Leading with empathy

As Deputy Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ukraine, Nanna Skrumsager Skau knows that creating change in the world’s most complex environments requires more than strategy. It takes empathy, persistence, and the courage to keep asking why.

Over a career spanning more than 25 years in international relations, humanitarian aid, and development, Nanna has served across the globe, from China and DPR Korea to Armenia and Lao PDR, helping communities overcome the barriers that prevent lasting progress. Her work has been part of the WFP’s mission that earned the organisation the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, and in 2025 she was personally recognised with Armenia’s Medal of Honour for advancing cooperation between the Government and the WFP.
But for Nanna, recognition is not the goal. 

Helping people has always been part of my values. But helping isn’t the same as supporting change. Change comes when you understand behaviour, what drives people, what holds them back, and when you co-create solutions together. 

Turning science into impact

While leading WFP’s country office in Armenia, Nanna encountered the transformative power of behavioural science firsthand. Working with social behaviour scientist Dr Rowena Merritt, her team applied behavioural insights to understand why communities struggled to adopt healthier lifestyles.

By understanding the real barriers people faced, not just the surface ones, we could design projects that actually worked. Once people were part of shaping the solutions, they often co-funded activities themselves. It showed how powerful it can be when change comes from the community, not to it.

That experience inspired Nanna to deepen her understanding through the Behavioural Science Executive Education programme at Warwick Business School. The programme gave her new tools to link theory with practice, and a network of peers who continue to challenge and inspire her.

“The questions and discussions with my fellow students were invaluable,” she says. “We still keep in touch and we’re even starting a book club. Learning from people outside my field has helped me see things from completely new angles.”

Adapting behavioural insights to conflict zones

Now based in Ukraine, Nanna faces a very different kind of challenge. Working near the front lines, her team has seen more than 50 attacks on humanitarian convoys in just a few months. Yet even amid conflict, she continues to apply behavioural science principles to improve outcomes.

“It’s about asking: what are the barriers to action here?” she explains. “Some people refuse to leave their homes even when it’s unsafe, because that’s where their lives and memories are. You can’t change that, you have to understand it, respect it, and work around it.”

For Nanna, this human-centred approach is at the heart of making change that lasts. It’s also deeply connected to her leadership philosophy. After recently completing a coaching qualification, she became more intentional about how she listens and empowers others.

“I used to think I was a good listener,” she admits. “But coaching taught me to slow down, ask the right questions, and create space for people to find their own solutions.”

Learning as a way of life

With her first school years in Belgium, Nanna was surrounded by languages and cultures. That early exposure shaped a lifelong fascination with understanding how people think, communicate and collaborate across borders. “When you grow up hearing many languages in the schoolyard, you realise there’s never just one way of seeing the world,” she says. That curiosity continues to drive her today. Learning multiple languages, she sees learning itself as an act of change-making. “I’m never ‘finished’,” she smiles. “Every study, every conversation, every mistake is a chance to see differently. That’s what keeps me going.”

Recognising collective achievement

When the WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Nanna saw it not as personal success but as a collective moment of pride. “Many of my colleagues have spent their lives away from their families to serve people in need,” she reflects. “Food security, conflict, and stability are so deeply intertwined. That recognition reminded us that our work really matters.”

Her Medal of Honour from the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried similar meaning. “It was a testament to teamwork,” she says. “We found solutions together, with government partners, with communities, with each other. It also confirmed the importance of using a behavioural lens in humanitarian and development work.”

Redefining what it means to be a Change Maker

For Nanna, being a Change Maker isn’t about big gestures, it’s about consistent curiosity, humility, and human connection. “Study things outside your comfort zone,” she advises. “That’s when you start seeing new perspectives and connecting dots that others don’t.”

And in a world of constant transformation, she believes true Change Makers not only drive change but also provide stability. “Change can be unsettling,” she says. “Sometimes the most important thing you can do as a leader is to give people five minutes of calm, a moment of stability to stand on before they take the next step.”

From the war-torn communities of Ukraine to the classrooms of Warwick Business School, Nanna Skau embodies the mindset that defines a Change Maker: open-minded, action-oriented, and relentlessly driven to learn, listen and lift others up.

Because for Nanna, the future isn’t something to wait for, it’s something to build, together.