Hannah Graham

Hannah Graham is an international development professional specializing in the design and delivery of education and cash systems. She served in senior management within CGA Technologies as a projects director and pastoral lead, directing projects and overseeing staff wellbeing and professional development. She was named managing director of CGA Technologies in July, 2021.

She joined CGA in 2011, following her M.A. in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College, London. She initially worked with the South Sudan team to support public sector reform, and then on the Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) program. In 2015, Hannah became country lead for Kenya, building up CGA’s work there from a standing start. This included the design and oversight of CGA’s cash transfer support to girls in and around refugee camps in northern Kenya under the Kenya Equity in Education Project (KEEP II) and its successor project, LEAP – the first projects in Kenya to provide pure cash to refugees.

Since 2018, Hannah has served as projects director for CGA, based in the UK, but working closely with both Kenya and Sierra Leone teams. In Sierra Leone, Hannah oversaw CGA’s work supporting human resources for health reform, leading a payroll cleaning exercise that saved the Government of Sierra Leone £238,000 GBP within the first six months. She designed and managed the pilot Sierra Leone Education Attendance Monitoring System for teachers under the Teaching Service Commission, which triggered World Bank support to the Government of Sierra Leone, and has led various influential research projects, driving learning on cash and education in emergencies for UNICEF HQ, the Global Education Cluster/World Vision, and Save the Children.

Beyond her work on CGA’s projects and programs, Hannah has played a crucial role in CGA’s organizational development. She is CGA’s company-wide safeguarding focal point, having redeveloped our Positive Business, Ethics and Conduct Policy to reflect evolving international best practice. She is diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) Officer, facilitating CGA’s DEI Committee in the development of a company-wide DEI strategy, as well as her role as pastoral lead.

For the last few years, Hannah has combined her work at CGA with studying part-time for a law degree in Scots Law and volunteer work, with the Just Right Scotland law center, for refugees, asylum seekers and those in need. Over the past decade, in her work with and beyond CGA, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving the poor and marginalized, as well as the right balance of technical and functional skills that are required to drive CGA Technologies forward.

She has worked in Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Lebanon and Jordan. She is based in Glasgow, UK.