Meet The Team

Home » Meet The Team

Dimes was founded in 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Floor Elize Knoote and Sofia Ortega Potter. Dimes started its work based on Sofia’s and Floor’s mutual commitment towards change in the global financial system, so that it is more transparent, more inclusive and supports economic, social and environmental sustainability. From there onwards, the Team broadened their work and network towards human rights and business as well as international justice projects. The Dimes Collective believes that – in order to impact the rights of people at the base of the pyramid – policies must be grounded on a clear understanding of the realities of local communities’ experiences. Evidence based programming and policymaking is therefore a key focus of their work.

Lead Human Rights and Corporate Accountability

Lead Inclusive and Responsible Finance

Associate Consultant

Lead Civil Society Strategy and Development

Floor Elize Knoote

Floor is a human rights researcher with over a decade of experience in the investigation and analysis of rights violations linked to governments and corporations. She is academically trained as a criminologist to investigate International Crimes applying legal and criminological research methods. Floor has managed field investigations in countries such as China, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Uganda to provide evidence for case development and advocacy strategies. She has built expertise on gender justice and on bridging the accountability gap for human rights violations committed by corporations and financial institutions. The protection of human and women’s rights defenders in the context of business activities has been a large focus of this work. She has investigated violations in the extractives, garment and agribusiness industries and has studied the impacts of Combatting the Financing of Terrorism policies on the security of human rights defenders. Floor holds a BSc. in Forensic Youth Psychology, an M.A. in International Relations & Human Rights and a MSc. in International Crimes and Criminology.

Sofia Ortega Potter

Sofia, a development practitioner, has dedicated her career to enhancing the interaction between individuals and their financial systems. Her expertise spans coordinating national and regional projects and a deep involvement in policy and program management with a focus on stakeholder engagement. Sofia's advisory roles have encompassed a range of entities including governments, international organizations, and financial institutions, particularly in the realms of financial inclusion, educational initiatives, and economic empowerment. Her collaborative efforts with financial regulators, various ministries, and financial institutions have been pivotal in devising innovative policies that boost financial inclusion and increase financial capabilities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work has also focused in developing knowledge management strategies and enhancing stakeholder relations in the field of sustainable banking. Sofia is an alumnus of Universidad Central de Venezuela, holding a B.A. in International Studies, and a dual post-graduate specialization with an M.A. in Tourism and Sustainable Development from CENDES-UCV and an M.Sc. in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam.

Tomás Chang Pico

Tomás is a lawyer specializing in international law, international development, cooperation, and political economy. Tomás was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, but has lived and worked in Costa Rica, the United States, Spain and the Netherlands, where he is currently based. While working for different NGOs and philanthropic organizations, he has gained ample experience in providing technical, strategic, and organizational advice to civil society globally. He has worked in diverse thematic areas (e.g. public health, inclusion of marginalized communities, gender equality and diversity, journalism and freedom of expression, etc.) following a human rights-based approach and has expertise in impact facilitation, organizational capacity development, strategic planning, advocacy, strategic public interest litigation, and research. Since 2021, Tomás sits in the Board of Directors of the International Drug Policy Consortium. He holds the title of lawyer and B.A. in Liberal Arts from the Universidad Metropolitana (UNIMET), an M.A. in International Law and Settlement of Disputes from the UN mandated University for Peace (UPEACE), and an Erasmus Mundus M.A. in Public Policy and International Development from the International institutes of Social Studies (ISS) from Erasmus University of Rotterdam (EUR) and the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI).

Karina Avakyan

Karina is a development practitioner with experience in the innovative finance, social and financial inclusion, and financial capability fields. Her expertise lies in building, managing and coordinating multi-stakeholder networks of policy makers, financial system regulators, ministries, financial institutions, civil society and multilateral organisations, as well as capacity building, training, peer learning and working group facilitation. She was also a lead trainer on youth product development and national financial education and financial inclusion strategies in more than 10 countries. She has served in programme manager and senior policy advisor roles with the regional focus in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions at Child & Youth Finance International and NGO Worldgranny and Pension & Development Network. Previously she was also involved in campaign management, marketing and partnerships of a leading African online fundraising and crowdfunding platform. She holds a BSc in Economics and MSc in Business Studies and International Development from National Research University-Higher School of Economics and University of Amsterdam respectively, and is a Certified Expert in Financial Inclusion Policy from Frankfurt School of Finance & Alliance for Financial Inclusion.