Lena leads the anti-racism work at Bond and the wider decolonising sector work, working with members and global partners, initiatives and movements. She is a co-author of the Bond Racism, power and truth: Experience of people of colour in international development report. Lena also leads and drives our convening through events overseeing webinars and events over a wide range of topics, from mental health and wellbeing, HR, funding, decolonising, EDI, to areas of policy like the SDGs, the future of civic space and the future of aid.
Prior to joining Bond, Lena led on events at the Charity Finance Group across the regions, delivered on the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands as well as delivering programmes with partners in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Kenya and Uganda. She has also worked as on human rights issues in Palestine and on projects in collaboration with the British Council. Lena has a Masters in Nationalism and Politics from University of Edinburgh.
Lena is a trustee of EachOther, a working group member of the Racial Equity Index, a group of BIPOC volunteers based around the world, working to build a racial equity index to hold the global development sector to account. Lena is also a Committee Member and Organiser at Charity So White, the award-winning campaign which aims to root out racism from the UK charity sector.
Posts
Reflections on 2024: reckoning with racism, inequality, and a vision for justice
The race riots in the UK over the summer were a glaring reminder of how deeply entrenched inequities can erupt into visible unrest and how far we still have to go. Our Head of Anti-Racism and Equity Lena Bheeroo looks at what progress we made as a sector in 2024, and how the ugly events over the summer are happening both on a micro and macro level across the globe, both institutionally and societally.
Reimagining policy and advocacy – an anti-racist, decolonial approach: Introducing This is the Work
Bond, Peace Direct, and the Advocacy Team have created a new set of resources and findings focused on advancing anti-racist and decolonial approaches in international policy and advocacy. Bond’s Lena Bheeroo and Katherine Strasser-Williams and Peace Direct’s Kit Dorey introduces us.
Reimagining international development: a call for justice-led approaches
We are facing unprecedented challenges from climate change, rising conflicts, health crises that deepen inequalities that disproportionately impact the poorest populations. Addressing these crises requires a fundamental shift in how global development is approached.