Who we are

Tom Colley is a senior humanitarian professional with over 17 years of experience working alongside communities in conflict-affected and politically complex settings across the Middle East and Africa, 

 His career has been shaped by a commitment to mutual aid, dignity, and locally led responses, with a strong track record in supporting grassroots groups to design, lead, and sustain their own solutions in times of crisis.

Tom has worked extensively with mutual aid networks and community-based organisationshelping them access resources, overcome operational barriers, and amplify their voices in humanitarian spaces. He is passionate about shifting power in the humanitarian system, ensuring that frontline responders are not just seen but recognised as leaders of change.

Tom speaks his native English, as well Arabic and French fluently. 

Samuel Wood is a humanitarian leader with more than two decades of experience working alongside communities in crisis and conflict-affected settings across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Eurasia, and Latin America. He has held senior roles at Save the Children, HelpAge International, and Tearfund, managing large-scale programmes of up to $100 million.

His career has been shaped by a commitment to locally led response, partnering with national organisations and civil society to shift resources and decision-making closer to the people most affected. He has consistently championed humanitarian action that is inclusive, dignified, and rooted in the leadership of frontline responders.

Drawn by a shared passion for mutual aid, Sam joined Karana to collaborate with frontline communities, strengthening their role as leaders and ensuring resources and support reach those driving change on the ground.

Lin Bilal is a humanitarian protection and research specialist with over 10 years of experience leading programmes across Syria, Iraq, and Türkiye. She has built a strong reputation for advancing community-based protection, safeguarding, and gender inclusion, ensuring that crisis-affected communities play a central role in shaping humanitarian response. 

Skilled in participatory research and peer inquiry, Lin has consistently translated community voices into strategies, policies, and donor learning, making protection responses more relevant and effective.

She has worked with UN agencies, INGOs, and locally led initiatives, with recent work focusing on capacity-sharing with mutual aid groups and co-designing inclusive tools for protection and participation. Lin has co-authored influential research on barriers to inclusion and gender-based violence, and is experienced in cross-cultural, multilingual learning processes across Arabic, Turkish, and English contexts. 

Her work reflects a deep commitment to locally led action and to building humanitarian systems that are inclusive, dignified, and grounded in community knowledge.