About Bea Varnai, Kirsty Bryant & Mariana Gallo

Bea Varnai facilitates the CoHabitat Network, which brings together some of the major grassroots organisations from the field of community-led housing. She is also involved in the cooperative and collaborative housing sector in Europe. Bea holds a MA degree in international development of the Graduate Institute in Geneva. Her professional experiences have allowed her to work and live in Germany, Senegal, Mexico, Nicaragua and France. Kirsty Bryant is a Programme Officer on the Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation team at the SDI Secretariat in Cape Town, South Africa. She received her MA from The New School, Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs with a focus on Cities & Social Justice. Her research focuses on the intersections of communities, race, policy, and development in urban centres. Mariana Gallo leads the Community-led Housing Programme at World Habitat. She has worked in the development sector in the UK, Kenya, and Malawi, where she managed country-wide housing programmes. She also worked as a consultant in the housing and development sector for a number of years. She holds an MSc in Science, Technology and International Development from the University of Edinburgh.