The Origins
In 2017, while working for the United Nations in West Africa, five refugees turned up at Rhiana’s office looking for help. They had been knocking on doors of different organisations for over five years trying to get help with many pressing issues, including enrolling a child – Emmanuella – into school. But little to nothing had been done to help their situation. After trying – to no avail – to mobilise various agencies for them, Rhiana decided to turn to her network to get these determined and resilient refugees the help they needed and deserved. By finding the right person, three different solutions were discovered within one weekend and Emmanuella was enrolled in school. All it took was one person who knew which specific organisation could help. The refugees knew what assistance would be most useful, and the local organisations knew the right avenues to take. What remained was matching the need with the resource. So Rhiana set off in developing a technology to meet these needs.
The Spark
Inspired by this turn of events, Rhiana started to develop a tool which would help people in vulnerable situations find the help they require through a technology that can automatically direct them to the right place. In so doing, this tool would, on one hand, help individuals navigate the overwhelming amount of information out there. On the other hand, it would assist often understaffed and underfunded institutions with their staggering workload, thus allowing employees to spend more quality time with the people in need.
The Pandemic
Upon the emergence of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, and the corresponding drastic rise of violence against women, her priorities shifted. Together with a handful of friends, they adapted the technology to domestic violence and “Sophia” – the world’s first chatbot assisting survivors of domestic violence gather potential evidence and seek help – was born. With the help of dozens of committed volunteers from all over the world, they quickly moved to get “Sophia” up and running.
Our Core Values
We believe in a value-driven and communal approach to building and running Spring ACT. We ensure that our values are weaved throughout each project, interactions with one other, and our day-to-day experiences at ACT. We strive to:
- Empower others
- Remain curious
- Ensure inclusiveness
- Practice integrity, impact, and compassion in our interactions
- Make time for fun while fighting to make our world a better place
Our Team
Cherishing and ensuring the diversity of our human race is at the centre of everything we do, we come together from over 40 countries and professions ranging from international lawyers and scientists to navy officers and international pianists.

The Board of Advisors
Flynn is the author of the book, A Human Algorithm, a groundbreaking narrative on the urgency of ethically designed AI and a guidebook to reimagining life in the era of intelligent technology.
She is the founding teacher at King’s College London Dickson Poon School of Law on redefining success in the law and the inaugural fellow at NYU School of Law’s Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship. Flynn has also taught at The New School and Parsons School of Design and has worked with the United Nations, the United States Federal Government, and with international corporations, universities, and human rights organisations around the world.
She has spoken, written, and taught on issues of war crimes, genocide, emerging technologies, behavioral economics and behavioral science, political reconciliation, the future of autonomous weaponry and war, post-conflict justice, artificial intelligence, ethical design and leadership, international trade, gender equality, improving access to justice and education through innovation, social entrepreneurship, global citizenship, storytelling, redefining success, and the future of work, purpose, technology, democracy, and humanity.
She holds a BSFS from Georgetown University, a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, and an LL.M. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has also studied at La Sorbonne, the University of Cambridge, Trinity College Dublin, La Universidad de Chile, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal, and Université de Genève.
To find out more, please visit flynncoleman.community
Hilda is currently the Tech4Dev Sustainability Engagement Manager at EPFL Tech4Impact, where she is assisting in bridging the gap between technology, innovation and social impact. She holds an M.Sc. in Migration, Mobility and Development from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Sciences and has worked with organisations such as The European Commission, the MasterCard Foundation and Siemens in the negotiation and implementation of inclusive innovation strategies.
As a World Economic Forum (WEF) global shaper, she is part of a global community of changemakers. Hilda also received an award from Queen Elizabeth II for her work.
Read more about Hilda on her website: hildaliswani.com
Gabriela has extensive expertise in international cooperation in science, education, and innovation, incl. strategically advising universities, governments, and multilateral organisations. She has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University and ETH Zürich and has worked at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and the University of Zürich. Gabriela served as an International Expert for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Moldova, as well as, as the Advisor to the UNDP Director for Sustainable Human Development at their Headquarters in Geneva. Prior to relocating to Europe, Gabriela was the Head of Department for Bilateral Trade Agreements of the Mexican Secretariat for Economy.
In 2007, Gabriela joined EPFL as a scientist at the Cooperation and Development Center, which held the UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development. Her research focused on scientific diasporas and skilled migration with diverse international collaborations under her leadership. She led the EPFL Leading House Program of the Swiss government for 3 years, which upheld Swiss bilateral research cooperation with Brazil, India, Vietnam and Latin America. Gabriela also serves the Scholars at Risk program at EPFL in an advisory capacity and is a member of the Steering Committee for the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE)in Vietnam.
Gabriela holds a PhD in Political Sciences, and an MA in Political Analysis and Communication Science from the UAB in Barcelona. She also holds a BA in International Relations from the UIA (Ibero) in Mexico and obtained a CAS IPA – International Policy and Advocacy from ETH Zürich.
Nilmi Senaratna is the co-founder of Oolu – one of the fastest growing off-grid solar companies in West Africa. As the former CEO and later Chief Business Development Officer, Nilmi led the company’s growth from start-up to market leader in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger with operations in Nigeria. She built the team from 0 to >230 full-time employees, including a management team consisting of 50% women. Today, the company has closed 8.5M in series B
funding and is expanding rapidly across the African continent. In 2020, Nilmi was named one of the Top Women Founders in Africa.
Before building Oolu, Nilmi worked for the United Nations in Washington D.C., the Canadian International Development Agency in Ottawa, and various non-profit organisations in East and West Africa where she advised women-led businesses. Nilmi is a graduate of Silicon Valley’s YCombinator – alongside other graduates such as Reddit, Dropbox, and AirBnB – and holds an MES in Environment and Sustainability from Western University Canada.
The Executive Team
The Core Team
Geraldine Sherrard (she/her)
Russ Delos Santos (he/him)

Awa Cheikh Calloga (she/her)

Simon Sundaraj (he/him)

Georgia Kokkinou (they/them)
The Passionate ACTivists
The Techies & Hackers

Ezi

Papi

Samira

Emilie

Rashmi

Shannon

Alex

Natayra

Steve

Zahir

Viktoria

Garrett
The Coordinators

Mia

Czachi
The Legal &
Data Rights Team

Zelal

Manon

Camille

Laura

Romina

Stella

Leonarda

Annina
The Team of Health and GBV Experts

Clarina

Limou

Melody

Julia

Lorraine

Sophie
The UX Designers

Anne

Asma

Carolina

Django

Ilay

Sol

Sofia
The Communication Experts & Creatives

Mari-Caroline

Finlay

O'Shea

Ildiko
The Fundraisers

Amy

Nataliya

Tamia

Gretta

Yelena

Arianne

Arthur

Alessandro
The Researchers

Nephi

Meltem

Ariea

Kevin

Evelyn

Paula

Patricia

Miraf

Adrian

Sara
The Survivors

Survivor

Survivor

Survivor
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