Our board
Ekō is governed by a board of directors who are ultimately accountable for the work that we do. Our board manage our Executive Director, are responsible for our financial health and ensure we operate within the rules set out for us as a United States registered 501(c)4 organization.

Emma Ruby-Sachs, Executive Director
Chicago, IL
Emma Ruby-Sachs is a writer, lawyer and the Executive Director of Ekō, a global movement of over 15 million members worldwide. She is the author of The Waterman’s Daughter, a literary novel set in South Africa, released in 2011 and her writing has been published in The Guardian, The Nation, Huffington Post and other international outlets. She previously was the Deputy Director at Avaaz, practiced constitutional appellate law and administrative law and worked on issues of wrongful arrest and wrongful conviction in Canada. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and University of Toronto Faculty of Law and currently lives in Chicago, IL with her partner, Jane Saks and their daughter.

Ismael Savadogo, Treasurer
Washington D.C., United States
Ismael Savadogo (Ish) is Chief Financial Officer at Change.org, the world’s largest platform for social change. His previous positions include a range of finance and management leadership roles in for profit and nonprofit corporations; more recently as Senior VP/CFO for the National Aquarium, a conservation organization focused on changing the way humanity cares for the ocean and home to more than 20,000 aquatic animals. Before the Aquarium, Ish was CFO at Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, leading financial management functions to support accelerated growth strategies after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Working as CFO and special advisor for COP-EL, a regional nonprofit based in Burkina Faso, he mobilized public support to secure grant subsidies with governments and regional institutions to fund affordable electrification programs for underserved communities in several sub-Saharan countries. As senior team member at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for 11 years, he served as CFO and Vice President of global operations during new market penetration efforts in North America and international expansion initiatives. While completing his MBA, Ismael began his career in investment banking operations. An experience that he credits with giving him great appreciation for the work that must be done to challenge corporations and institutions to create a fairer, more sustainable world economy for all.

Tanya O'Carroll, Board Member
London, UK
Tanya O’Carroll is an independent advisor, strategist and leader focused on tech accountability, human rights and social justice. She helps organizations to develop powerful strategies for social change - straddling technology, investigations, advocacy and policy. She was previously a Research, Advocacy and Policy Director at Amnesty International, where she co-founded and ledAmnesty Tech, making technology and human rights a flagship priority for the organization and setting strategy for its more than 70 national entities. Her team's investigations and campaigns made world headlines, hit corporate share prices, sparked litigation, and mobilized hundreds of thousands of people.

Tate Hausman, Board Member
New York, United States
Tate Hausman has spent the past two decades running organizations and campaigns for progressive change, mostly at the federal level. Recently, he has run a consumer campaign fighting against election disinformation, a 21st century worker's advocacy group, and a national effort to thwart Trump’s infrastructure scam. In 2018, he ran Mayor Bill de Blasio’s political operation, Fairness PAC, which raised millions of dollars for progressive candidates up and down the ticket, and helped usher in the most progressive and productive New York State Senate in a generation. Tate has directed an eclectic mix of projects, organizations and campaigns: two SuperPACs, a labor-backed data and analytics shop, a state-based lobbying effort for same-day voter registration, even a slam-poetry effort to defeat George W. Bush. Earlier in his career he did turns in journalism, digital storytelling, and online organizing.

Zeina Alhajj, Chair of Board
Amsterdam
Zeina Kahlil Hajj is currently the head of Global "Campaigning and Organising" at 350, a global climate campaigning organisation that works with hundreds of partners and allies around the globe seeking to expand the Climate movement, by building alliances across issues and social movements. Zeina has more than 25 years of experience in creative campaigning, communications, political and policy development, organising and mobilising on a global level. She is an activist by heart and has worked on social issues ranging from electoral laws and global environmental policies to dealing with war aftermath. She has helped set-up organisations and work on organisational structures and campaigns around the world. For more than 15 years, she shaped Greenpeace’s global strategies and led many of its creative campaigns challenging global corporate within the electronics and textile industries, as well as global food companies. Between 2018 and 2020, she founded and established the latest Greenpeace office operating in Arabic speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Zeina has a notorious laugh that can raise a smile on a rainy day in Amsterdam, where she currently lives.

Grace Kim, Board Member
USA
Grace leads her own practice advising executives of Fortune 500 companies, global philanthropies and non-profits. Her expertise is building enduring brands, teams and organizations that lead with empathy and a clear impact mandate. Her experience includes helping shape pre-IPO impact strategies for companies like Lyft and AirBnB, guiding leadership on how to operationalize their stated values; and designed strategies and programs to remove barriers to human potential for organizations such as PayPal, Genentech, The North Face, Youtube and Lululemon. She also designed and launched fellowships, coalitions, and initiatives for foundations and nonprofits like the Gates Foundation, the United Nations, Levi Strauss & Co., and the Girl Scouts of the USA. She previously served as the Executive Director of Amplifier, a national nonprofit design lab that has connected 300+ artists with movements such as Black Lives Matter, #cut50, and the Women’s March. She serves as the Board Chair for Amplifier and the Chair of the Racial Equity Committee for LeadersUp, a national nonprofit incubated at Starbucks that partners with employers to help young people of color access career pathways. She is also a senior advisor to 100Kin10, a national network of 300+ organizations committed to giving kids a great STEM education; and to Inclusive Action for the City, an economic development organization dedicated to uplifting low-income communities.