Trainer Bios

Karelia Pallan is a media officer at Oxfam, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, where she leads communications and media relations on the climate and hunger crisis campaigns. She previously worked as the director of communications at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, a Jesuit-sponsored parish in Washington, DC attended by Presidents Kennedy and Biden. Karelia studied journalism and mass communication at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs and received a professional certificate in nonprofit marketing and strategic communications from Arizona State University’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. Born in Mexico and now a citizen of the U.S., Karelia enjoys connecting with Washington’s international and migrant community by volunteering on the board of directors and serving as CFO of KAMA DC, a grassroots nonprofit that provides a platform for immigrants to share their skills and stories.

Clive A. Murray is a humanitarian, communicator and an advocate for sustainable development. Currently working at the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Coordinating Unit as the Community Resilience Specialist, his main role is to promote the resilience agenda in CARICOM countries by providing technical support to National Disaster Offices and associated Government departments in CDEMA Participating States to enhance the national infrastructure for building community resilience.

Clive served as the Communication & Education Specialist (CES) at the CDEMA Coordinating Unit between January 2016 and January 2021 where he led the development and implementation of the Agency’s corporate communications and information management initiatives. He also led the Agency’s visibility activities including media engagement, as well as supporting business development particularly through the promotion of education/training products and services in the CDEMA system. In 2018, his portfolio was expanded to advance the CDEMA CU’s education and training programme through the Regional Training Centre (RTC) and in 2021, he took up the position as Community Resilience Specialist and Project Coordinator for the Government of Norway funded project “Support to the Advancement of Comprehensive Disaster Management in the CDEMA Participating States”

Clive has over fifteen years experience in the non-profit sector of the Caribbean region, developing and managing initiatives in areas of disaster management, community/youth development, donor/partner relations and communications for social change. Organizations that he has worked with include the Caribbean Center for Development Administration (CARICAD) and the Foundation for the Development of Caribbean Children (FDCC) in Barbados and the Social Development Commission (SDC) in Jamaica.

Clive has a MA in Social Development & Sustainable Livelihoods from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and BA (Hons.) in Media & Communications from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.

Sonia Schott is a Strategic Communications Specialist, Columnist and Political Analyst who specializes in US- Latin American relations with more than 20 years of experience in the public and the private sector. Since 2015 she has combined the journalistic approach with geopolitical analysis to advise clients as CEO of Schott International Consulting. She is a regular Consultant for the Inter-American Defense College, Fort McNair on Defense, Security and how to deal with the Media and guest speaker on international issues at George Washington University and major international media outlets. Sonia holds a degree in Social Communications Sciences and master’s degree in Law and International Relations. She was also a Hanns Seidel Foundation Scholar at the Institute of High Political Studies in Munich, Germany.

How to Effectively communicate Even Amid a Crisis: Communication is no longer merely a transmission of information. With the development of strategic communications, we know that effective communications are considered critical tools. With the onset of the digital revolution, there are now numerous ways to message and communicate. More and more, using communications strategically to achieve goals is becoming the new reality. Tailored, targeted information can be delivered in several ways, including verbally or digitally.

Strategic communication is a process that considers “who you are talking to, why you are talking to them, how and when you will talk to them, what form of communication the content should take, and what channels you should use and when a crisis arises is becoming even more relevant to be prepared for the unknown.

We will learn how to take advantage of a crisis process and turn it into an opportunity by using the right tools and good practices of communication.

We will also talk about the role of a spokesperson as someone who anticipates the need to be their organization’s public face and voice in various in-person speaking engagements.

Consulted with Marguerite Sullivan, author of “A Responsible Press Office in the Digital Age” (A Responsible Press Office in the Digital Age)

As a program manager, hacktivist and transmedia storyteller, I support journalists, human rights defenders and artists who are innovating in reporting, creating tools, and designing methodologies to hold governments accountable. I help develop strategies with an intersectional perspective, supporting open source initiatives that foster collaboration, freedom of speech and online security practices. My background: I have a degree in media and entertainment management, and built a career focused on developing new platforms to tell stories and building communities to share knowledge.

I was program director for the global community of journalists, Chicas Poderosas, producer for the transmedia storytelling organization Seirenfilms and Ñoño VR, and editor-in-chief for TKM magazine. I’m a member of Chicas Programando, a community of women developers in Argentina, and 0xche, an organization that works with activists in Latin America to improve their infrastructure’s security and digital resources. Ask me about: Project management, digital security and transmedia storytelling.

I work with people, processes, and technology to improve how data are leveraged by the Red Cross Red Crescent global network to more effectively accomplish our core mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. I empower communities to share knowledge, build capacity, access tools, and use data to advocate for their preferred solutions.​ I work to ensure that created data accurately reflect communities and their priority concerns, are accurate, and are matched to needs such as operational requirements, research questions, or evidence gathering.​ I identify, support, or build tools that are accessible, fit-for-purpose, appropriately scaled, and aligned with humanitarian principles. ​I enjoy learning by doing; it is a theme throughout my work and interests. I am a passionate advocate for, and participant in, open source projects – especially ODK and OpenStreetMap. I think that leveraging an understanding of the world ​​through data and technology can help us achieve better humanitarian outcomes.​​