Jill Huinder is Operations Manager for the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) initiative.
Mrs Huinder has several years of experience supporting the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In her international professional experience, spanning five continents, she has held progressively responsible roles focusing on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, often in remote areas working with indigenous-led organizations and vulnerable populations.
Originally from the Netherlands, Mrs Huinder obtained a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the University of Amsterdam where she laid the foundation for her future engagements with cultural integration, traditional knowledge preservation, and economic development initiatives.
She then expanded her experience in India, Australia, Peru, and the United States where she obtained a master’s degree in social sciences with a specific focus on Tourism for Development, and managed humanitarian, gender equality, financial inclusion, and human trafficking advocacy projects and programmes.
Mrs Huinder obtained a second master’s degree from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, with a concentration on multilateral policies and laws to prevent human trafficking in the travel and tourism industry. In the summer of 2023, she commenced a doctoral programme in Peace and Conflict Studies at the UN Mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Prior to working at UNU-CPR, Mrs Huinder held positions in research, organizational development, and programme management, including for NGOs, the private sector, philanthropy networks, municipal governments, ministries of foreign affairs, and academic institutions.
Having lived, worked, and studied extensively around the world to understand the interactive dynamics of postcolonialism, modern governance, and traditional knowledge, Mrs Huinder is driven to support evidence-based initiatives carried out through multilateral diplomacy and intercultural approaches that help foster global understanding, peaceful interaction, and effective solutions to critical global issues such as human trafficking.