About us >> Our team

Sue Phillips

Sue is Joint Managing Director and co-founder of SDDirect. Sue has over 20 years' experience as a social development specialist internationally and in the UK. She previously worked as a Social Development Adviser for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in India and the UK Overseas Territories. Other previous positions include working as a social development adviser with the tea industry in Bangladesh, and Associate at Llewelyn-Davies Planning, a leading UK-based planning and development consultancy. Sue has worked extensively across a range of policy areas, analysing the intersections between poverty, inequality, social exclusion and rights. She has particular expertise in the areas of urban poverty reduction and infrastructure. Sue also has extensive experience in project management, team leadership, training and professional development and workshop facilitation. She has worked closely with DFID’s Head of Profession for Social Development since 2004, supporting the professional development of the Social Development cadre. Sue’s main geographical areas of expertise are South Asia, the Middle East and the UK. Read Full Profile

Allyson Thirkell

Allyson is a Joint Managing Director and co-founder of SDDirect. She has 17 years' experience in social development and urban poverty, with particular experience in participation and community organisations. She has worked in professional development in both social development and the governance sector, including recruitment, training and sector specialist retreats. She has managed key projects for the company, managed teams and produced key outputs. Allyson has extensive experience of NGO capacity building and training, analysis of social issues in disaster related work, reconstruction and resettlement, research, assessment, project design and monitoring and evaluation missions. Her skills include participatory assessment, project appraisal and design, project management, policy development, capacity building and training and research. Allyson has worked in India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Mozambique, The Philippines, Guyana, North Korea and Poland. Read Full Profile

Sarah Maguire

Sarah is an international lawyer with a wealth of development experience. Having started a career in nursing, she then trained as a criminal defence and latterly, immigration and asylum barrister. In 1999, Sarah joined DFID as a Senior Human Rights Adviser in the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs department, then in 2003, established herself as an independent justice and human rights advisor. She has worked extensively with UN entities, NGOs and the UK Government, specializing in the justice sector, gender and conflict, child protection, stabilisation and forced migration, with a focus in fragile states. Read Full Profile

Francis Watkins

Francis is a Senior Consultant with SDDirect with over 16 years' experience working with a range of NGOs and bilateral and multilateral agencies. He has extensive experience of social research, development planning, implementation and assessment, and of gender mainstreaming strategies in policy and practice. He has carried out social research in fields as varied as gender and household dynamics in northern Pakistan, migration management in South Asia, and primary health sector working practices in Scotland. He previously worked as a Social Development Adviser for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, covering programmes in Africa and working with natural resources and infrastructure departments, and India, overseeing the implementation of large-scale water and sanitation programmes and working to develop partnerships with the World Bank and UNICEF. He has been involved in developing and implementing gender mainstreaming strategies in the field and has considerable experience of reviewing and auditing gender strategies in a wide range of settings. Read Full Profile

Lyndsay McLean Hilker

Lyndsay is a Senior Associate Consultant at SDDirect and has over 11 years' experience working in international development as a policy-maker, researcher and consultant. She has particular expertise in conflict-affected countries, focusing on conflict prevention and reduction, post-conflict reconstruction and peace building, identity-based violence, ethnicity and exclusion, children and youth. She has also worked on several other policy areas including governance, refugees and migration, international trade and policy coherence for development. Lyndsay previously worked for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in a number of programme and policy positions as well as for the European Council as political assistant to the EU Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa. She holds a Masters degree in Social Research Methods and recently submitted her PHD thesis on identity and reconciliation in post-conflict Rwanda. Lyndsay has experience in policy analysis and development, programme development, designing and managing social research projects, linking research to policy and practice, team leadership, facilitation, communications and knowledge management. She is fluent in French and Italian and has a working knowledge of Danish and basic Kinyarwanda. Her main geographical area of expertise is Africa and she has worked in Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Tanzania, Uganda and Sierra Leone.

Alice Kerr-Wilson

Alice is a Consultant with SDDirect with particular expertise in gender, rural livelihoods and community development. She has specific experience of working in countries in conflict, and has worked in Afghanistan, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. In addition to her international work, Alice has also worked in the UK on issues of urban integration and empowerment in deprived areas. She has worked with a range of multilateral and bilateral donors, including DFID and the ADB, as well as with international and national NGOs. Her key skills include research, policy and strategy development and participatory assessment. Alice is fluent in Danish and has working knowledge of French and German. Read Full Profile

Seema Khan

Seema is a Consultant with SDDirect, and works on conflict, political violence and social exclusion issues. She has a background in policy and advocacy and her key skills include qualitative research and communications. She also has experience of providing rapid-response research as well as more in-depth analyses. Seema has worked on advocacy activities for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and has written papers on post-conflict peace-building processes, aid effectiveness, gender and Islam. She has experience of research and communications work for international agencies (including disaster-related work), civil society organisations, research institutions and the private sector. Seema has strong knowledge management skills and web-based communications experience. Seema is fluent in Urdu and has worked in Pakistan. Read Full Profile

Erika McAslan Fraser

Erika is a consultant with SDDirect. She has experience in social analysis, writing research and policy papers, designing training manuals, developing indicators, and conducting quantitative and qualitative research. She has worked with a range of multilateral and bilateral organisations, including DFID and the UN. Erika has also worked for NGOs and research institutions, including researching helpdesk queries and topic guides for the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre. She has a PhD on social capital and poverty reduction in Barbados. Erika has worked in South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and UK on several policy areas, including social exclusion, conflict, crime/violence, gender, education, maternal health and well-being, children and youth.

Lucy Earle

Lucy is an associate consultant with SDDirect specializing in urban poverty and exclusion, civil society organizations, citizenship rights, participatory governance and community development. She has worked extensively in Brazil and Peru with urban social movements and indigenous communities, as well as in rural areas of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia on community development and traditional organizations. She has a PhD from the Development Studies Institute of the London School of Economics. Her thesis examined state-society relations in Brazil, in particular urban housing movements' use of the law and engagement with the local and national state. She is currently based at the African Centre for Cities of the University of Cape Town where she undertakes research into housing and urban governance in Maputo, Mozambique. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and Portuguese. Read Full Profile

Emma Broadbent

Emma is a Researcher for the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre whose key interests include conflict and political economy analysis, statebuilding and legitimacy, post-conflict social relations, community-driven development and the role of religion in the African political arena. She has a background in both qualitative anthropological research and policy work and has considerable living and working experience in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Kenya. Emma formerly worked as a consultant and her recent work has focused upon the strategic direction of European donors, monitoring and evaluation approaches in child protection and the quality of reconstruction project implementation in Sierra Leone. Emma speaks Spanish, Fante and Krio. Read Full Profile

Fabienne Segal

Fabienne is SDDirect's Office Manager. She joined the company in July 2008 as administrator. She has ten years' experience in education and holds a Masters in teaching French as a Foreign Language. She is fluent in French, English, German, Italian and Norwegian. She has been working and living in the UK for 16 years and has also lived in several other European countries.

Sarah Huxley

Sarah is a Consultant with SDDirect who has particular expertise in children and youth: focusing on participation, education, gender, and protection. She has been actively engaged in youth-focused development work since 1999, including 6 years of direct experience in designing and implementing projects, programme management and policy research in Nepal, Uganda and the UK. She has worked with a diverse range of organisations, including small NGOs, international agencies and the UN. Her key skills include research, project management and participatory trainings/workshops. Sarah is an anthropologist by training and can speak Nepalese. Read Full Profile