The Lab's team

Organizational description | 01 September 2015
Steve Hartrich
Steve coordinates the Lab project, leading technical research to support employment outcomes through better sector selection, market systems analysis, monitoring and results measurement, and project implementation. Prior to joining the Lab in Geneva, Steve worked for the ILO in Zambia both as a project implementer and results measurement officer for a youth in agribusiness market systems development programme. Before the ILO, Steve worked as a transportation planner/engineer, modelling and running economic analysis on long-term infrastructure plans and at various NGOs developing M&E and management systems.

Aatif Somji
Aatif is a Junior Technical Officer at the Lab. Prior to the ILO, he worked at PwC in London – specialising in international development consulting and programme management. His other work experiences include UNDP, CARE International and BRAC Uganda. Aatif holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute, Geneva – where he specialised in gender and labour market issues. His thesis explored unpaid care and domestic work as a significant barrier to female microenterprise development in Uganda. Aatif speaks English and French.

Elisa Mandelli
Elisa is an anthropologist working as Technical Officer at the Lab. Before joining ILO she was Associate Programme Officer at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) working on land tenure issues and the linkages with targeting strategies and value chain development. Prior to IFAD, she worked for UNICEF Nicaragua on the implementation of innovative design methodologies for policy-making in indigenous regions and for the promotion of social-entrepreneurship for youth and women. She was also Principal Ethnographer for a public policy innovation firm (Policy Lab) in Colombia and Researcher for a responsible tourism initiative supported by ACRA in Ecuador. Elisa holds a master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). She speaks Spanish, French, Italian and English.

Ines Bentchikou
Ines is a Junior Technical Officer at the Lab. She obtained a dual-degree in Management and Global Business in France and Ireland, and holds a master’s degree in Emerging Markets and International Development from King’s College London. She is currently working on the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of projects related to value chain development with a focus on decent work. Previously, she worked in fundraising and communications at WWF and in the operations and impact assessment of a fashion project developed by the International Trade Centre (United Nations and World Trade Organisation). Ines speaks English, French and Arabic and has working knowledge of Italian and German.

Isaac Cowan-Gore
Isaac holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva and is currently studying at the University of Lausanne to earn a master’s degree in Management. He has previously worked as an intern at the Partnership for Action on Green Economy at UN Environment where he predominantly focused on communications and strategy development. He has also notably worked as a volunteer with a non-profit catering business employing refugees and undertaken a couple entrepreneurial ventures of his own. Isaac speaks English, French and Spanish.