The Secretariat supports the partnership

Dr. Catalina Jaime is the Head of the REAP Secretariat, representing the Secretariat externally, leading the team and supports setting direction for REAP’s governing bodies. She brings over two decades of experience in humanitarian action, with a strong focus on climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and Early Warning Early Action (EWEA). Before joining REAP, Catalina led the Climate and Conflict portfolio at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. She is a Lead Author of the IPCC AR7 report and, since 2021, has led the partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the integration of climate risk for their operations worldwide. She played a pivotal role in shaping the global Anticipatory Action agenda, managing the first pilot project in Uganda in 2013, supporting the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in establishing its Anticipatory Action financing mechanism, and co-creating the Anticipation Hub. She holds a PhD in Early Warning and Early Action in conflict settings, is a visiting researcher at the University of Twente, and a trustee at MapAction. 

Gavin White is the Lead for Strategic Engagement and Systems Transformation at the REAP Secretariat, where he drives the Partnership's efforts to act as a catalyst for systemic change across the early warning and early action ecosystem. In this role, he focuses on addressing the structural, institutional, and financing barriers that constrain the scale, effectiveness, and sustainability of early action, particularly in the world’s most at-risk contexts. Prior to joining REAP, Gavin spent much of his career with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, leading humanitarian operations and shaping regional preparedness, response, and resilience strategies across diverse crisis settings. He has a longstanding passion for innovative partnership models and has played a key role in launching collaborative initiatives that bridge sectors and mobilise collective action, including the World Economic Forum’s Disaster Resource Partnership and the IFRC’s One Billion Coalition. A dual French and American citizen, Gavin has spent much of his career working across the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. He is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Pauline Trepczyk, also known as Paula, is leading the REAP Secretariat's work on knowledge and policy insights, to understand what is changing across the early warning and early action landscape and what that means for REAP partners. Prior to this position, Paula was an Associate Advocacy and Communications Officer for the Systematic Observations Financing Facility, hosted by the World Meteorological Organization. Previously, she worked for the UK Government and the UNFCCC COP26 Presidency as a Climate Change Policy Advisor. Paula co-founded and led an NGO focused on empowering Austrian youth in global climate diplomacy and has extensive experience across national institutions, the private sector, and civil society. She holds a degree in Environment and Bio-Resource Management from BOKU University in Vienna. Paula is from Austria with Polish migration history and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Simon is based in Geneva, Switzerland, leading the information systems and operations that keep REAP running. He ensures that REAP has the information, processes, and tools needed to work effectively as a global partnership. Whether it's supporting governance, managing data, tracking and reporting progress, or improving how we work together, Simon enables the Secretariat to deliver for our partners. Prior to his role with REAP, he worked for the Platform on Disaster Displacement, also based in Geneva, and brings extensive private sector experience to his work. In his spare time he skis and explores the landscapes of Switzerland.

Emma is the Implementation Lead with the REAP Secretariat supporting partners to turn ambition in action with a special focus on Finance and creating an enabling environment to mainstream and scale early action. Former emergency response specialist with almost 15 years experience leading programmes and teams across a variety of complex contexts including armed conflicts, public health crises and climate related disasters. Passionate about cutting through jargon, making sense of science, local leadership and asking hard questions! Happily home based after 10 years of living and working in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Pakistan, Somalia, Philippines.

Montserrat is currently supporting the REAP Secretariat as special advisor, partially seconded from the World Food Programme (WFP), where she works as Programme and Policy Officer for Anticipatory Action, specifically on Knowledge and Learning. She supports REAP’s strategic engagement and contributes to advancing anticipatory action through knowledge management, learning, advocacy, and communications. At WFP, Montserrat leads the development and implementation of knowledge management, communication and learning strategies for anticipatory action, including the creation of learning materials, repositories, and guidance documents. She also supports global advocacy efforts.

Prior to this role, Montserrat held various positions within WFP, including Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer and Programme Officer in multiple regions. Her work has spanned Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, with a strong focus on capacity strengthening, and emergency preparedness and response. She has also worked with the Spanish Red Cross and NGOs in Central America and East Africa, managing humanitarian projects and supporting refugee operations.