Governance
Leadership & Governance
The IAOIJ belongs to its members. They elect the Board that sets our direction and defends our independence, and fund the Secretariat that runs the Association day to day, from Geneva and six regional hubs.
How the Association is run
Three bodies, one line of accountability
Authority in the IAOIJ flows in a single, transparent line — from the members who own it, to the Board they elect, to the professional staff who deliver the work.
Highest authority
The General Assembly
Every verified member. It meets once a year to set strategy, approve the budget and audited accounts, amend the statutes and elect the Board.
Elected · unpaid
The Board of Directors
Drawn from members worldwide and serving without pay. It sets direction, safeguards our independence and appoints the Executive Director.
Professional staff
The Secretariat
Led by the Executive Director from Geneva and the regional hubs, it runs the programmes — investigations, grants, safety, training and membership.
A firewall separates governance and funding from editorial decisions: neither the Board nor any donor directs what members investigate or when they publish. The Board's work is guided in turn by three independent committees, described below.
The Board
Elected by the General AssemblyEight directors, elected to two-year terms by the members, lead the Association's governance. They are working journalists and editors from every region we cover, and they serve without remuneration.
Ingrid Hansen
Chair of the Board
Oslo, Norway
A former financial-crime editor who has led cross-border investigations into money laundering across the Nordics and the Baltic.
Diego Fuentes
Vice-Chair
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Founder of an independent investigative outlet in Latin America, reporting on public procurement and organised crime.
Mei-Ling Chow
Vice-Chair
Taipei, Taiwan
A data journalist specialising in supply chains and forced labour across the Asia-Pacific manufacturing belt.
Kwame Mensah
Treasurer
Accra, Ghana
An editor and trainer covering extractives and illicit financial flows out of West Africa's mining and oil sectors.
Fatima Al-Sayed
Board Member
Beirut, Lebanon
A conflict and accountability reporter documenting arms flows and reconstruction contracting across the Middle East.
Yuki Tanaka
Board Member
Tokyo, Japan
An investigative editor focused on corporate governance, regulatory capture and cross-border tax avoidance.
Thomas Boyd
Board Member
Toronto, Canada
A veteran of collaborative leak-based investigations and a longtime advocate for source-protection law reform.
Elena Petrova
Board Member
Sofia, Bulgaria
Reports on organised crime and press-freedom threats in the Balkans, and mentors early-career investigative reporters.
The Secretariat
Geneva & six regional hubsThe professional team, based at the Secretariat in Geneva and in our hubs in Nairobi, Bogotá, Manila, Sarajevo, Beirut and Washington D.C., delivers the Association's work under the direction of the Executive Director.
Amara Okoro
Executive Director
Geneva · Nigeria/UK
An award-winning investigative editor who leads the Secretariat and represents the Association to partners and funders.
Rahul Sharma
Director of Programmes
Geneva · India
Oversees the grants, fellowships and training that support members' reporting around the world.
Sofía Restrepo
Director of Member Network & Safety
Bogotá · Colombia
Leads the member directory, vetting and the physical- and legal-safety programmes that protect reporters at risk.
Mehmet Yılmaz
Director of Investigations
Geneva · Turkey
Runs the Cross-Border Desk, convening the partner newsrooms behind the Association's flagship collaborations.
Claire Fitzgerald
Director of Finance & Operations
Geneva · Ireland
Responsible for the Association's finances, audit, compliance and the funding firewall that protects our independence.
Nadia Kovač
Head of Digital Security
Sarajevo · Bosnia & Herzegovina
Runs secure intake, encrypted tooling and the 24/7 rapid-response line that protects sources and reporters.
Lucas Almeida
Membership Manager
Geneva · Portugal
Handles member applications, verification and renewals, and is the first point of contact for the network.
Grace Wanjiru
Communications Lead
Nairobi · Kenya
Coordinates simultaneous multi-language publication and the Association's press-freedom advocacy.
Committees & advisory
Independent counsel on the hardest calls
Three standing committees, made up of members and outside experts, advise the Board and Secretariat and operate at arm's length from day-to-day management.
Ethics Committee
Upholds the IAOIJ Code of Ethics, rules on conflicts of interest and hears complaints about member conduct. It is the guardian of the standards every member signs up to.
Safety Committee
Oversees the physical, legal and digital-security programmes, sets the criteria for the emergency legal fund, and advises on how the network responds when a member is under threat.
Editorial Standards Board
Sets the methodology for collaborative investigations — verification, right of reply and pre-publication legal review — and reviews the toughest editorial and jurisdictional questions.
Governance documents
The rules we hold ourselves to
Our founding documents and policies are public. They set out how the Association is governed, how we handle data and what members and readers can expect of us.
Statutes & Bylaws
The Association's constitution — its purpose, membership, governance and the funding firewall — as adopted by the General Assembly.
Code of Ethics
The editorial and professional standards every member commits to, from accuracy and the right of reply to source protection.
Privacy Policy
How we collect, use and safeguard personal data — including the special protections that apply to sources and members at risk.
Terms of Use
The terms governing the use of our website, member directory and secure services.
Questions about our governance?
Reach the Secretariat directly, or join the network of investigative journalists who own and run the Association.