International Development and Local Faith Actors (ePub)

Kathryn Kraft is Senior Lecturer in International Development at the University of East London, and has served as Senior Research Advisor for Faith and Development at World Vision International. Throughout her career she has played various roles negotiating the space between the worlds of humanitarian aid, religious communities and academic research. She has facilitated various initiatives that promote the development of civil society and grassroots efforts for development and humanitarian work through strong research and learning exchange. Her research has focused on faith-based humanitarianism and collaborations between grassroots actors, intermediaries and members of the global humanitarian community.

Olivia J. Wilkinson is the Director of Research at the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), based in DC. The JLI works directly with humanitarian and development organizations and academics to convene around discussions of research on religion and development, particularly the role of local faith actors. Olivia is a sociologist and her main research interests focus on the influence of secular and religious values in shaping humanitarian action, with her monograph on this subject to be published by Routledge, titled "Secular and Religious Dynamics in Humanitarian Response". She has a Ph.D. and Master's in humanitarian action from Trinity College Dublin and Université catholique de Louvain (Network on Humanitarian Action - NOHA) respectively and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge in Theology and Religious Studies.