial stability and amplified global reach.

Sven Spierings

EWB The Netherlands, Chair of the Board

I’m an architect, father, and chair of EWB, The Netherlands. I joined the board in 2020, as a volunteer, when COVID travel restrictions had shrunk both our organisation and our project portfolio. What I found was a group of like-minded people with a common purpose, and it convinced me our work could genuinely improve life in vulnerable communities. Soon after, I was appointed chair and set out my vision for the organisation and its volunteers, based on what was urgently needed: multidisciplinary projects that create maximum impact, an engaged and visible leadership team, and a real focus on volunteer wellbeing. Today membership is up 30 percent, our partnerships and funding team is rebuilt, our community and events team is drawing volunteers together, and we run multidisciplinary projects in Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Ghana. Last year we raised over €25,000 from corporate sources, all of it spent on projects. An organisation facing change needs a clear goal and a path towards it. With the board, I want to build that for EWB-I and the national EWBs: a credible global brand that attracts partners, volunteers and funds, and is committed to projects that strengthen communities in need. The Charter will reshape how EWBs work together. I have led change that lasts, and it lasts only when done consistently, inclusively and with a clear vision. I stand for election because the coming period demands just this: funding, clear communication, and change the network trusts.

Herbert Kisara

EWB Canada, Director of Programs and Partnership

My interest in joining is to bring EWB Canada’s years of experience and lessons to the international movement, especially around youth programming, not-for-profit fundraising, partnership development, and engineering for social good. As Director of Programs and Partnerships at EWB Canada, the key skills I bring are fundraising, programme development, and partnership building, alongside experience in strategy development, community engagement, and not-for-profit grant applications built up over years of managing multi-country programmes. My motivation has two parts. First, I want to see EWB International grow its own fundraising and partnership development, so the network has the resources to match its ambition. Second, EWB International has brought in a number of newer national chapters over recent years, each at a different stage of growth. I want to help these newer members get real mentorship and support from more established EWBs, and to see more collaboration between all EWBs generally, whether through formal partnership programmes or other forms of engagement. EWB Canada’s own experience coordinating a large, diverse network of chapters, and our overseas placement and partnership work in Africa, is directly relevant to that. I am not standing to represent EWB Canada’s interests alone. As a director, my responsibility would be to the collective global EWB movement and its long-term impact.

Namoonga Shikapande

EWB Zambia, Program Director

An engineer, programme leader and community-driven problem solver, Namoonga brings together technical engineering, organisational leadership and a commitment to using engineering to improve everyday lives. Through EWB Zambia infrastructure programmes, she has led projects delivering sustainable energy solutions that are improving access to education for over 3000 students and round the clock healthcare for over 30,000 people. Her leadership has spanned resource mobilisation, stakeholder and contractor management, supplier acquisition and programme delivery, helping turn partnerships and funding into practical community impact. Professionally, she leads complex telecommunications operations and multidisciplinary teams, with experience solving operational challenges and translating strategy into delivery at scale. Namoonga believes the global EWB movement is strongest when national EWBs are active sources of knowledge, innovation and locally grounded solutions. Each national EWB understands its communities and context; EWB International can connect this expertise across borders and strengthen access to knowledge, partnerships and sustainable funding. On the Board, she will champion collaboration, strengthen resource mobilisation through partnerships for national EWBs to jointly pursue international funding, leveraging their expertise and local knowledge, and expand access to global opportunities, turning our collective engineering expertise into greater global impact.

Erland Stubkjaer

EWB Denmark, Chairman of the Board

I am standing for the EWB International Board because I believe strongly in the potential of our global movement. By working across borders, sharing knowledge and experience, we can strengthen the role of engineering in addressing global challenges. As Chair of EWB Denmark, I bring experience in governance, senior leadership, strategy development and organisational change, as well as fundraising diversification and stakeholder engagement. I have helped lead a significant transformation of EWB Denmark, strengthening governance and organisational capacity while renewing volunteer engagement and diversifying how we work and fund our activities. I believe a strong global EWB movement should be built on strong national organisations. As we enter a new era of shared governance and collaboration, I want to help create common direction and greater collective impact while respecting the diversity, experience and autonomy of national EWBs. My motivation comes from more than 35 years of engagement in international development. I have seen how engineering can make a real difference when solutions are developed with people and local partners, not simply for them. I would bring that experience, curiosity and commitment to the EWB International Board.

Adan Levy

EWB Argentina, Executive Director

Fourteen years ago I co-founded Engineers Without Borders Argentina, and I have led it since — from a small group of volunteers into an organisation with sustained community programmes, rural and urban, from the Gran Chaco (one of Latin America’s most vulnerable regions) to Buenos Aires. Some numbers tell that story better than I can: more than 50 infrastructure projects completed, averaging USD 130,000 each — every one delivered through alliances between governments, companies and communities — a current base of 5,000 recurring individual donors, and more than USD 4 million raised in the last five years alone. Sustaining an organisation through Argentina’s economic turbulence has taught me, in practice, what fundraising, adaptation and organisational change really take. And having served on the EWB International Board (2019-2021), I know this network’s governance from the inside. When I first stood for this board in 2019, I said I wanted to strengthen connections between local initiatives and bring a Latin American perspective. Seven years on, that is still my motivation — and the Charter finally gives the network the tools to make it real. This transition will need directors who can build trust between organisations with different histories and resources. I have spent my career doing exactly that, with the same love and energy I brought on day one, and I would be honoured to put that experience at the service of the global movement.