Our team in Brussels
Olivia Caeymaex
Peace Programme Lead
Olivia joined QCEA in October 2016 as the peace programme lead and she currently serves on the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) steering committee. She has over ten years experience in peacebuilding. Olivia previously worked as the Special Assistant to the United Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, based in Dakar. Her prior work at the United Nations headquarters includes experience at the United Nations University looking at issues such as modern slavery and crimes against humanity, as well as at the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Policy Committee Secretariat at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.
Her policy work in conflict prevention includes field experience working for the International Crisis Group and the Enough Project respectively in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Olivia is bilingual in English and French and is fluent in Spanish.
Contact Olivia: olivia.caeymaex@qcea.org
Andrew Lane
Director
Andrew Lane leads the QCEA team in Brussels and is the lead staff member for our Human Rights Programme, focusing on anti-migrant political discourse. Andrew currently serves on the steering committees of several networks. He has written for a range of publications and was the author of Race and Privilege in Europe (2017, 2019).
Andrew engages with Quaker communities and agencies across Europe, and is responsible for supporting QCEA's Executive Committee and General Assembly. Before joining QCEA, Andrew worked in the UK police service for a decade, including as the principal policy advisor to a regional police commissioner.
Contact Andrew: andrew.lane@qcea.org
Xavier Verhaeghe
Office Manager
Xavier Verhaeghe has worked at QCEA in different roles since 2002. He managed the renovation of our listed building and has provided expertise on property issues since then. Xavier works at the QCEA Office Manager, alongside managment responsibilities in the commercial sector in Brussels. Xavier handles enquiries about supporting QCEA, as well as room hirings.
Contact Xavier: office@qcea.org
Kate McNally
Forced Migration Project Coordinator
Kate McNally coordinates activity related to asylum, refugees and forced migration. A large part of Kate's role involves connecting people who are working in grassroots projects in different parts of Europe. A psychologist by training, Kate has worked as a University Professor and more recently for many years as a Human Resources Consultant in the US and Canada. Volunteer work includes a Rape Crisis Centre, an organisation offering support to troubled youth and as a mediator in the US court system.
Contact Kate: kate.mcnally@qcea.org
Clémence Buchet--Couzy
Peace Programme Assistant
Clémence joined QCEA in April 2019 as the new Peace Programme Assistant. She holds a master’s degree in Conflicts and Development with a specific focus on post-conflict issues, peace processes and crisis recovery. Before working for QCEA she contributed to the conflict transformation and social cohesion work of Search For Common Ground in Lebanon. She used to work for a French youth interfaith movement called Coexister, which aims at creating social links between young people with different religions. She also has research experience at the Center for International Crisis and Conflict Studies (CECRI), where she worked on subjects such as dealing with the past, reconciliation and conflict resolution as well as peacekeeping. She speaks English and French.
Contact Clémence: clemence.buchetcouzy@qcea.org
Martin Leng
Communications Coordinator
Martin Leng joined QCEA in November 2016. With a background in European external policy, including an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy from the College of Europe, Martin previously worked on policy for a minority rights NGO and a peacebuilding consultancy before making the move into communications. At QCEA, he has the opportunity to blend this political expertise with his creative side. Martin leads on a range of comms projects, including the development of QCEA's strategic messaging, brand management and donor outreach. He speaks English, French and Swedish.
Contact Martin: martin.leng@qcea.org
Terri Beswick
Senior Human Rights Programme Officer
Terri joined QCEA on an interim basis in May 2019 to develop the Human Rights Programme. Terri is a British-Jamaican strategist and facilitator committed to more inclusive, just and people-centred policy and practice. She's worked in foreign policy for over 10 years, mostly for NGOs, civil society networks and think tanks working on peace, but also as a public servant with the European Union's External Action Service, developing the EU's early warning system for conflict prevention.
She specialises in bringing the 'human factor' into policy, programming and advocacy, drawing on learning from behavioural sciences, communications science and social movements. Terri holds an MA in International Politics and Human Rights, and specialised in cognitive linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and political communication as an undergraduate. In addition to English as her mother-tongue, Terri speaks French, Italian and Flemish (with enthusiasm rather than precision) and a little Arabic from some time living in Jordan.
Contact Terri: terri.beswick@qcea.org
Laëtitia Sédou
EU Programme Officer, ENAAT (European Network Against Arms Trade)
Laëtitia Sédou works as the EU Programme Officer on behalf of the European Network Against the Arms Trade. Laëtitia is an experienced advocate in Brussels, including eight years at the Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT).
Contact Laëtitia: laetitia@enaat.org
Governance
Governance functions are undertaken by our General Assembly, a body made up of representatives of Quaker communities in more than twenty European countries and other European Quaker organisations. The Council meets twice a year, and delegates some of its responsibilities to an Executive Committee to act on its behalf between meetings. Both the General Assembly and the Executive Committee are clerked (chaired) by Oliver Robertson.