Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS)

Helen Barnes joined ERIS in April 2009 and became Executive Director in 2011, with overall responsibility for the ERIS team. She holds a BA in History and Spanish, and an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford.  Her work since graduation has primarily addressed issues of participatory processes, electoral engagement, civil society capacity development and international election observation.

Before joining ERIS, as Senior Program Officer with Freedom House Southern Africa she focused on supporting civil society in promoting democratic progress in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. She has also worked for ERIS in Liberia, UNDP in Cyprus, the Carter Center in Venezuela, and INCORE in Northern Ireland.

Email: helen[at]eris.org.uk

Christopher Child is Senior Professional Officer and Business Development Manager at ERIS.

He was formerly Head of the Democracy Section in the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat.  Prior to that he worked in the private office of the Leader of the British Labour Party and was Deputy Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Email: chris[at]eris.org.uk

Holly Ruthrauff is a London-based independent elections analyst who has been active in the field of elections assistance since 1998.  She works with various international organisations to improve the conduct of elections in line with international standards and to enhance the practice of election observation.  She joins observer missions, develops handbooks for both international and domestic observers, conducts observer trainings and provides technical assistance to domestic observer efforts. 

For five years Holly served as an Election Advisor for the OSCE/ODIHR where she organised 14 election observation and assessment missions, including to the Russian Federation and Belarus.  Prior to that she was Senior Program Officer for Elections at the National Democratic Institute, building capacity of domestic observer groups and organising international observer delegations worldwide.  Holly has a MA in International Studies from the University of Washington and a BA in International Relations from Stanford University.

Grace is a Programme Officer focusing on Africa and the Middle East.

She holds a Law degree and a Masters degree in International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution from the Centre for Humanitarian Law and Humane Crisis Management in Aix-en-Provence.

She has previously worked in the field of human rights as a caseworker and project officer. She has a diverse set of experience in Africa, including work as an intern for the UNHCR in Tanzania.

She speaks French, English, German and Swahili.

Email: grace[at]eris.org.uk

Iwona joined ERIS in April 2008. She is focussing on Asia and Eastern Europe.

She holds an MA in International Economic and Political Relations in the scope of European Studies from the Academy of Economics of Poznan, Poland and MA in International Relations from London Metropolitan University.

Her previous experience includes work for the Polish Foreign Ministry and work in the field of international recruitment.

She speaks Polish, Russian, English and Spanish.

Email: iwona[at]eris.org.uk

Beata joined ERIS in April 2010. She holds an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS University of London and an MA in International Relations from University of Warsaw.

Before joining ERIS in April 2010 she worked with project proposal development and implementation at the Centre for Social and Economic Research. She has also worked as an intern at UNDP and has been involved in a range of development projects.

Email: beata[at]eris.org.uk

Jean joined ERIS in September 2006.  She is a Chartered Accountant and has a Law degree.
 
She has a wide range of business experience at the charity Missing People, the construction group Mowlems, the Economist Group, Bowaters (now Rexam) and KPMG.

Email: jean[at]eris.org.uk

Naomi Jones joined ERIS as Programme Assistant in May 2010 and became Office Administrator/Finance Assistant in November 2010.  She holds a BSocSci in Public Management and an MSc in Human Resource Management from the University of Bedfordshire.

Naomi has spent over a decade working in a project environment focusing on administration and management. Prior to joining ERIS she worked as a Media Monitor in the UNDP funded Media Monitoring Unit in Guyana in 2008 and 2006. She has previously worked in the field of education as a Project Manager on CODE/GBF funded projects. Additionally, she has been a volunteer with the Guyana Electoral Assistance Bureau and an Intern with the Commonwealth Youth Secretariat.

Email: Naomi@eris.org.uk