IJM North America Leadership

Sharon Cohn Wu serves as IJM's Regional President of North America, leading the strategy and teams responsible for IJM's constituent, government and corporate partnerships in the United States and Canada.

Sharon has more than 20 years of leadership experience with IJM. Prior to her current role, Sharon managed and led all of IJM’s programs in the field for 10+ years before she began pioneering IJM’s Justice System Strengthening projects. Sharon also led IJM’s anti-trafficking efforts in South Asia and Southeast Asia, including establishing anti-trafficking operations and implementing IJM’s first USAID police training grant in Cambodia. Most recently, as Principal Advisor on Violence Against Women and Children, Sharon led IJM’s center of excellence in addressing violence against children, trafficking, and intimate partner violence, and developed globally applicable best practices for IJM’s extensive programs worldwide.

Sharon received her B.A. with honors in Government & Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in the DC area with her husband and three children.

Amanda Vohs serves as IJM’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, developing the strategy and leading the team tasked with scaling major and principal donor revenue across the U.S. She also leads IJM’s Venture Council, a thriving community of donor champions and industry leaders who advise on the growth and health of the organization. She has led innovative fundraising programs, such as high-value products and signature events, leading to significant growth for the organization.

Prior to this, Amanda served as IJM’s Director of Strategic Partnerships for Northern California. She connected deeply with partners’ hearts for justice and joined them with ongoing impact in the fight to end slavery and abuse.

 Before joining IJM in 2016, Amanda led software implementation projects and worked as a tech industry sales lead for North America and Europe. She received her M.A. in communication and conflict resolution from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee—which included writing her thesis in northern Uganda—and earned her bachelor’s in Organizational Communications and Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She and her husband live in North Carolina, where they enjoy being active outdoors with their three young children.

Anu has 13 years of leadership experience with International Justice Mission (IJM). In South Asia, she served as the Director of Operations, the Director of National Interventions and the Director of Legal. During her time with IJM, Anu has worked extensively to impact justice systems by collaborating with state and local governments in South Asia.

Anu initiated and led IJM’s first ever partnership program and oversaw the training of more than 17,000 police officers, government officials, and NGO’s on the rescue and rehabilitation of individuals trapped in slavery and bringing criminals to justice. As a result of Anu’s leadership, more than 10,000 individuals have been rescued from forced labour slavery.

Anu holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Edith Cowan University, Australia and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. She successfully completed her B.A., B.L. from Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College and acquired a special diploma in Intellectual Property Law.

Anu has used her creative communications skills to bring social issues to the public’s attention by writing and producing radio dramas and street theatre with social messages. Her dedication to the empowerment of people who are vulnerable to poverty and violence, her vision for social change, and knowledge about international issues, have all led to Anu being awarded several honours; one of which was being recognized as a Sauvé Scholar by the Canadian government. She represented South Asia as a Youth Ambassador to Dhaka in 2003 through the National Cadet Corps, with the status of a Diplomat as a Cultural and Military Attaché.

Ceena Johnson serves as IJM’s Regional Counsel for North America. She provides strategic counsel and expertise to support the organization’s legal needs and ensures risk is managed with integrity and efficiency while keeping the organization agile and responsive to opportunities.

Her journey with IJM started when she came on board as a Student Mobilization Intern in DC. Then, while in law school, she served as a Legal Intern in IJM’s former Zambia office where she worked to protect the rights of widows and orphans. Ceena returned to IJM in 2018 as a Legal Fellow with the Office of the General Counsel after practicing at a law firm in Minnesota. She joined IJM as a Staff Attorney in 2019 before stepping into the Regional Counsel role. During her time at IJM, she has had privilege of working with staff across the globe, supporting the organization’s legal needs at the local and enterprise levels.

Ceena received her B.A. with honors in English Literature & Political Science from St. John’s University and her J.D. with concentrations in international and human rights law from the University of Minnesota Law School. She currently lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two young children—and when she’s not running around with her boys, you may find her trying new foods or curled up with a book and a cup of chai.

Katie Oakes serves as IJM’s Vice President of Integrated Fundraising, where she and her teams trailblaze a direct response program while scaling mass and mid-level fundraising strategies in the United States. Before this, Katie was IJM’s National Director of U.S. Partner Engagement, where she led a team to scale significant growth through new strategies for supporter engagement.

Before joining IJM in 2020, Katie gained 20 years of progressively responsible fundraising leadership experience. She led donor care, stewardship and development programs with nonprofit organizations such as Open Doors and Prison Fellowship. Additionally, she held executive leadership positions within large marketing agencies that serve the nonprofit sector. 

Katie received her B.A. in business from Iona College. She lives in the D.C. area and enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the city. She can often be found reading a good book or traveling.

Michael Lewis serves as Vice President of Operations and oversees three critical areas for IJM North America: internal communication, strategic planning and the Center of Excellence for Project Management.  He’s also streamlined operational efficiencies for the division as many new initiatives rolled out.

Michael previously served as a Church Mobilization Director for IJM. He equipped churches by sharing the biblical call to seek justice, mobilized them to engage in local and global ministry, and raised financial support for the organization. Before joining IJM in 2016, Michael held leadership positions in nonprofit institutions and the private sector, with responsibilities ranging from operations and philanthropy to financial analysis and strategic planning. 

Michael received an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Morehouse College. He is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum and serves on several local boards. Michael originally hails from San Antonio and currently lives in Houston with his wife, Cynthia, and their three sons.

Sharon Payt serves as IJM’s Vice President for Corporate and Government Partnerships. Since 2021, she’s directed the engagement strategies with the U.S. Government, Congress and multi-national corporations to champion the fight against human trafficking and other forms of violence impacting people in poverty.

With over 20 years of executive-level experience as a human rights advocate, Sharon is a systems reform entrepreneur combining campaigning and movement-organizing with international development for marginalized people. She has worked in the Middle East, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa on a wide range of issues, including human trafficking, anti-genocide, citizen empowerment and defending democracy leaders in hostile contexts.

Sharon’s previous positions include serving at the World Bank, the U.S. State Department, J.K. Rowling’s Lumos Foundation, World Vision International and the U.S. Senate. With the U.S. Government, she served as lead Senate staff for the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and co-established the State Department’s anti-trafficking office. While serving with World Vision, she directed advocacy across 15 countries and regional humanitarian crises throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, resulting in over 50 government system reforms.

Sharon lives in Washington, DC, and enjoys cooking, entertaining and live music.

Thaddaeus Nichols serves as the Vice President of Partner Programs, where he is at the helm of strategizing and leading the teams responsible for scaling IJM’s work. His team has launched new partnerships with Major League Baseball, the Super Bowl, the global rock band OneRepublic and others. They’ve also developed a social influencer program and innovative workplace engagements with corporations like Google, TopGolf and Chick-fil-A.

Prior to his current position, Thaddaeus served as IJM’s Director of Church Engagement, where he worked to equip churches to teach about God’s heart for justice. During that time, he scaled the U.S. Freedom Sunday campaign. This campaign empowers churches with resources to dedicate a Sunday to teaching their congregations about injustice and encouraging them to act in tangible ways.

Before joining IJM in 2017, Thaddaeus served in various development roles with other non-profits. He has an MBA from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in church history and philosophy from Moody Bible Institute. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he can often be found playing soccer or exploring the city.

As IJM's Regional Vice President of Data & Insights, Greg Buell oversees teams managing business intelligence, gift processing, data quality, and data science for the United States and Canada. With over 20 years of experience in direct marketing and analysis, Greg has developed and assessed successful multi-channel direct-response plans for leading nonprofit organizations such as The Salvation Army, Ronald McDonald House Charities, CARE, Food for the Hungry, and Feeding America.

Since joining IJM in 2022, Greg has supported North American fundraising and marketing teams in various capacities, leveraging his expertise in donor health analysis to help inform marketing campaigns, produce revenue projections, and develop strategic plans.

Greg holds a master’s degree in Christian Studies from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in communication from Seattle Pacific University. He resides in Everett, WA, with his wife and daughter, where he enjoys gardening and following sports and economic news.