Our Team
The Crop Trust considers people to be its most important asset.
The Crop Trust is a relatively small organization with a big mission. With about 45 staff members, the Crop Trust team have broad talents and exceptional drive. In addition to our full-time staff, we are supported by an active Executive Board, Donors' Council, Finance and Investment Committee as well as senior consultants who bring decades of expertise from across the world of crop diversity conservation. Of course, we could not carry out the work of global crop diversity conservation without our countless partners and supporters worldwide.
Executive Office
Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director
Human Resources & Corporate Operations
Christoph Beck, Director of Human Resources & Corporate Operations
Alireza Mohammadi, IT Manager
Dagny Poser, Travel Officer and Associate to the Executive Director
David Westphal, Corporate Operations Officer
Linus Schulte, ICT Assistant
Janne Bertram, Travel and Operations Assistant
Finance
Janet Muir, Director of Finance
Dezreen Cameron-Stein, Head of Finance and Investment
Stefan Thyen, Head of Contract Development and Compliance
Jaspreet Stamm, Innovative Finance Lead
Maite Rodríguez Ruiz, Financial Accountant
Mary Ghira, Finance & Procurement Officer
Alexander Kambili, Finance & Procurement Officer
Eva Hasíková, Finance and Project Officer
Zeynep Kılıçkaya, Contracts and Grants Officer
Penny Thayer, Finance Officer
Jurgita Buzinskaite, Finance Assistant
Science
Luigi Guarino, Director of Science
Benjamin Kilian, Senior Scientist and Project Coordinator
Matija Obreza, Head of GGP Information Systems
Janny van Beem, PhD, Global Genebank Partnership Coordinator
Nelissa Jamora, Agricultural Economist and Project Manager
Nora Castañeda-Álvarez, Project Manager, Seeds for Resilience
Peter Giovannini, Coordinator, Global Crop Conservation Strategies
Beri Bonglim, Project Specialist
Juan Carlos Alarcon Maldonado, Genebank Information Management Officer
Faith Wambua-Lüdeling, Program Assistant
Peter Pozar, Project Management Assistant
Christelle Rabil, Data and Information Management Assistant
Dietmar Stoian, Lead Scientist, Value Chains, Private Sector Engagement and Investments
External Affairs
Hannes Dempewolf, Director of External Affairs & Senior Scientist
Communications Unit
Hannah Bisset, Head of Communications
Luis Salazar, Communications Manager
Azzura Lalani, Outreach & Engagement Specialist
Laura Marshall, Events Officer
Petra Pajdakovic Sebek, Social Media Focal Point
Shaliz Barzani, External Affairs Fellow
Partnerships Unit
Amrita Narayanan, Strategic Partnerships Manager
Isbandiyar Valiyev, Partnerships Assistant
Bailey Cate, Partnerships Assistant
Strategic Development
Leon Sallevelt, Project Manager, Strategic Development
Marleen Engbers, Project Development Coordinator
Matthias Ruchser, Host Country PR and Media Coordinator
Current Vacancies
Interested in joining our team? Explore our vacancies.