Founder, Partner Amsterdam, Netherlands
Co-Founder, Partner The Hague, Netherlands
Principal Córdoba, Argentina
Principal & Creative Director Dubai, UAE
Associate Beirut, Lebanon
Associate Amman, Jordan
Associate London, United Kingdom
Associate Erbil, Iraq
Associate Amsterdam, Netherlands
Catalystas is a worldwide network! Check out Lysta: Expert Database to see the profiles of over 80 expert and fully vetted consultants spanning the globe, ready to help support our clients
Established in 2018, our hybrid collective was born out of a need for a gender lens in the field of international development and cooperation. The absence of gender sensitivity in activities and programs across business, development, government, and humanitarian sectors was continuous and detrimental, leading to unintended consequences, unsustainable changes, and insignificant impacts. Since beginning operations, our team has successfully supported numerous governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, and social sustainable enterprises in mainstreaming gender as a means of creating lasting transformation, meticulously evaluating existing programs and activities, and creatively innovating new solutions all over the globe.
We believe in tailor-made solutions that fit each specific context and keep every audience and ambition in mind.
We focus on inclusion through human-centered designs, with localized contexts and issues at the core, and special attention given to the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.
We utilize our training across various sets of standards and methodologies to ensure high quality and easily adaptable services (Sphere Humanitarian Standards, OECD DAC evaluation criteria, Core Humanitarian Standards, Scrum and agile management).
We actively practice qualifying our qualitative findings and research with quantitative figures, primary sources, and native language analysis.
Catalystas Consulting, Lange Voorhout 43, 2514 EC Den Haag, The Netherlands
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An Iranian-American with more than ten years of experience in international relations, economic development, and political empowerment, Beatrice is heavily invested in making the world a better place. Her work spans multiple regions of the world, often including high-risk environments, and her clients include non-governmental organizations, governmental bodies, and small-to-medium–sized corporations throughout the US, EU, Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Originally focused on the areas of economic development, security, and disarmament, Beatrice turned to the humanitarian field, where she has expanded her expertise to include international security policy, gender equality, and innovation planning. She is a highly skilled grant writer, program designer, auditor, and capacity and impact assessor, as well as an authority on client and donor relations and ethical corporate engagement strategy.
Her personal and professional interests come together in the use of technology and data to provide solutions and insight into human rights, higher education, sexual reproductive rights, and environmental preservation.
Aviva is a development and political stability specialist with over eight years of experience working in and on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub-Saharan Africa, and South & Southeast Asia. She focuses on the intersection of peacebuilding, empowerment, and gender equity, with an emphasis on interweaving growth and sustainability throughout social, political, and economic development. Aviva has experience in program development, implementation, situational analysis, and strategic planning in various contexts, including highly volatile areas.
Holding a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, she has worked with organizations large and small, including Search for Common Ground, SPARK, the Netherlands Entrepreneurship Development Agency (RVO), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
A lover of the written word, Aviva is an expert in writing and communications and embraces the challenge of creating content for a variety of audiences – from grant proposals to awareness raising campaigns.
Paula is a committed gender specialist with extensive experience in reporting, research, training, and project coordination in both Spanish and English. She holds a Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies from the Central European University & the University of Granada, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina.
As a consultant, she has worked for prominent organizations such as UNDP, Inter-American Development Bank, CAF -development banf of LAC, Start Network, Youth Business International, HelpAge, Catholics for Choice, and FARO Ecuador. There, she has conducted research related to gender equity, combating violence against women, children, and adolescents, strategic fundraising, development of training materials, and program evaluation.
In the public sector, she worked in the first Ministry of Women of Córdoba leading Gender-Sensitive Budgeting trajectories and gender mainstreaming in provincial public policies. She was responsible for coordinating interministerial and intersectoral meetings, designing and monitoring strategic programs, and supporting institutional communication.
Paula is dedicated to creating equitable spaces, challenging hierarchical power dynamics, and promoting ethics of care. With deep insight into Latin American cultural dynamics, she offers a unique perspective. Her commitment to feminism, empathetic leadership, and transparent collaboration drives her mission to advance gender equality and social justice regionally and globally
Rami Touma is a creative consultant and business developer with more than fifteen years of experience in developing key messaging, establishing brands, solving operational problems, creating disruptive marketing strategies, and creative advocacy and awareness campaigns.
He uses a unique data-driven creative process that is a tailor-made fusion of design thinking, behavioral psychology, and project management.
His portfolio includes consultancies for non-governmental organizations, multi-nationals, start-ups, universities, and government entities throughout the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.
Beyond this range of technical expertise, his real strength lies in his unrivaled passion for humanitarian issues and empowering people, and his skill in marrying content and form when it comes to spreading important messages.
He is passionate about street art, photography, cinematography, pottery, and all forms of art.
Noura Amkieh is a Clinical Psychologist from Beirut, Lebanon. In the past five years, she has completed her B.A. in Psychology, M.A in Clinical Psychology and Islamic Psychology diploma from Cambridge Muslim College. She fulfills the role of a clinical psychologist in Beirut, Lebanon and is an advocate for global mental health with an anti-colonial approach. Noura has been actively working within Islamic Psychology, addressing the diverse needs of populations and offering a comprehensive approach to mental health challenges.
She specializes in working on evaluations and needs assessments with emphasis in MHPSS, education and global mental health. Her expertise goes beyond clinical boundaries, incorporating a profound understanding of regional geo-political dynamics, enabling her to utilize psycho-social analysis and trauma-informed training methodologies for effective and culturally sensitive engagement across various contexts.
Malik Alkhawaja, based in Jordan, holds an M.A. in European Studies and a B.A. in Development Studies. With nearly a decade of experience in MEAL, he has supported humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding programs across the MENA region, focusing on topics such as reconciliation, governance, deradicalization, youth empowerment, WPS, and gender equality. Malik has led evaluations, developed cutting-edge MEAL systems, and designed learning agendas that enable stakeholders to achieve adaptive, evidence-based solutions.
His extensive experience includes working with international organizations like Search for Common Ground and Oxfam GB, applying innovative methodologies like Outcome Harvesting and Contribution Analysis to strengthen institutional learning and program outcomes. Malik is committed to fostering inclusion and delivering transformative results in complex operational contexts such as Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
Isabel holds an MA in Gender Studies with a specialization in Postcolonial and Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as an MA in International Business Management from ESCP Europe. With over 15 years of experience in international development, Isabel began her career in microfinance before transitioning to social entrepreneurship. She created an innovative and award-winning sanitation system in Lima, Peru, to address the Human Right to Sanitation.
This groundbreaking model, the first of its kind in South America, has been globally recognized for its contribution to sustainable and inclusive urban development. After leading the organization as its director, Isabel continued to serve on its board and has since worked in community-led innovation (Humanitarian Innovation Fund) and in consulting projects focused on Gender and Human Rights (Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights & World Economic Forum/South Pole).
Massara is a seasoned mental health professional with extensive experience in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), specializing in therapeutic interventions for high-risk cases and severe trauma. She works closely with partner staff, providing guidance and training to enhance their skills in communication and de-escalation techniques to support individuals facing mental health challenges.
Beyond her core expertise in mental health, Massara has a broad range of experience in protection programming, including child protection, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), and gender-based violence (GBV). She is skilled in project cycle management, encompassing needs assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring & evaluation. Massara is adept at coordinating with government bodies, communities, and protection actors to design and implement effective programs.
Her background also includes monitoring and reporting on protection situations, developing and delivering training programs, and conducting evaluations to improve program quality. She facilitates communication among stakeholders, addresses protection concerns, and supports gender and child protection initiatives through advocacy and community engagement.
Massara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychological Counseling from Baghdad University and a Bachelor’s degree in English Language from Al-Noor University College. She has also completed advanced training in trauma resiliency, high-risk assessment, and psychosocial support for conflict-affected children.
Lisa is an international consultant with eight years of experience spanning the public, private, and NGO sectors. She has worked across more than 40 jurisdictions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the MENA region, bringing deep expertise in agriculture, climate adaptation and mitigation, innovation, education, gender, and public health.
As a project management and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) expert, she applies methodologies such as the OECD DAC criteria, case study approaches, log frame assessments, and IP research commercialization. Her ability to navigate complex multi-stakeholder environments enables her to deliver high-impact solutions that bridge policy, research, and implementation.
With a background in management consulting and due diligence, Lisa is passionate about facilitating economic growth and sustainable development in low-income countries. Lisa is deeply committed to utilising innovative solutions for sustainable development. Her work has increasingly focused on technology-driven approaches, particularly ethical AI and digital capacity-building. She has designed and facilitated training programs for over 1,000 participants, equipping stakeholders with the skills to drive systemic change.
Lisa holds an LLB and a Bachelor of Social Science in Law and International Relations from the University of Cape Town, as well as a Master of Science in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. Her work continues to emphasise the power of collaboration, capacity building, and strategic partnerships to address the most pressing challenges in development today.
We built Lysta as an answer to one of our own problems: the need to quickly assemble teams of experts across various subject matter, geographic, linguistic, and thematic areas for projects and proposals as they arise. We quickly realized that we were not the only ones facing this challenge! With the speed that development projects require hiring, turnaround, and technical insights, we see first hand how helpful it is to have a ready-made database of vetted experts to call on.
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For consultants, adding your profile to Lysta means jumping to the top of the list for our clients in recruitment processes. We do the heavy lifting: the CV reviews, interviews, vetting, and personnel management; so when our clients come to us, they know they’re hiring someone they can trust to deliver high quality, timely results. Click here to add your profile for review.
We’re proud to be a link in the chain that connects the best of the best – don’t hesitate to reach out and see how you can put Lysta to work for you!