Our Team

At LEI, we pride ourselves on being a highly specialised and adaptive group of professional land experts. We are a committed team with expansive work horizons and focus on deeply consultative interactions and quality outputs. Our team and network of associates have helped build the LEI family reputation.

About Kate

Managing Director of LEI with over 17 years’ experience across the full lifecycle of land administration projects, Dr Kate Rickersey is a driven and energetic leader with a passion for translating policy into action.

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Kate Rickersey, Dr

Managing Director

About Tony

An expert in all aspects of land administration systems with 30 years of international experience, Tony Burns is renowned for his work ethic and quality outputs.

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Tony Burns

Executive Director

About Nicole

An exceptional and exacting Operations and Finance Director, Nicole Nicholson is a mainstay of LEI managing the financial and administrative aspects of a broad range of projects from numerous countries.

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Nicole Nicholson

Operations & Finance Director

About Kate

A land administration specialist with expertise that combines urban land issues, technology, youth and environment, Kate Fairlie brings a dynamic, interdisciplinary perspective to LEI’s projects.

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Kate Fairlie

Land Administration Specialist

About Renee

Senior Land and Legal Advisor with 13 years’ experience working on governance, climate change, land rights and gender equality, Renée is passionate about supporting land systems that help to address the challenges of our time – including action on climate change, inequality, and poverty.

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Renee Chartres

Senior Legal and Land Specialist

About Rebecca

A dedicated organiser and administrator, Rebecca Palmer is the backbone of LEI’s ISO 9001:2015 certified Quality Management System.

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Rebecca Palmer

Project and Office Administrator

About Naia

As a Research and Communications Officer at LEI, Naia Webb plays a key role in advancing our mission through strategic research and effective communications. With a focus on land rights and sustainable land use, Naia contributes to producing insightful research and engaging content that supports our advocacy efforts and informs policy discussions.

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Naia Webb

Research and Communications Officer

About Louise

Chair of the LEI Board since 2012, Louise Meyrick is an accomplished business development leader and mentor.

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Louise Meyrick

Chair of the LEI Board

Associates

Specialist Area

Land Registration, Law, Project Management

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Elene Grigolia

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Specialist Area

Land Registration, Law, Project Management

Elene is an experienced, PMP certified project manager with an in-depth knowledge of the land sector working in public service delivery for land administration and innovation technology in the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR), Ministry of Justice, Georgia. Among her professional achievements, Elene continues as a Component Lead, successful spearheading a large scale $US50 million World Bank land market reform program in Georgia. Within this program Elene is responsible for overseeing and communicating results of the ICT assessment to key stakeholders, ensuring uptake and smooth implementation of the new systems as a basis for national systematic land registration rollout. Elene has a proven track record of working with government stakeholders and the private sector to collect data, analyse results and ensure key messages are received and understood. Elene has also been involved in introducing Blockchain technology within the public service for land registration.

Specialist Area

Land Registration, Land Administration Systems, Project Management

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John Meadows

John Meadows, MBA Dip Mgmt

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Specialist Area

Land Registration, Land Administration Systems, Project Management

With 40 years of land administration business experience, John Meadows is a details-oriented, experienced Team Leader with a strong background in organisational reform processes, training and capacity building. Most recently, John undertook the leadership of the Mekong Region Land Governance Project, where he led a multi-disciplinary team working on a range of land governance policy and practice issues in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. In this role, John drew on his extensive Project Director and Team Leader experiences across projects in Malawi, Lesotho, Samoa and Vanuatu, and technical adviser roles in Dubai, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. John has been a valued land administration consultant at Land Equity International since 2010. Prior to joining LEI, John spent his formative years working in the Legal Department at Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HMLR), London. Here he gained broad organisational experience, working in numerous departments including, training and education, organisation and methods and information systems development. In 2001 he undertook his first international assignment in Romania and shortly thereafter became the Head of HMLR’s International Unit. Overseeing HMLR’s international engagements John completed assignments in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, including the role of Land Registrar for the Government of Bermuda.

Specialist Area

Stakeholder Engagement

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Imelda Sihombing

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Specialist Area

Stakeholder Engagement

Imelda is an Indonesian national and has supported 3 recent LEI projects in a Stakeholder Engagement and Policy advisory role. Imelda has a Bachelor of Science degree, forestry major and brings 15 years of experience working on multi-stakeholder engagements at national and sub-national governments, multi-donors, international and national NGOs/CSOs, private sectors and universities, in the area of land-use planning/spatial planning, democratic and governance, education, water and sanitation, health, and agriculture.

Specialist Area

Land administration, Project Design, Grant Management

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Brian Garcia

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Specialist Area

Land administration, Project Design, Grant Management

Brian has more than 20 year experience in the land sector working for government, NGOs and in the private sector as consultant in several donor funded projects. He was part of the pioneering team of the Philippine Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP1). He led the Systematic Adjudication pilot in Leyte, and in LAMP2 helped deliver a program on Innovation Support Fund working with local governments at the forefront of land administration reforms. He is currently working as Operations Manager for the Mekong Region Land Governance Project.

Specialist Area

Land Systems, surveys, registrations, technology and policy

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Neil Pullar

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Specialist Area

Land Systems, surveys, registrations, technology and policy

Neil has worked in both government and private sector capacity roles for many years and he has taken this experience globally. His expertise has been focused on design, and development oversight, of commercial and open source land information and registration computerisation systems. He's accustomed to roles to design, review and guide processes documentation, strategic policy and planning, as well as capacity building for sustainable results. He currently extends his experience in a lecturing role at University.

Specialist Area

Land Law, Dispute Resolution

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Rajab Hassan Rajab

Rajab Hassan Rajab, Advocate

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Specialist Area

Land Law, Dispute Resolution

Rajab has been a committed technical adviser with LEI for more than 4 years in the area of law, dispute resolution and capacity building for a tenure regularisation support program. He specialises in environmental and natural resources legal framework and builds capacity of those implementing the policy, laws and bi-laws. He has worked and advised in the court system, government and in the private sector, and is a registered advocate of the Tanzanian High Court. Rajab is familiar with legal drafting and reviews.

Specialist Area

GIS, Spatial Planning, Monitoring & Evaluations, Land management

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Paul Harris

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Specialist Area

GIS, Spatial Planning, Monitoring & Evaluations, Land management

Paul was a leader in the early adoption of GIS technology in Australia, founding one of the first GIS companies. His most recent experience was in Indonesia, managing land and geospatial projects and teams. He was LEI’s Team Leader for the Participatory Mapping and Planning projects implemented by MCA-Indonesia, delivering exceptional results. Paul’s experience covers management, business development, M&E with specialist skills in spatial planning, GIS and forest carbon. Paul has a Masters in Environmental Monitoring with a focus on GIS and Remote Sensing.

Specialist Area

Surveying, Land administration, Project management

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Suleiman Dabbas

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Specialist Area

Surveying, Land administration, Project management

Suleiman has a Masters in Survey and Geodesy and has excellent field and management experience from his 40+ year career. He's been involved across the full gamut of land administration technical areas, from establishing CORS stations, enhancing land registration systems to agricultural GIS mapping. Mr Dabbas has worked within and as an adviser to Government throughout his career, and ensured lasting relationships and project results,

Specialist Area

Geo-ICT, Land Administration, Spatial Planning

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Jan van Bennekom-Minnema

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Specialist Area

Geo-ICT, Land Administration, Spatial Planning

Jan has a truly global project experience portfolio and his team work and approachable style make him valuable on all fronts. He holds a Master of Science Geographical Information Management and Applications ‘cum laude’ with expertise in all matters relating to information system development, data processing, analysis and production. For most land and spatial data technology needs, Jan has experience in finding an IT solution.

Specialist Area

Property Rights, Gender, Legal Reform

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Odeta Nӓks

Odeta Nӓks , PhD (candidate)

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Specialist Area

Property Rights, Gender, Legal Reform

Ms. Odeta Nӓks is a consultant and legal expert with 13 years of experience working to improve the property rights regime in the Balkans, and a strong background in mainstreaming gender concerns on property law related projects. In addition to her work in Albania and Kosovo on improving land management and cadastre systems, advancing legal reform, and developing property rights policy, Odeta brings experience in assessing the negative impacts of informal economy, field work in supporting war widows pursue their right to property, facilitating training on gender and property rights, developing and managing behavior change communications materials, and identifying and addressing gaps in property-related legislation. She is a Land and Gender Consultant for World Bank, GIZ and EU in Kosovo. Odeta has worked in the Council of Ministers, on EU, SOROS, and UNDP projects assessing and proposing interventions to improve the security of property titles, develop policy and legislation, and implement technical procedures for the protection of rights of property and the economy. Odeta is currently pursuing her PhD in Housing Rights at the University of Bremen in Germany, holds a L.L.M in Law and Economics from Netherlands and a Bachelor in Business from United States.

Specialist Area

Land Policy & Law, Anthropology, Customary Tenure

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Jim Fingleton

Jim Fingleton, PhD, LLM

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Specialist Area

Land Policy & Law, Anthropology, Customary Tenure

Jim is a development law specialist and has worked on land issues for over 4 decades. Jim has been a Senior Associate of LEI since 2007. He is passionate about solving customary tenure challenges, particularly those related to commercial agriculture, forestry, urban development, mining leases and infrastructure development where legal pluralism exists and there are system failures in rights recognition for customary owners. Jim is accustomed to conducting legal and policy reviews and carrying out research across difficult terrain, as well as political landscapes.

Specialist Area

Land Information Systems, Registration, Valuation

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Kevin Rainsford

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Specialist Area

Land Information Systems, Registration, Valuation

Kevin had a long career in the Australian public sector at the State level and was a pioneer in the development of computerising land services. He adapted this experience and become a consultant to assist other governments to design, develop and implement land registration, property taxation and property valuation systems. More specifically, Kevin’s expertise lies in the definition and implementation of land information management policies and procedures including data catalogues, custodianship, sale of data, copyright, data sharing and metadata.

Specialist Area

Organisational Development, Leadership and Management Training, Monitoring and Evaluation

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Sam Durland

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Specialist Area

Organisational Development, Leadership and Management Training, Monitoring and Evaluation

Sam has previously been the Chair of LEI’s Board, and he has nearly 50 years of experience as a dedicated professional. Sam contributes to LEI’s projects in his capacity as a management consultant, leadership and management trainer and organisational development specialist, particularly assisting with institutional development and reform. Sam is a Certified Management Consultant and Chartered Professional Engineer, and he brings quality system design and implementation, strategic planning and M&E methods to our breadth of skills. Sam’s consulting work has taken him to more than 20 countries in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and South America.

Specialist Area

Land Registration, Land Law

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Kevin Nettle

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Specialist Area

Land Registration, Land Law

Kevin is one of the world's few land registration specialists who can boast of forty year’s experience in the legal, technical and managerial aspects of public sector land administration. Kevin was the Director of the Land Titles Office for the State of New South Wales, Australia. He was responsible for the introduction of legal reform measures and major advances in land records technology and management at the most senior level of the largest land titles office in Australia. He used his experience in the Australian Torrens system context and his genuine interest in improving registration systems to work on land related projects in some 20 countries around the world.

Specialist Area

Property Rights, Social Science, Gender

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Raewyn Porter

Raewyn Porter, PhD

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Specialist Area

Property Rights, Social Science, Gender

Rae's experience is steeped in a sense of cultural belonging and has brought community, the social sciences and inclusivity to LEIs work. Dr. Porter brings twenty five years of experience in management, planning, consultation, research, evaluation, advocacy and policy practice. She has held a range of consultancy positions with NGO’s, Governments and private practice in Australia, South-East and South-Asia and Africa. Dr. Porter has a professional focus on social development: rights and entitlements for vulnerable populations, inclusive, cohesive and accountable development, with particular experience in land title/security, housing/shelter, local area planning and management, state, NGO, Local Government relations, Shari’a land and inheritance law and gender.

Specialist Area

Land Administration, Surveying

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Chris Lunnay

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Specialist Area

Land Administration, Surveying

Chris Lunnay was an LEI founding partner in 2001 coming from his Team Leader role on the Indonesia Land Administration Project. Chris was a registered surveyor and held senior positions in the Australian Public Sector, as Director Surveyor General for South Australia prior to joining the private sector. Chris established himself as a highly reputable international land administration specialist having worked in more than 18 countries. He managed project implementation, design and evaluation work in land activities in Asia, Africa and the Pacific and comprehensively integrated a sound understanding of the issues surrounding various tenure types, including freehold and customary lands. We value Mr Lunnay's effective communication and negotiation skills, where he adopts a deeply consultative and inclusive approach to managing stakeholder inputs and relationships.