Who we are

One of the founding members of ACF 1979. He carried out missions for ACF between 1979 and 1986 in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Thailand, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan. Between 1975-1976 he carried out a mission in Bolivia for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (PhD thesis on the study of the migration of Andean populations from the highlands to the lowlands). From 1978-1979 he was a doctor in Vietnam (consulate general Ho chiminh city and French embassy in Hanoi, the only western doctor after the fall of Saigon).

In 1980 he started his hospital activity at the Pitié Salpêtrière. From 1980-1990 he was in charge of the mental health department and responsible for the Rhône Poulenc Santé Foundation (fight against iodine deficiency in Africa). From 1991-1997 he was in charge of humanitarian programmes at the Elf Foundation. Between 1998 and 2000 he was director of international operations for the French Red Cross (numerous missions in particular: Cambodia, Colombia, Central America, Albania, Kosovo, Turkey…).

From 2000-2004 he was Director of Scientific Affairs at Aventis Pasteur in Lyon in the field of vaccines (Polio elimination campaign, development of an AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand…). Between 2004-2012 he became a director of the French Red Cross.

From 2004-2016 he joined the Sanofi group to create an Access to Medicines department, with the aim of modifying the pharmaceutical economic model for southern countries (development with DNDI drugs for neglected diseases initiative, Foundation created by MSF). Development of a new anti-malarial drug with a differentiated pricing policy. Development of a new orally active drug against sleeping sickness made available free of charge to the WHO and endemic countries. He left Sanofi in 2016.

Director also of the Merieux Foundation Appointed director of ACF at the 2017 AGM.

Benjamin Nguyen has a 25 years career in diverse NGOs (MdM, ERM, HI, Solidarités International and the SIF for example) on field and headquarters at various responsibilities level. He was an executive director for two NGO. His professional experience gave him a global vision of development assistance, humanitarian action and their key issues.

Irétie Lokonon has been working in the international solidarity sector for around fifteen years. A graduate of the École Supérieure de Commerce et de Développement – 3A Lyon, she undertook her first assignments in Ecuador as a volunteer with the Salinas de Guaranda Cooperative and the Fundación María Luisa Gómez de las Torres, as part of the development of the cocoa industry. She then went on to work for a number of international NGOs in various positions: programme officer, consortium coordinator, programme director and head of delegation (OXFAM, CARE, Action Contre la Faim, Médecins du Monde, Croix-Rouge Française) in Chad, the DRC, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Uganda. Irétie has developed expertise in volatile contexts and protracted crises in the areas of economic and nutritional resilience, population movements, disaster risk prevention and reduction, and the humanitarian triple nexus.

He joined the humanitarian sector in 2018 as a training manager for Action contre la Faim and then as an HR manager for ACF Chad mission. His background has a focus on adult education and training design. He is strongly interested in humanitarian ethics. In 2022, Matthieu joined OTHER SOLUTIONS Consulting, a risk management consultancy supporting the aid and development sector, human rights advocates and wild defenders, as Operations’ Manager.

Caroline Dib joins Action Against Hunger’s board in September 2017. Active in the NGO since beginning of 2016 as the Rhône delegate, her commitment specifically concerns citizen mobilization and the influence of the organization through partnerships and local events. Simultaneously, she oversees a 150 years old medico-social organization’s community life’s animation related to advocacy.

A qualified history teacher, Stéphanie has been teaching history, geography and moral and civic education in secondary schools in dozens of different académies for some twenty years. She has been involved with Action contre la Faim for 18 years as a member and volunteer in several delegations and at head office. She raises awareness of the Hunger Races and many other fund-raising events. She also writes the editorial for the members’ newsletter. Trained in coaching and mindfulness meditation, she has been practicing yoga for nearly 15 years and offers in-class meditation workshops and podcasts for her students, colleagues, family and friends.

Laurent Bacos started his career in NGOs in 1995 with Action Against Hunger, first as a field administrator (Abkhazia, Georgia and Russia), then as financial controller at the headquarter in Paris. He has been working since 2005 at the Médecins du monde headquarter as the institutional funding department supervisor. Laurent Bacos has already been a board member for Action Against Hunger from 2006 to 2009. He is a member of the organization since 1996.

A graduate from the superior school of journalism of Lille (ESJ Lille), with a master’s degree in life sciences, he worked as a journalist for several titles in the French press for almost 10 years. 15 years ago, in the field of information, communication and advocacy, he became involved in the field of international solidarity within a public research Institute devoted to research into sustainable development in partnership with Southern countries.

He joined Action contre la Faim in 2019 as a member. He has been a member of the Ethics Committee since June 2023 and Chairman of the Ethics Committee since December 2024.

Involved in humanitarian work for the past eight years and recently resettled in France, Violette has been on assignment in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, notably with ACF (2016-2018) in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon. She has worked on the coordination of numerous multi-stakeholder and multi-sector projects within non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations. Each of these experiences has been linked to the fight against poverty and exclusion, lack of access to rights and the displacement of people.

She needs to combat these situations of abuse and violation of the most fundamental human rights, whether on an international or national scale. (This militant commitment began at a young age, with 10 years’ voluntary work with the Humacoop association as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee). She has built up a strong bond with ACF, first as a student, then as an employee (capital, head office and base) and member.

Violette graduated from IEP Grenoble with a master’s degree in International Organizations (IGOs/NGOs) and from the Bioforce Institute in International Solidarity Project Coordination. She is currently employed by an association working to combat precariousness and exclusion in Isère.

Bénédicte Fischer is a senior lecturer in public law.
Since 2016, she has been the deputy director of the Center for Studies and Research on Diplomacy, Public Administration and Politics (CERDAP²), a laboratory with a dual affiliation to Grenoble Alpes University/Sciences Po Grenoble.
In the context of her thesis on the study of administrative law in sub-Saharan African countries, she conducted several months of research in Mali and Burkina Faso. She then worked on pretrial detention in the Ivory Coast and is currently developing a research on the transformations of the French penitentiary administration in the light of the word of the inmates. In all of her work, she seeks to develop collaborative research, involving all actors in the production of knowledge about and for action.

Recently retired after her last position as Head of Cooperation at the Canadian Embassy for Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, Nicole Gesnot has over 35 years of experience in diplomacy, development cooperation (including fragile, conflict and post-conflict states) and humanitarian assistance, covering four continents, bilateral and multilateral channels, and non-governmental organizations. She gained her experience in the field and at headquarters with the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada), regional development banks, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Her responsibilities focused on country program and project planning and management, multilateral negotiations and policy dialogue with recipient countries, advocacy, and team management. Nicole Gesnot holds a PhD in Applied Economics (International Relations) and a degree (Public Service) from Sciences Po Paris.

Coming soon.

Engineer graduate of ENSAM in 1976, Antonio Lopez leads important power stations construction projects for Export (Turkey, France, Brazil, Peru…) where he gains an international project management’s experience. When he comes back to France, he enters a consulting firm known for its expertise in value analysis and its management techniques in complex contexts before founding his own support to organizations consulting firm “per and for the people”. During 18 years, he operates for small and big firms of diverse sector (industry, agro-alimentary, administrative, services, health and social, …). In 2013, he starts and developpe the Gard delegation for Action Against Hunger and participate in focus groups on community action. He is elected board member in 2018.

After working in international law firms, Garance Mathias founded Mathias Avocats over 20 years ago. The firm’s main areas of expertise, both in consulting and litigation, are digital law (negotiation of complex contracts), cybersecurity, compliance (RGPD; etc.) and public affairs (analysis of European texts in the sector).
Ms. Mathias is also a lecturer in data protection and cybersecurity, and co-author of the book “Le Délégué à la Protection des Données en action”, published by Revue Banque. She is a regular speaker at conferences.

Herrick Mouafo is program officer for the research and formation in conflict’s analysis and transformation institute (Modus Operandi), associate researcher fir the CERDAP2 (EA 7443, attached to Sicences Po Grenoble). His thesis research was on State action on the matter of education in the Extreme North region, erected by this State with three other regions as Priority Education Area. He is now researching on the concept of belonging, conflicts and violence in the society in France and Cameroon.

He is also a lecturer in the academic community and his lessons are based on the “conflict transformation” or the “mutation by conflict” approach as a critical view of the identity notion while discussing the “relation” notion of Edouard Glissant.

Born in 1959, Jacques Serba is a research associate at IRIS, specializing in humanitarian action, NGO organization and operations, and the external action of local authorities.
A former President of the humanitarian association Action Contre la Faim (ACF), he was also a member of the Patronato of the Spanish foundation Accion Contra el Hambre (ACH) and of the Board of the American organization Action Against Hunger (AAH). He represented ACF on the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme (CNCDH).

He is deputy director of the « Institut de préparation à l’administration générale de Brest » (IPAG, Université de Bretagne Occidentale), and lectures at IRIS SUP’ and the « Institut d’Etudes Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence » (IEP). He also lectures at Thammasat University (Thailand) and COLMOR in Cuernavaca (Mexico).

A former executive with the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, he has worked in the fields of tax auditing, criminal and fiscal law, and public management. He is a delegate of the Défenseur des droits.

A former Cabinet Director for the city of Brest and the Brest metropolitan area, he was responsible for implementing public policies, participating in public policy assessments, managing relations between elected representatives, elected representatives and civil servants, authorities and citizens, ethics and transparency in public life (elected representatives), relations with local, national and international institutions, and crisis management.

He has co-directed the “Administration et Fonction publique” collection (Bruylant, Brussels) and edited or co-edited works in the SIREY collection (Dalloz, Paris).
Jacques Serba holds a doctorate in public law and is a former student of the École Nationale des Impôts (ENFIP). He also holds a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in geography from the University of Poitiers and a postgraduate diploma (DESS) in international management of SMEs from the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises (IAE, Brest).

Jacques Serba is an Officer of the French National Order of Merit and a Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms.

Perrine Benoist will be in charge of the “Social Mandate & Institutional Representation” executive management. Perrine has been working in the humanitarian sector for 17 years. After a PhD on agri-food resilience in armed conflict, she spent 10 years in the field as Program Manager, Technical & MEAL Coordinator and then Head of Mission, and 7 years at headquarters as Desk, Research Manager and then Technical Director. She has worked for ACTED, Médecins du Monde, DRC, the European Union and most recently Handicap International. Perrine joined ACF last year as head of Expertise & Advocacy Department.

Eric Tran will be in charge of the “Organizational Management and Private Funds” executive management. After graduating from HEC PARIS, his 28-year career in the private commercial sector (advertising, media and music) and then 10 years in the non-profit sector (health and social services, humanitarian and environmental) has given him all the strategic, technical and human skills required to respond effectively and calmly to the challenges we face.

Eric knows ACF very well, having held the position of Administrative and Financial Director since March 2023, after having held this position on an interim basis in 2019.

Benjamin spent 10 years in emergency humanitarian operations in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, including 7 with Action contre la Faim. After developing expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation of humanitarian projects, he moved into Operations, notably as Country Director for ACF. He joined our organization’s headquarters in 2022.

With a strong field experience in Iraq and Calais, Lucie has a 15 years experience in communications and marketing with international brands for the fight against hunger.

With 15 years of work experience in advocacy, Michael Siegel joined Action contre la Faim in 2018, having previously worked for Oxfam and Secours Islamique France. Thanks to his field experience in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Zambia, Guatemala, Mali, Lebanon, the Philippines and Ethiopia, he has in-depth knowledge of the humanitarian and international development sector. After graduating from Sciences Po Lille and the London School of Economics in 2010, Michael initially worked for the French National AIDS Council in Paris and for public relations consultancies in London in the health, social-care and education sectors.

Social rights expert and humanitarian, Frederic has built his career internationally with 360° jobs before specializing, since 10 years, in human resources management.

After working for several years in the private sector, Rodolphe Jacquier decided to join ACF in 2005. Having worked in support functions at head office, particularly in the field, he continues to develop the Information Systems sector for the whole organisation.

With a legal background specializing in health law, Loïc has over 15 years’ experience in the social economy sector. Loïc joined ACF to participate in and steer the development of a unit dedicated to risk management (ARC Audit risque et conformité), a department which also plays a major role in the accountability of our association on numerous subjects such as the fight against fraud and the promotion of safeguarding, as well as the management of our risks and the quality of our internal control processes.

Séverine holds a business school degree and has over 20 years’ experience in accounting, working for accounting firms and international companies.
During her time at an audit and accounting firm, she successfully completed a number of accounting assignments and digital transformation support projects, specialising in the development of innovative activities in the healthcare sector.
She then spent 13 years working in various positions as Accounting Director/Administrative and Financial Manager (for US, German and French multinationals) with subsidiaries around the world, where she was responsible for implementing efficient and regular financial management in decentralised financial structures, international cash management and transformation support (digital and human).

Philippe Hamel has over 20 years of experience in humanitarian aid and international solidarity.

Currently serving as Interim Operations Director, he has held the position of Regional Operations Director for Asia at Action Against Hunger (ACF) since May 2021. Previously, he worked with ACF as Country Director in Nepal from 2019 to 2021 and as Program Coordinator in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2004. He also served as Country Director in Afghanistan for Solidarités International, and in Myanmar with Première Urgence Internationale (PUI).

In addition, he has worked with Oxfam (with the West and Central Africa Regional Platform), Terre des hommes (in Afghanistan), Enfants du Monde – Droits de l’Homme, and the INGO Forum Myanmar.

He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Caen (France) and a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK).