Board of Directors

Scott Leckie

Scott Leckie is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), a non-profit advocacy organization working toward adequate housing and protection from forced evictions and specializing in economic and social rights. Mr. Leckie regularly advises various United Nations agencies including UNHCR, UNDP, IOM, OHCHR, OCHA and UN Habitat. He has written extensively on various human rights issues, including the preparation of a draft policy on incorporating housing, land and property rights into future UN and other peace operations in post-conflict settings. He holds degrees in politics and law, has published some 100 articles and books and has lectured around the world. His most recent book Returning Home (vol. 2) examines housing and property restitution rights of refugees and internally displaced persons throughout the world. Scott lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

John Packer

John Packer is the Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex and Senior Advisor to the Initiative on Conflict Prevention through Quiet Diplomacy. He is former Director of the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (2000-2004) where he was previously Senior Legal Advisor to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (1995-2000). During 2003-2004, he was a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Visiting Assistant Professor of International Law at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. From 1991-1995, Mr. Packer was a Human Rights Officer at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights responsible for investigating serious violations of human rights in Iraq and Burma (Myanmar) and assisting the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. He was also a consultant for the International Labour Organisation and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1987-1991).  In a pro bono capacity, he is on the Boards of Minority Rights Group International (MRG), the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and the World Federalist Movement-Canada (WFM-C), as well as on the editorial boards of a number of journals.

Vivien Runnels

Vivien Runnels is a Senior Researcher at the Globalization and Health Equity Research Unit in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, working on global health issues and social determinants of health research. She holds a PhD in Population Health from the University of Ottawa, and a Master‘s degree in Disability Management in Work and Rehabilitation from City University, London, U.K. She is a Registered Rehabilitation Professional of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada. She has made a number of contributions and presentations to academic and professional journals and conferences. She has worked in the education sector as a secondary school teacher, an adult education program coordinator, and as a university research coordinator. In the health sector she has worked as a vocational rehabilitation counsellor in a provincial psychiatric institution. Vivien has been a community volunteer for over 30 years serving in different capacities and has a particular interest in board governance, and the human rights of persons with disabilities.

Corinne Packer

Corinne Packer is Senior Researcher at the University of Ottawa‘s Institute of Population Health, working on global health equity matters, and Senior Manager of the Population Health Improvement Research Network funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. Her principal areas of research include reproductive health and rights, harmful traditional practices, women‘s rights and, more recently, the international migration of health professionals. She has authored and co-edited books, and contributed to numerous scholarly compilations, journals, conferences and training programmes.

Corinne has previously worked as a consultant for, inter alia: The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (evaluating the Technical Cooperation Branch of the UN‘s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights); the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (notably on the matter of reproductive health in refugee situations); the Council of Europe (on women‘s reproductive health equality and on Romani women‘s reproductive health in general); and for The Netherland‘s Ministries of Foreign Affairs (with regard to the successful Dutch campaign for membership on the UN Security Council) and of Social Affairs and Employment (regarding Dutch policy on the human rights of women). In 2003-2004, she was a Research Fellow at the Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University‘s School of Public Health. Since 2004, she has assisted on projects at HRI and was its Executive Director from 2007 to 2009, after which she joined HRI‘s Board of Directors.

Hazel Postma

Hazel Postma is the Associate Vice President External Relations at Douglas College, British Columbia. Before venturing into the work of external relations, Hazel was executive director of Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation in Port Moody, BC and prior to that spent 20 years working as an editor, journalist and free-lance writer on daily and weekly newspapers throughout British Columbia.

She has a lifelong interest in human rights and has been a supporter and volunteer fieldworker with Amnesty International Canada for 25 years. She brings a passion for freedom of speech to HRI as well as an extensive background in communications and marketing. In her professional and volunteer capacity, she frequently gives presentations and workshops on topics ranging from human rights to fund-raising. At Douglas College, Hazel brings an external perspective to the Senior Management Team of which she is a part. She works to ensure that the College is responsive to the community?s needs and connects College programs to community businesses and organizations. As well, she has responsibility for the Douglas College Foundation and the Alumni Association.

Hazel brought Living Library to Canada ? extending the concept of libraries to include borrowing people with expertise instead of ? or as well as - books. Living Library began in Denmark as a way of breaking down stereotypes and can now be found in scores of countries, as well as across Canada at public and post-secondary libraries.

Christine Bloch

Anne-Christine Bloch has been working with the Canadian Red Cross since May of 2007 first working on the domestic detention monitoring and restoring family links program, and since July 2009 in the International Operations.

Other Red Cross Red Crescent Movement related experience include working with the Danish Red Cross as the Coordinator for the 5th European Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference held in Copenhagen and with the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on the follow up to the Conference.

She also has other humanitarian experience working with the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children working on the protection of refugee and internally displaced people, with a focus on protection of women and children.

Prior to getting in to the humanitarian field she has a long human rights experience working with UN Centre for Human Rights, Minority Rights Group and Amnesty International.

Anne-Christine has a Masters degree in law from the University of Copenhagen.