Espen Berg

CEO and Founder

Espen is our visionary and leader. It’s his enthusiasm, passion and drive that’s taken UYDO from being an idea into an organisation challenging the issues young people face across the globe. With experience in youth and financial services, Espen is dedicated to enabling young entrepreneurs to be able to start their own business and create an income for themselves.

At UYDO, he develops partnerships, ensures the overall aims and objectives of the organisation are met and leads our microfinance programs while also serving on UYDO’s Board of Directors. Espen has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BSc (Hons) degree in Business. He’s an avid football fan and loves a good discussion. With Espen, there’s never a dull moment.

Nevada Berg

Head of Outreach and Communications

Nevada leads the Dream Team, as she like to call it, and is responsible for developing and implementing all things relating to UYDO’s fundraising, campaigning, marketing & PR and multi-media. She co-founded UYDO in 2008 with her hubby, Espen, and serves on UYDO’s Board of Directors. In May 2010, she began officially working for UYDO full-time. Before that, she worked at Comic Relief in the Marketing and Fundraising Teams and the Arts University College at Bournemouth. With a degree in International Studies and a minor in Theatre Design, she’s always looking for ways to combine creativity with development. Her life’s motto is to dance upon injustice and she’s determined to do just that. She also has a love affair with food – from growing to cooking to eating - and she’ll never turn down listening to a good story.

Jonny Elliot

Head of Operations

Jonny oversees all UYDO activities within Finance, HR, IT and Office Administration. Before joining UYDO full time, he supported the organisation on a part-time basis while pursuing a career in IT, most recently at Hewlett Packard, and previously at Microsoft. Jonny graduated in 2008 with a degree in Computing and has since started a Masters in Management at Durham University. His Masters competes furiously for attention with the piano he found sitting modestly in the corner of a room he now rents. Jonny's passion for international development stems from experiences overseas in years gone by, and a strong interest in the role employment and new business plays in helping societies grow. He is based in London, which he strongly believes is the best city in the world. He’s also keen on writing, achieving the impossible and watching Glee.

Chris Hylland

Online Community Coordinator

Chris is our social media guru and is in charge of UYDO’s social media presence. He also ensures the UYDO Community is interacting and getting the most out of what UYDO has to offer online. He’s a well rounded guy - liking common sense, Norwegian hip hop and dogs! Chris graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2008 with a First Class Honours degree in Business Studies and worked for Rolls-Royce plc in Bristol and Harald A. Møller in Oslo before joining the UYDO Team.

Mike Friberg

Documentary Photographer/Filmmaker

Mike makes the magic happen and is the newest member of the UYDO team. We were lucky to find this 24 year old Texas native in Salt Lake City, Utah. After only one conversation, we knew we had found our Filmmaker and Photographer. He has a different flannel shirt for every day of the week and drinks black coffee – a sign of a true artist.

Signe Jung Sorensen

Campaign Coordinator

Signe is UYDO’s Campaign Coordinator. She’s responsible for engaging UYDO members in the fight for justice. She has a contagious passion for development, especially African development, and hopes she can get others as excited as she is about making lasting change! She’s in her last year of an economics degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Aside from fighting injustice, her life-long aspirations are to work as a cashier in a supermarket and marry a winegrower from the South of France.

James Nettleton

Programme Coordinator

James is a jack of all trades. He’s helped write grants, develop frameworks for our fieldwork, search for new partner organisations and write the content for our Global Issues section. Outside of UYDO, he’s in his final year as an undergrad student at Oxford University where he’s studying development, social policy and international relations. When he’s not studying, you’ll find James has an unhealthy addiction to American TV dramas and ashamedly, America’s Next Top Model.

Arielle Garton

Research Volunteer Coordinator

Arielle is developing a research framework for our members. She finished her undergraduate studies in Politics at The University of Bristol and then went on to complete a MA in Conflict, Security and Development at Kings College London. She currently divides her time between UYDO and DEVRA, a development consultancy organisation, expanding and developing their operations. She previously interned at the Jaffa Institute and worked as a UN World Food Programme Student Ambassador. Arielle is super talented and can even name every country in the world!

Gladys Palmer

Research Coordinator

Gladys is a recent recruit to UYDO. Like Vishnu, she supports the Research Team by obtaining information and knowledge that we use to develop our programmes. She worked as a Debt Management Officer at the Ministry of Finance, Burundi, as part of the ODI fellowship scheme. When it comes to the Marmite debate, she’ll gladly proclaim that she’s not a fan!

Vishnu Padmanabhan

Research Coordinator

Vishnu has recently joined UYDO and supports the Research Team by obtaining information and knowledge that we use to develop our programmes. He grew up in Mumbai before moving to Singapore at the age of 11. He completed his Economics degree at UCL before heading over to the London School of Economics to complete a Masters in International Political Economy. He’s a keen tennis player and has been working part time at OPTA Sportsdata a sports statistic company. He’s also spent summers working at HSBC in the Operations department and at HAVI Global solutions as a Marketing intern.

Paul Veldman

Microfinance Coordinator

Paul assists in developing and managing our microfinance programme. He grew up in California and attended UC Berkeley. Paul’s worked with microfinance organisations in rural areas of Kenya and Uganda as well as worked as an environmental impact consultant in San Francisco. Currently, he’s at Columbia University completing his Masters in Public Administration with a focus on Economic Development and Economic Policy. Thanks to his South African roots, he’s travelled extensively throughout Africa and is passionate about seeing the world and experiencing new cultures.