Introducing some of the people and organisations that make WIN work - we are proud to support the incredible work of our Members and Associates all around the world.
Anna Myers is the founding Executive Director of WIN. She has worked in the field of whistleblowing for 20 years - advising individual whistleblowers, employers of all sizes and sectors, and national and international policy makers Anna is originally from Canada and prior to getting her law degree at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, she did a history degree at the Université de Montréal in Québec. Anna was Deputy Director of Public Concern at Work (now called Protect) for 9 years and has worked at Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and at the Government Accountability Project in Washington DC. Anna is a Member of the Law Society of England and Wales, and she resides in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ida Nowers is Law and Policy Coordinator at WIN. She previously worked at the UK whistleblowing charity Protect – formally Public Concern at Work. She was a Senior Adviser, providing legal advice and support to hundreds of whistleblowers and consultancy to public and private organisations looking to strengthen their whistleblowing arrangements. She also led on the charity’s international training programme delivering expert sessions on best practices and handling whistleblowing disclosures, including to other whistleblowing advice centres. Ida graduated in Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies where she specialised in Public International Law, EU & Human Rights, and Government and Politics of the Middle East. She also studied Collective Labour Relations and Law & the Technologies of the 21st Century at Kings College London. She began her career providing legal outreach and advocacy in the criminal and social justice field and working with human rights and drug policy NGOs in London and New York.
Amy Cullen is Project Assistant at WIN. She helped set up WIN as an officially registered incorporated charitable organisation in Scotland, including WIN’s financial systems, policies and procedures. Amy has a background in financial administration and a vocational qualification in financial accounting. Amy has in undergraduate degree in Theatre Studies and a Masters in Science (MSc.) in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Amy will shortly be starting her PhD research in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Glasgow.
John Devitt is Chief Executive of Transparency International Ireland (TI’s chapter in Ireland). Since founding TI Ireland in 2004, John has led new research and successfully campaigned for new whistleblower protection, lobbying regulation, freedom of information and stronger corruption controls in Ireland. John was instrumental in bringing about the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 and advised the Irish Government on the legislation. He has also advised and delivered training on behalf of international organisations, including the UN, Council of Europe and European Commission on whistleblower protection. In 2011, John established TI Ireland's Speak Up Helpline which has supported over 1000 people reporting wrongdoing including Garda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe. John graduated with an MA in Ethics from the Mater Dei Institute in 2012.
Tom Devine is Legal Director at the Government Accountability Project in Washington DC. Since 1979 Tom has assisted over 7000 whistleblowers in defending themselves against retaliation and in making a real difference on behalf of the public. He has not lost a case since 2006, and has prevailed at numerous U.S. courts of appeals as well as the Supreme Court. Tom has been a leader in campaigns to pass or defend 34+ national or international whistleblower laws, including nearly all U.S. federal enacted laws over the last two decades. Tom has written and co-authored numerous books, articles and op-eds. His books include Courage Without Martyrdom: The Whistleblower’s Survival Guide (1997) and The Corporate Whistleblowers Survival Guide: A Handbook for Committing the Truth (2011). Tom is the recipient of the “Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award” and the “Defender of the Constitution Award” bestowed by the Fund for Constitutional Government. In 2006 he was inducted into the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame. Tom is a Phi Beta Kappa honors graduate of Georgetown University. He earned his J.D. from the Antioch School of Law, and sits on the board of the Disaster Accountability Project.
Annegret Falter (Dipl.-Pol.) is Chair of the non-profit organisation Whistleblower-Netzwerk. Works. She is also an author and consultant in Berlin, Germany. For 15 years, Annegret was a member of the jury bestowing the German Whistleblower Award on behalf of the Association of German Scientists (VDW) and International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) (1999 – 2014). Winners of award included Brigitte Heinisch (Heinisch took her whistleblowing case successfully at the European Court of Human Rights), Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Annegret has written and edited numerous publications about whistleblowers and on the political and social importance of whistleblowing. She analyses whistleblowing in the context of the protecting the public interest and human rights, namely advancing the freedom of expression and the public’s right to information. Annegret appears regularly in German press and media as an expert in the field. In addition to her role as a Trustee of WIN, Annegret is a member of the IALANA advisory board, and the board of the German Science Journalist Association (WPK).
David Hutton is Senior Fellow of the Centre for Free Expression Whistleblowing Initiative at Ryerson University. David has been an advocate for whistleblower protection since 2005. He worked with Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), a charity devoted to whistleblower protection, for almost a decade and served as Chair of the Board and Executive Director for six years. During this time, he operated a free confidential help line and was contacted by more than 400 whistleblowers. FAIR was one of the original founding members of WIN. David has spoken and written extensively about whistleblowing, published in-depth analyses of Canadian whistleblowing laws and their implementation, and created original guidance material for whistleblowers. He also initiated with the Canadian Standards Association the development of a guideline on the implementation of whistleblowing systems, published in 2016. David is also a published author and former management consultant, recognized as an expert in management systems and organizational change. Earlier in his career, David served as a senior executive in industry, led a successful consulting practice serving an international clientele for 20 years, and wrote two authoritative books on quality management that have been translated, published and distributed on four continents.
Cathy is a practising solicitor and whistleblowing expert with extensive knowledge of whistleblowing in the public interest. Cathy was Chief Executive of the UK whistleblowing charity and legal advice centre Protect (formerly Public Concern at Work) for six years. She joined Protect as Legal Officer in 2006 and for more than decade, Cathy advised thousands of whistleblowers on how to raise their concerns effectively. She also provided expert advice to organisations of all sizes and sectors on the best practice principles of whistleblowing arrangements. Cathy has worked closely with boards, regulators, central and local government to effect change in this vital policy area, both in the UK and internationally. She is an experienced charity trustee familiar with risk management and governance and she has recently been appointed as a part-time member of the Employment Tribunal panel for England and Wales.
Vladimir Radomirović is editor-in-chief of Pištaljka, a whistleblowing platform in Serbia. Vladimir has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years, in various media outlets in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2010, prior to co-founding Pištaljka, he was deputy editor-in-chief of Politika, Serbia's most respected daily newspaper. It was here that Vladimir became a whistleblower, reporting censorship and the conflict of interest of then prime minister of Serbia. He and several fellow journalists were fired from the paper and it was this experience that inspired them to start Pištaljka as a safe haven for whistleblowers. Vladimir has received several awards in Serbia for his work with Pištaljka. He was a 2015 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He is also the president of the Journalist's Association of Serbia (UNS) and a founding member of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in Leipzig.
Francesca West is the Chief Executive of Protect (formerly Public Concern at Work). Francesca first joined the organisation in May 2007 as a legal advisor and was Director of Policy and Deputy CE before her appointment as CE in 2017. Francesca has advised hundreds of whistleblowers and has worked with a wide range of organisations - from small charities to multi-national companies – as part of Protect’s programme of training and consultancy services to ensure employers create the right culture for staff to raise concerns. Francesca was called to the Bar in 2005 and cross-qualified as a solicitor in 2011. She has an LLM in Human Rights and Public Law and a BA in Law and Politics. Prior to joining Protect Francesca worked in a variety of compliance teams in the financial services sector, from boutique investment banks to large retail banks. She also worked in Trinidad and Tobago for the Centre for Capital Punishment. Francesca is a ratified employment representative at the Free Representation Unit.