STAFF

Leslie Rae Ferat was appointed Executive Director of FCA (now the GATC) in January 2021, having previously served as Managing Director and Program Manager since 2018. She is a member of the WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs and Co-chair of its advocacy and communications sub-group, and a member of the Advisory Board and Scientific Committee for the World Conference on Tobacco or Health. Leslie has over a decade of international experience, mainly working with low- and middle-income countries and other stakeholders to collect and use data to drive sustainable development and meet the SDGs. Before joining GATC, Leslie worked for several international organizations including the OECD, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Leslie serves as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors of a Canadian charity, St. Mary’s Home, holds an MSc in International Development (Poverty and Inequality) from the University of Birmingham and is fluent in English and French. Leslie is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Andrea Mackasey is the GATC’s Operations Manager. She coordinates the organization’s daily activities, manages budgets and offers policy and program support. She has been with GATC (formerly the FCA) since early 2020. Prior to joining GATC, Andrea worked for over a decade at the House of Commons, Canada, as a Political Assistant to various Members of Parliament. She has a background in Political Science with a MA in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University and is fluent in French and English. Andrea is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Nicole Nguenha is the Policy and Advocacy Officer at the GATC. She works on policy development, research, and advocacy and analyzes issues related to WHO FCTC implementation. Prior to joining the GATC, Nicole was a consultant and programme and policy officer at the United Nations World Food Programme for more than 4 years. She has also consulted on food security projects with gender components for the Hellen Keller International in Mozambique and worked with experts conducting tobacco control research in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The focus of her work in Mozambique and Zimbabwe was Article 17 of the FCTC on economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing. Nicole is working on a MSc in Family Medicine at McGill University , with a focus on Global Health and Policy Coherence in Tobacco Control regulation in Mozambique. She is based in Montreal, Canada.

Lilia Olefir is the EURO Regional Coordinator for the GATC. She is also the Smoke Free Partnership’s (SFP) Director. Prior to joining the SFP and GATC team, Lilia worked at “LIFE” – a tobacco control NGO Advocacy Center in Ukraine. She joined “LIFE” in 2015 and from 2017-2021 served as the organizations Executive Director. She has more than 6 years of experience in tobacco control, advocacy, and communications, including consulting on tobacco control policy for a Member of Parliament in Ukraine from 2019-2021. Lilia holds a master degree in Management of Organizations (in public health) from the Kyiv Mohyla Academy at the Kyiv National University and holds a bachelor degree in History from Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.

r Domilyn Villarreiz is the Regional Coordinator for the Western Pacific Region excluding the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. She works with tobacco control focal points in governments and civil society organizations in the 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia. Dr Villarreiz has been with the organization since 2010. She is a Doctor of Medicine, a Registered Medical Technologist, and holds a Master’s Degree in Public health. At present, she is the Smoke-Free Program Manager of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) and the Secretary-General of the Smoke-Free Cities Asia Pacific Network (SCAN). She is based in the Philippines.

Dr. Ahmad Abbadi is the EMRO Regional Coordinator for GATC. He works with the EMRO tobacco control NGOs, government focal points and WHO EMRO regional coordinator. Dr. Abbadi is a medical doctor, and holds a Master’s in Medical Sciences in Public Health Epidemiology from Karolinska Institutet. He is currently conducting his PhD in Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet. He has been working with NGOs from Jordan and EMRO region since 2013, and worked with Ministry of Health of Jordan and WHO Jordan country office. He coauthors the Jordan Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report, and has worked and produced reports in FCTC Articles 5.3, 6, and 8-14 at the level of Jordan and EMRO region. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Daniel Dorado is the AMRO Latin America & Caribbean Co-Regional Coordinator for the GATC. He is also the Director of Policy Organizing and Tobacco Campaign: International & Latin America, at Corporate Accountability, an international organization with more than 40 years’ experience challenging the abuses of transnational corporations. He also serves as the Vice-president for the Ecuadorian Tobacco Control Interinstitutional Committee (2023-2025) and as a member of the Cancer Research UK – International Prevention Advisory Group (2023-2025). Dorado has 10 years of experience in tobacco control, tobacco industry liability, public health, and corporate capture issues. Daniel is a lawyer (Javeriana University-Colombia) with a Masters in Law specializing in constitutional law (Simon Bolivar Andean University-Ecuador), with specializations and certifications in tobacco control (Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, among others). Daniel is based in Quito, Ecuador and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Gianella Severini is the AMRO Latin America & Caribbean Co-Regional Coordinator for the GATC. She is the legal coordinator for Latin America at the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, an international organization working to reduce tobacco use around the world and supporting organizations working to address other critical public health challenges. Gianella has vast experience in providing strategic guidance on NCDs regulation including policy development, drafting laws and regulation, advising litigation strategies, and supporting legal capacity-building efforts in different countries. Gianella is an Argentinean attorney and journalist who obtained a Master on Global Rule of Law and Constitutional Democracy (Genova University), and a Master in Global Health Law with certification in international trade studies and specialized in human rights (Georgetown University). Gianella is based in Argentina and is fluent in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.