Good Intentions Don't Save Lives, Skills Do!
Up-Skill Now With Our Experts
Meet the Team
Najad Sheikh is the CEO of Roving Compass and a senior humanitarian leader with over a decade of experience across NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies, and government institutions, with deep operational expertise in complex and conflict-affected contexts, particularly Türkiye and northwest Syria. Her leadership is grounded in hands-on field experience as well as in senior coordination and governance roles. Prior to founding Roving Compass, Najad served as Country Coordinator with an INGO, where she led multi-sectoral cross-border programming, supervised diverse teams, managed strategic partnerships, and represented her organization at the highest humanitarian coordination levels, including the Humanitarian Country Team and NGO fora. She has also held different roles contributing to sector leadership, partner capacity assessments, and fund accountability mechanisms in some of the world’s most constrained operating environments.
As CEO, Najad brings a systems-level understanding of the humanitarian ecosystem informed by lived personal experience, institutional insight, and a deep commitment to ethical engagement. Roving Compass was founded in response to persistent inequities in the sector, particularly the sidelining of local expertise, weak accountability, and performative approaches to safeguarding, PSEAH, and localization. Under her leadership, Roving Compass supports humanitarian actors to strengthen technical quality, leadership capacity, ethical practice, and institutional integrity, with a strong emphasis on dignity, power-aware engagement, and emotional intelligence in humanitarian work. Najad is a trusted advisor to organizations seeking to align operational excellence with principled action, and she continues to advocate for humanitarian models that center community leadership, sustainability, and meaningful accountability.
She holds a BA in Global Studies and Human Rights from the University of Washington and an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
With over 18 years of experience in humanitarian action and human rights, Enas is a seasoned expert in leading Education in Emergencies (EiE) responses across Level 2 and Level 3 crises. Her expertise spans integrating Psychosocial Support (PSS) into education programming, coordinating clusters, and delivering both regional and global support in the face of humanitarian and natural disasters. As a certified Global Capacity Building Master Trainer, Enas brings a wealth of knowledge in programme management, strategic planning, and capacity building.
Enas holds a Master of Science in International Humanitarian Affairs from the University of York and is deeply committed to driving high-impact, scalable solutions in crisis-affected contexts. She has a proven track record of delivering trainings with UN agencies, INGOs and NGOs in programme design, fostering cross-country knowledge exchange, strengthening compliance systems, and developing strategic partnerships. Her work ensures effective, context-responsive interventions that uphold the highest standards in humanitarian response. At Roving Compass, Enas serves as the lead trainer for the Education in Emergencies course.
With over a decade of experience in Information Management (IM) across complex humanitarian contexts, Mohammed has led IM functions for Health, Nutrition, and WASH programmes with UNICEF in Turkiye, coordinated Syria cross-border operations with iMMAP, and managed national-level strategies with UNOCHA in Yemen. He has designed and overseen large-scale data systems, from real-time partner project monitoring to producing analytical performance reports and humanitarian severity indices for global planning tools like the Humanitarian Needs Overview. As a key leader in inter-agency coordination, he has facilitated IM working groups and driven data-driven decision-making across sectors.
In addition to his field leadership, Mohammed has a strong commitment to building local capacity and mentoring the next generation of humanitarian professionals. He has recruited, trained, and supervised IM teams, provided technical guidance to international and national NGOs as well UN agencies, and developed outreach strategies to scale IM support across operations. His academic foundation as a university lecturer in computer science, covering topics from database design to programming and geospatial mapping, adds technical depth to his humanitarian expertise, making him a highly effective trainer at the intersection of data, technology, and crisis response. At Roving Compass, Mohammed serves as the lead trainer for the Humanitarian Information Management & arcGIS course.
With 17 years of distinguished service in the national police force and over 7 years in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Kosovo, Rezi brings unparalleled expertise in women’s safety, community protection, and gender-sensitive security practices. Her career spans complex, post-conflict environments where she worked closely with vulnerable populations, ensuring the protection of women and children, preventing gender-based violence, and training local law enforcement in human rights-based policing. Her leadership in international security efforts reflects a deep commitment to creating safer, more just societies for women.
In addition to her field, Rezi has a strong commitment to building local capacity and mentoring the next generation. As a seasoned trainer, Rezi leverages her frontline experience to deliver impactful, culturally relevant safety and security training for women, humanitarian workers, and community responders. She specializes in building local capacity through practical, scenario-based learning that empowers women with the tools to recognize risk, respond to threats, and assert their rights in crisis contexts. Her unique perspective as a woman in law enforcement and international peacekeeping allows her to bridge gaps between policy and practice, offering training that is both technically sound and rooted in lived experience. At Roving Compass, Rezi serves as the lead trainer for the Women's Safety & Security course.
A highly experienced Protection Specialist with extensive leadership in humanitarian and development settings, skilled in general protection, child protection, GBV, MHPSS, and safeguarding. She excels in designing and implementing integrated, community-driven protection programs and leading multi-sectoral teams in complex contexts. Catherine is known for championing gender and protection mainstreaming across sectors including health, nutrition, food security, education, and WASH, to ensure inclusive, survivor-centered, rights-based service delivery.
Her strongest asset is capacity building. Catherine develops and delivers tailored training, mentorship, and coaching for national staff, government counterparts, and community actors. Her experience includes facilitating large-scale training initiatives, leading protection workshops, and establishing peer learning structures to promote ongoing accountability and professional growth. Catherine brings extensive experience in strategy development, project design, operational research, situation analysis, and inter-agency coordination. She is a strong advocate for child rights and survivor protection, recognized for strengthening institutions, establishing feedback and response mechanisms, and fostering partnerships that drive sustainable, impactful protection outcomes in complex humanitarian environments. At Roving Compass, Catherine serves as the lead trainer for the Humanitarian Protection course.
Dr. Sally Hammoud is a leading AI strategist, communication expert, and seasoned trainer with over two decades of experience bridging technology, media, and social impact. She has delivered high-impact training programs across the MENA region, empowering NGOs, humanitarian agencies, and policy institutions to integrate artificial intelligence into their operations, communication strategies, and crisis response systems.
With a Ph.D. in Communication & Media Studies focused on AI’s role in digital reputation, Dr. Hammoud has worked extensively with international organizations, civil society actors, and academic institutions to address pressing regional challenges, ranging from disinformation management in conflict zones to AI-powered advocacy for refugee and community resilience programs. Her NGO portfolio spans projects in Lebanon, the Levant, and the GCC, where she has advised and trained teams on ethical AI adoption, data governance, and technology-enabled humanitarian outreach.
Renowned for her dynamic and practical approach, Dr. Hammoud combines strategic vision with hands-on expertise, equipping participants with the tools and mindsets needed to harness AI responsibly in fragile and high-stakes environments. Her work reflects a deep commitment to advancing humanitarian principles while driving innovation that serves communities across the Arab world. At Roving Compass, Dr. Sally serves as the lead trainer for the AI for Humanitarian Response course.
Rewa Al Rass is a humanitarian professional with extensive experience in nutrition coordination, technical leadership, and system strengthening within complex emergency contexts, with a strong focus on the Syria response from Türkiye. She has held senior coordination roles supporting emergency nutrition service delivery, needs assessment and analysis, and inter-cluster collaboration, contributing to strategic decision-making processes such as humanitarian needs overviews, IPC analysis, and response planning. Her work has emphasized partner engagement, capacity building, preparedness and contingency planning, and the integration of nutrition priorities across sectors, while ensuring evidence-based, accountable, and principled humanitarian action.
In addition to her coordination leadership, Rewa has served as a Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Consultant, providing technical support in coordination, Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).
Her consultancy work has focused on localization and organizational capacity strengthening, including institutional assessments, development and implementation of capacity development plans, and support across program management, MEAL, resource mobilization, and internal systems. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Science (Nutrition), is a native Arabic speaker with full professional proficiency in English, and brings strong analytical, leadership, and mentoring skills to support high-quality humanitarian response and coordination. Roving Compass, Rewa serves as the lead trainer for the Nutrition in Emergencies course.
An expert in peacebuilding, conflict sensitivity, and international politics, with over two decades of academic and professional experience. Dr. Balazs holds a PhD in Peace Studies and International Politics from the University of New England, Australia, where his research explored state-building and peace infrastructures in the Philippines. His academic background also includes a Master of Arts in International Peace Studies from the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica and a Juris Doctorate from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary.
Currently, Dr. Balazs works as a peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity consultant and trainer with several international organizations. He supports projects globally, including assignments in Nigeria, Türkiye, Uganda, Syria, South Sudan, and Kenya through many INGOs, and contributes to social science curriculum development for peace education in the Philippines with forum ZFD. He is also a member of the Peacebuilding Expert Roster for International Alert and a visiting professor at the University for Peace, where he teaches courses on conflict analysis and transformation. At Roving Compass, Dr. Balazs serves as the lead trainer for the Conflict Sensitivity Analysis and Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) Nexus course.