Christina Bennett

Christina is CEO of the Start Network, a global membership organisation working to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action and localisation. Christina has 20 years of experience in humanitarian policy and practice, including field work in Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Sudan.

Previously, Christina was head of the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute, where she led research on local humanitarian action, humanitarian reform and disaster management and drove policy initiatives related to counter-terrorism, protection of civilians, refugee livelihoods and private finance. She is the author of From the Ground Up: It’s About Time for Local Humanitarian Action (2020) and Time to Let go: Remaking Humanitarian Action for the Modern Era (2016).

Prior to joining HPG, Christina was the Chief of Policy Analysis and Innovation at UNOCHA and Head of Communications at the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit in Kabul. Christina is a frequent writer and speaker on conflict and humanitarian aid.