SRMP Profiles

Deputy Director, Global Security, International Justice Mission

Steve has over eight years of combined experience in international development and operational security. He is currently the Deputy Director of Global Security for International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization that works alongside its partners to help local authorities protect more than 400 million people from violence.

Steve has led development projects in conflict and post-conflict zone environments, including in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Sudan, among other locations. He has led emergency response operations in the eastern DRC and Mozambique, as well as established project offices in several locations. Steve has a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Steve is proud of the work he did in 2018 to develop and implement a core set of safety and security standards for IJM’s global offices. He believes that INSSA’s certifications are a good blend with these standards, and that INSSA’s certifications promote professionalism, develop new skills for staff members, and enhance job opportunities. In particular, he notes that INSSA’s certifications are directly applicable to security professionals in the NGO sphere. He has applied the INSSA risk management competencies throughout his tenure at IJM, including when helping to establish offices in new locations and when conducting full program and area risk-assessments with IJM’s regional and country security managers. Steve has both the country and regional level INSSA certifications.

Steve loves to travel, and like all of us, is anxiously awaiting the lifting of travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. In the meantime, he is an enthusiastic reader of historical fiction and biographs.

Independent Consultant, Oversight and Compliance Investigations

Rob has an extensive global background in criminal and civil investigations for a diverse group of organizations. Today, a great deal of his focus and work is for the NGO community. In his words, he plans, organizes, conducts, and manages investigations of cases of alleged misconduct, malfeasance, mismanagement, misuse of resources, abuse of authority in International Non-Government Organizations.

Before becoming a consulting investigator, Rob’s most recent posts were as a Chief Resident Investigator, Investigations Division/Office of Internal Oversight Services at the United Nations. Before that, he was the Investigations Unit Commander supervising investigations of crimes against humanity/war crimes under the auspices of the United Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. A couple of memorable career moments included arresting a former president of Liberia and being solicited for a bribe by a senior police officer in Uganda. Rob was able to successfully handle these events due to his thorough planning, including knowing as much as possible about the local culture, and having solid local contacts.

Rob recently completed INSSA’s SRMP-Country level certification program. He is proud to be both an INSSA member and holder of this certification which promotes professionalism in the field. Rob developed new skills and competencies that he has already deployed in his work. For example, he was able to undertake a thorough security risk assessment for a medical NGO headed for a rural area of Uganda, and while on the ground, ensure that the mission had the safety and security support it required to complete its work.

During the Covid-19 lock-down, Rob has been catching up on his reading. No surprise here, but his favorite books include military history, world history and crime fiction.

Regional Security Advisor, Latin America & Caribbean Regional Office, Catholic Relief Services

Gerardo is responsible for developing and implementing security strategies and security training for operations of the Catholic Relief Services Country Programs, located in Latin America and the Caribbean. He also supports his organizations global office.

A challenge for Gerardo is that the concept of security risk management is not often found in the countries he works in. And while there is a career path in the military and police, the profession is not taught in universities.  That is why he finds INSSA so important and is a strong advocate for INSSA’s professional certifications. He is committed to help build a culture of security risk management. Studying for and obtaining INSSA certifications can be an important step towards building greater professionalism, not in place today around Latin American Region.

Like many SRMPs Gerardo has faced and worked through many challenges presented by Covid-19. Catholic Relief Services staff is in numerous countries like Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and El Salvador, and he needed to evaluate evacuation plans, during a time when countries were closing borders, to keep staff safe and eventually bring them home.

Gerardo lived most of his life in the capital city of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. However, he recently moved outside of the city to a small town known as “Valle de Angeles”. This city is in the middle of a forest and provides several outdoor activities for his family. While Gerardo is an enthusiastic runner, he also enjoys the tranquility of daily games of chess with his eldest daughter.

Independent International Consultant, Security Risk Management

David is a highly experienced professional with years of experience is safety and security. His experience includes civil-military coordination, road mapping, surveillance, geo-fencing, facility safety, crisis management, fleet management, negotiations, and mine detection, just to mention a few.

David has performed emergency work in Northern, Central and Southern Nigerian states and is uniquely knowledgeable of the terrain, context, security needs, people, and culture. His language skills in Nigeria and security force connections (Military, DSS, Police and Civil Defense) and his understanding of the security challenges facing the humanitarian and developmental organizations makes him an asset for NGO organizations looking to roll out new programs or interventions.

He is highly computer/software sophisticated and speaks several African languages, basic French, and fluent English. David has been trained by UNDSS in security management, by Save the Children International in kidnapping, abduction, and hostage survival, and by IFRC in personnel and staff safety.

In certain parts of Nigeria, he is challenged by how hard it is to instill a culture of safety among staff, who general feel safe. That is why he believes in the value of INSSA and is a strong advocate of the SRMP certifications, which result in a more professional security employee.

David is proud of several projects he implemented. For example, the tracking system he set up in the field, which included geo-fencing, and the training needed to use it in an emergency.

David has a doctoral degree from the Nigerian Defence Academy and a master’s degree from the University of Ibadan. He has also trained and studied at several other universities.

David enjoys working in the field, travel, and meeting new people.  

Security Officer and Consultant, Magal Security Systems Ltd.

After obtaining a degree in Philosophy in 1988 and in Psychology in 1998, Fabrizio dedicated himself to humanitarian work on behalf of people with AIDS and mentally disabled teenagers. He also worked for a longtime in teaching and publishing. Overtime he developed a strong interest in security and defense and worked to gain qualifications and work experience. He worked as a team leader in security services for the armed protection of sensitive targets (personnel, installations, and events). He is a trainer for security professionals, and he is a guest professor of "Phenomenology of Terrorism" at the University of Milan (master’s in criminology and criminal psychology). Today his focus is on security consulting, and training, mostly for the NGO world.

In 2019, Fabrizio received his SRMP-Country level certification from INSSA. This proved extremely useful during the Covid-19 first emergency phase lockdown in Italy: March to May 2020. He collaborated with an NGO who managed a temporary center for homeless/migrant people, hosting about 160 persons of different gender, nationality, religion, personal history, etc. (including some criminal records, mental illness, and other special problems). That period included the month of Ramadan with a lot of sensitive issues regarding rules, schedules, food, prayers, etc. He considers it an interesting and motivating experience, in which he applied, and found very useful, many of the SRMP-C competencies/skills.

Fabrizio believes that too many of the smaller NGOs are not aware of security and safety. In Italy people have an attitude that, “we are good people so we are okay, if something bad happens we will call the military”. Fabrizio makes a distinction between the typical military approach and what is needed for an NGO, which is why training in security risk management is so important if a cultural change is going to be made in the NGO world.

Travelling to other countries with his wife is both important to Fabrizio, and he thinks, an important way for everyone to learn from other cultures and other ways of thinking. Photography, sports, martial arts, and shooting are also hobbies, along with managing five cats.