Founder
Dr. Tadria is one of AWDF founding members. She is an experienced researcher and consultant with a background in institutional management and social development research.
While lecturing as an Associate Professor at Makerere University, she founded Action for Development, an NGO working to empower women and influence legislation and policy for gender equality in Uganda. She also founded the Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for young Women (MEMPROW), a programme for developing young women’s leadership and promoting their rights within learning institutions in Uganda.
Founder
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Feminist activist and thinker, with experience as a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur, Policy Advocate, Politician, Social Change Philanthropy Practitioner, Communications Specialist and Social Sector expert. She is Principal Partner, Amandla Consulting, specializing in leadership development for women, and she runs an online community for women called Abovewhispers.com. She is a UN Women Nigeria Advisor. She served as the Director of Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), an international development organisation for African women based in London, UK, from 1991-2001. During her time at AMwA, she started the African Women’s Leadership Institute which has supported over 6,000 women leaders in Africa over the past twenty years. She is one of the three Co-Founders of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and served as the first Executive Director from 2001-2010.
Her leadership established AWDF as a leading institution in the area of social change philanthropy in Africa, and as one of the most effective feminist philanthropic institutions globally. She is also one of the founders of the African Feminist Forum (AFF) and served on the AFF Working Group from 2006-2016.She is the recipient of the 2011 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of philanthropy, given by the Synergos Institute, New York. In June 2011, the New African Magazine named Bisi as one of the 100 Most Influential People of Africa.
Board Chair
Taaka Awori is the CEO of Busara Africa, a Pan-African Leadership Development firm. She is a Leadership Trainer, Certified Coach and facilitator strengthening the leadership competencies of managers and supervisors in the private sector, civil society and public sector. Taaka also has extensive experience in Organisational Development and Social Development. She was the Country Director for ActionAid International Ghana from 2003 to 2007 and has over 20 years’ experience working on organisational and governance issues in East, West and Southern Africa.
Taaka has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Harvard University, Boston MA, and a Juris Doctorate in Law from Columbia University, New York. She also has a Certificate in Organisational Development from the Organisation Development Centre & the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, United States and an Advanced Certificate in Coaching from the International Coaching Academy, Melbourne, Australia. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation
In addition to Board of AWDF, Taaka sits on the Editorial Board of Coaching Perspectives, the flagship global publication of the Association for Coaching
Treasurer
Arielle Asomaniwaa Enninful is the Chief Operations Officer of General Trust Company Limited (GENTRUST) a licensed Corporate Trustee for pensions fund management and administration under ACT766. She has held this position since the year 2012. She is a member of the investment committee that oversees broad investment and risk factors for the portfolios under management. She is ultimately responsible for the compliance to the regulations governing the over two-billion-cedi portfolio that GENTRUST administers.
Prior to joining GENTRUST, she worked with Ecobank Ghana Limited (Ecobank) for over seven (7) years where she was privileged to have worked in various roles. She set an industry standard by brokering the first finance lease deal between a local bank, an insurance company and a car dealership. During this period (2007-2008) she was elected as the first female Vice President for GALCO (Ghana Association of Leasing Companies).
As a Treasurer on the Board of African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), Arielle chairs the Finance Committee of the Board and has been re-appointed for a third term, having successfully served two terms. She also served a full term as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) of the Equality Fund (EF), Canada, an organisation which resources financial power flow to the sidelined and women through gender lens investments.
Arielle currently sits on the board of Nsutaman Rural Bank as the only female Board Member, chairs the Risk and Credit sub-committee and is also a member of the Finance and Audit sub-committee.
She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Bellevue University Nebraska USA, a Bachelor’s degree in English with Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon-Ghana, a diploma certificate in Public Relation from the London School of Public Relations, UK, a SIRDAR certificate for High Performance Boards.
Arielle is an ingrained feminist with two adult sons, a leisure swimmer, beginner-golfer, lover of music across diverse genres and a hodophile.
Member
Dr. Lamyaâ Achary (they/them), a dedicated sociologist and Human Rights researcher, possesses over a decade of expertise spanning analytical proficiency, research, policy analysis, and nonprofit advocacy. Their career has been marked by a passionate commitment to advancing women’s and SOGIE rights, particularly in Morocco and North Africa.
Lamyaâ has led campaigns to end the detention of queer individuals, organized public debates, facilitated access to legal representation, and advocated for legal reforms. They have collaborated with various feminist and queer organizations across Africa and the Middle East. Additionally, Lamyaâ has served as a research officer for the African Queer Youth Initiative and worked as a research consultant for different organizations such as Astraea Foundation, Oxfam, and GNP+.
In 2019, they co-founded Tanit, an intersectional feminist archive and research platform aimed at preserving the untold stories of historically underrepresented and misrepresented individuals with non-hegemonic sexualities, gender attributions, and body expressions. Their mission is to combat misinformation and knowledge exclusion by providing accessible resources on women’s and SOGIE rights in multiple languages.
Member
With over two decades of experience leading strategies at the intersection of justice and philanthropy, Nicolette has spent over fifteen years working within one of the largest global philanthropies, the Ford Foundation. Nicolette led the Ford Foundation’s Southern Africa office and International Program on Gender, Racial & Ethnic Justice and has managed diverse teams across New York, India, West Africa, Southern Africa and Latin America. Now working as an independent consultant, and as a Board member for several organisations, she remains focused on gender justice and increasing resources for civil society and movements in the Global South. She is committed to strengthening the feminist funding ecosystem for Black, Indigenous women and girls, women and girls of colour and gender-expansive individuals.
Member
Medical doctor, independent consultant; activist for the rights of girls, women and the inclusion of young people in decision-making bodies, Mariama is a young “nigérienne” specialist in public health policies and community development. She has more than six years of experience in reproductive health rights and family planning, working to ensure better health for women.
Mariama’s leadership earned her an award at the International Conference on Family Planning in November 2018 in Kigali where she won first prize in the Amplify change advocacy competition, a competition that brought together young people from the 5 continents.
She is currently representing young people in the Global Financing Facility Investors Group, a partnership that aims to close the financing gap for reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child adolescent health and nutrition. At the national level, she has received several awards, including Best National Debater in 2019 and a nomination as the ambassador for the first cohort of Young Leaders during the National Young Leader Day. Mariama volunteers in a few youth led organizations, and aims to promote the capacities of young people and their role as a key agent of sustainable development.
Member
Jean-Ann Ndow (she/her) has over 15 years professional experience working in the legal field and in international development. Focusing on girls and women’s rights, youth mobilisation and education, she has worked with youth movements, global organisations and collaborated with UN agencies to lead advocacy and campaigns on ending violence girls and women, girls education and youth engagement.
Jean-Ann currently leads the Malala Fund’s Girl Programme, a programme she co-created with marginalised young women from 8 countries across the Global South rooted in principles of decolonial intersectional feminism. To date, the Programme has awarded over $3 million in grants to young-woman-led and girls centred, registered and unregistered organisations, groups and movements across the Global South. She has served as an Expert on Violence Against Women for the European Women’s Lobby Observatory on VAWG and was the Global Advocacy Lead and Stop the Violence Global Campaign Lead at the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the largest organization in the world working with over 10 million girls and young women from 150 countries. There, she led the growth of the organisations flagship global campaign on ending violence against girls and women that was developed in partnership with UN Women; ‘Stop the Violence’, growing the campaign and movement from 35 to 70 countries with girls and young women at its heart. She has supported national and global movements to develop and implement impactful campaigns resulting in law and policy change.
Jean-Ann holds a LLB Law degree, Post Graduate Diploma in Law and Masters in Human Rights, Culture and Social Justice.
Member
Yvonne Ofosu-Appiah is an investment professional and Independent Board Director. She has seventeen years combined experience working within banking, capital markets and impact investing across sub-Saharan Africa.
She is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Sahara Impact Ventures, a female owned/led impact fund manager and investment advisory firm based in Ghana, investing with a gender and climate lens within Sub Saharan Africa. Prior to this, she was the Chief Investment Officer of Wangara Green Ventures, a climate focused investment company that provides patient capital to green small and growing businesses in Ghana.
Yvonne holds an MBA (Finance) from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, UK and BCom (First Class honors) from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. She holds a Certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, UK and in Impact Management & Measurement from Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK.
Yvonne is a member of the AWDF Board and its Finance, Risk and Audit Committee. Apart from AWDF, she also serves on the Board of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGH), Ghana’s National Advisory Board for Impact Investing and VRA Health Services Ltd (a subsidiary of Volta River Authority) where she is also Chair of the Finance Committee.
She is passionate about courses that defends women’s rights, support and empower women.
Chief Executive Officer
A pan-African feminist with roots in Cameroon, Françoise Moudouthe is passionate about advocating for women’s rights and fostering sisterhood within African feminist movements.
Before joining the African Women’s Development Fund as CEO, Françoise established Eyala, a bilingual platform that amplifies the voices and lived experiences of African feminists, and worked as an international consultant for gender justice in Africa. She also played an instrumental role in incubating Girls Not Brides, the global civil society partnership to end child marriage, and in spearheading its growth in Africa.
Françoise is a Board member of the Malala Fund and Womankind Worldwide.
Executive Manager
Patricia is an accomplished and results-driven professional with demonstrated experience in executive and programme management. She has over nine years of experience supporting and collaborating with Senior Management Teams to deliver timely and agile solutions to address organisational goals and outcomes. Patricia has experience in policy and procedure formulation and is a strategic thinker who drives continuous improvement to impact and exceed organisational goals positively.
Patricia has worked as a Programme Manager and Executive Assistant at the CIHEB-Kenya and Programme Specialist and Executive Assistant at the University of Maryland Baltimore Kenya Office.
Patricia holds a Masters in Health Sciences (Research Administration) from the University of Maryland Baltimore and a Bachelor’s in Supplies and Procurement Management from Kampala International University.
Communications & Fundraising Assistant
Caren Akoto-Adade supports in the execution of communications initiatives and programmes aimed at increasing the reach, impact and visibility of AWDF. Caren is a feminist, writer, teacher and an award-winning filmmaker based in Accra, Ghana.
She is an active member of the Young Feminist Collective, an organisation in Accra dedicated to creating a safe space for young feminist women to deepen their politics and activism and holds a BA in Theatre Arts and English from the University of Ghana Legon.
Executive Assistant
Gifty Edem Asare holds a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from Valley View University, Ghana. Prior to working with AWDF, she doubled as a Personal Assistant to the CEO of Happy Kids School and as an Event Coordinator for the school.
Edem is passionate about the economic empowerment of women and girls. In her free time, she trains young women in vocational skills.
Communications Officer Francophone
Bintou Mariam Traoré is an Ivorian radical feminist and communications professional. She is also a founding member of the Ivorian League of Women’s Rights, an organisation that fights against gender-based violence in Côte d’Ivoire.
In 2020, she launched a discussion dubbed the Real African Woman, turned into a feminist initiative and spread across the continent. She was a communication officer at the NGO Equipop on the Young Feminists of West Africa project before joining AWDF.
Director of Operations
Gertrude Bibi Annoh-Quarshie is in charge of leading and directing the operations, finance, human resource and administrative functions of AWDF to ensure they are of the highest quality. She will be responsible for designing, developing and implementing short to long term strategies aimed at optimising AWDF’s general support systems and complex financial management systems.
She is a chartered certified accountant with over 16 years of experience in audit, finance, accounting and administration in not-for profit as well as for profit organisations. Since joining AWDF in 2007, she has contributed to strengthening the processes, policies, systems and structures that ensure that AWDF remains a credible and sustainable organisation. She authored a publication on good practice in financial management for women’s rights organisations.
She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the United Kingdom, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG). She has a B.S. degree and an Executive MBA in Finance from the University of Ghana. She currently sits on the board of ISIS-WICCE/WIPC a regional feminist organisation with a mission to ignite women’s leadership, amplify their voices and deepen their activism in re-creating peace.
Gertrude is passionate about women’s rights and the pursuit of dignity, equality, respect and justice for African women and girls. Integrity and ethical leadership are at the forefront of her personal and professional values, influencing her day-to-day decision making and actions.
Human Resources Manager
Finance Manager
Hellen is a proficient Chartered Accountant with over 12 years’ experience in corporate reporting, external audit, internal controls, treasury management, taxation and corporate governance.
Prior to joining AWDF she was the Chief accountant of RMG Ghana Ltd. She also worked as an audit senior at Ernst & Young Ghana where she acquired experience in diverse industries amongst others manufacturing, extractive, construction, finance and governmental sector.
Hellen is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA-UK), she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (B’com) from University of Cape Coast and an Executive MBA (Finance) from University of Ghana Business School, Legon.
She is passionate about the total well-being of women and the African woman for that matter. She enjoys reading and listening to music.
Senior Finance Assistant
Afi’s responsibilities in the Finance Department include working to achieve the objectives of the day to day operational management, processing Grants payments and managing the Fixed Assets of the organisation. She is a student of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and a graduate from the University of Cape Coast with a Bachelor of Commerce. Afi believes her years with AWDF have been an ideal foundation for developing both her financial expertise and passion for African women’s rights.
Finance Assistant
Sheila ANUM is passionate about women’s right issues and empowering of the African woman. She believes that women often excel when they are empowered. Prior to joining the AWDF, she worked with the Amaris Terminal Limited.
Sheila Anum is a graduate of Valley View University, Oyibi with a degree in Business Administration, Banking and Finance Option.
Finance Assistant
Victoria Afere-Amoasi is an accounting and finance professional who has worked in the construction, banking, and renewable sectors, offering her unique skills in accounting and finance operations in diverse fields.
As an accountant, she successfully established a highly efficient and effective accounting operational system and led successful audits for previous employers through collaboration with external auditors..
She holds an MBA in accounting and finance and a bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Professional Studies Accra, Ghana
Victoria is passionate about the well-being of African women and believes that women’s empowerment is essential to Africa’s development.
In her leisure hours, she enjoys watching documentaries about nature
Finance Officer
Janet Okumi is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, Institute of Internal Auditors, Global and a student member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, Ghana. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ghana Business School, Legon in Accounting.
She is currently employed by African Women Development Fund (AWDF) as the Due Diligence Officer, having previously worked for West Africa Program to Combat AIDS and STIs, Ghana (WAPCAS-Ghana) as the Internal Audit Manager. Prior to her employment at Ghana-WAPCAS, Janet worked with Kwame Asante and Associates (KAA) as the Assistant Manager in the Audit & Assurance service line.
Janet has over 7 years of professional experience in both public and private sectors. Her hobbies include reading, listening to gospel music and watching wildlife documentary.
HR & Administrative Officer
Abigail has over 10years experience in Administration and Human Resource in the NGO Sector. She is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Ghana and an alumnus of Regent University College of Science & Technology where she studied Management with Computing (HR Option).
Prior to joining AWDF, she worked as an Administrative Assistant for Charles Kendall & Partners: Fiscal & Procurement Agents for the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) Ghana project. Abigail also has the following certificates to her credit; Higher National Diploma in Secretaryship & Management Studies from Accra Polytechnic and a Private Secretaryship Certificate from NACVET.
Abigail is an advocate of women’s right and believes that the empowerment of women and girls is the key to accelerated development.
Administrative Assistant-Front desk
Sylvia is an Administrative Assistant at the AWDF. With the field of administration a familiar turf for her, she brings on board over 10 years’ practice. She provides the HR Manager with administrative support and prides herself with leaving all her visitors with ineradicable smiles of contentment.
Preceding her role at AWDF, she was the Administrative Assistant for the Ambassador of the Embassy of the Czech Republic. She completed the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a degree in English and French, a certificate in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, and a diploma in Human Resource Management from ICM – UK.
Among the values that Sylvia upholds and imbues into all who come into contact with her are: respect, accountability and integrity. She aspires to be enlisted among the prominent names of women called to the bar.
Administrative Assistant, Procurement
Sarah is an Administrative Assistant (Procurement) responsible for administrative duties relating to organising and coordinating procurement activities to support an efficient procurement framework within AWDF.
Prior to joining AWDF, she had worked at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for her National Service. Sarah is a graduate of Accra Polytechnic with HND in Purchasing and Supply.
She is passionate about seeing tangible results from work completed and giving fair treatment to everyone. Sarah is a strong believer in women’s rights to equal opportunities.
Operations Officer
Belinda is the program assistant of AWDF and contributes to managing AWDF”s grant making portfolio in the six thematic areas. She holds a B. A in Social Work with Sociology from the University of Ghana with special interest in gender studies. Prior to joining the AWDF she worked as a customer service assistant at Alliance Waste Limited to complete her National Service.
Growing up she has always wanted to work in the development sector specifically on women’s rights issues.
IT Officer
Eugene is an Information Systems Specialist with over 10 years combined experience in IT project management, System Development, Database and Data
Management, IT Service Management, MIS, Information Security and Data protection.
Prior to joining AWDF, Eugene worked with International Cocoa Initiative as the Ghana IT lead where he coordinated the implementation of various IS systems, processes and services across projects at the National level. He is also a certified data protection supervisor.
Executive Assistant (DOP & DOO)
Akua is an international development expert with 3 years’ experience in project management, Grant contracting and management with international development organizations like GIZ and Engineers without Borders Canada.
Akua is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She is an avid gardener and loves to read.
HR & Administrative Assistant
Deborah holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Purchasing and Supply from the Accra Technical University (ATU) and she is extending her field into Human Resource and Management (HRM). Prior to working with AWDF, she worked with Total Energies Ghana as a Procurement Assistant.
Deborah is passionate about Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. In her free time, she loves to explore foods.
Resourcing Manager
Beatrice is the Grants Manager at the African Women’s Development Fund with the key responsibility of providing leadership and direction for the grants making function. Beatrice also manages the HIV/AIDS portfolio at the Fund. Beatrice has a Masters’ Degree in Communication Studies and an Executive Masters in Business Administration from the University of Ghana. She also holds an LLB from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Beatrice is an expert in grant-making design and management and community development programmes with special expertise in the areas of public health and social research. She has special interest in working with small women’s groups.
Programme Manager - Nurturing
Dinnah Nabwire is responsible for steering institutional initiatives to generate, analyse and utilise knowledge to shape sustainable feminist philanthropy in Africa.
For 10 years, Dinnah has led research, documentation, learning, policy and advocacy for nonprofits with placements in Uganda and Washington DC. Most recently, she led technical collaborations for the research to practice transition of the Uganda Ministry of Gender-led Violence Against Children Survey (VACS). She also managed the establishment of a community-led model learning site in Northern Uganda which was co-created from the VACS data, a corroborative formative qualitative study and lessons from implementing the national INSPIRE strategies’ pilot in Central Uganda.
Dinnah holds a Masters of Gender, Education and International Development from the University College London and a Bachelors’ of Social Work from the Uganda Christian University.
She is a prochoice feminist, passionate about sexual and reproductive health rights for women. She is an everyday Rotarian, a lover of art and a walker.
Programme Manager – Impact and Learning
Carmen is committed to addressing gender inequality in all its manifestations across social, economic and political contexts for the achievement of a more just society. Carmen has had the privilege of working with a wide range of programme stakeholders including individuals, groups, communities, donors, government departments, non-governmental organisations and corporate clients.
She has worked collaboratively with individual, group and institutional programme partners to facilitate improved life outcomes for the following target communities: newly qualified teachers, prison populations; men who have sex with men (MSM); transgender (TG); women; children; war veterans; school communities; students at higher education institutions; children and community-based organizations. As a lifelong learner, she has integrated theory and practice in her job roles.
Her work experience has been augmented with education through a Master’s Degree in Social Work Management, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma and Master’s Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation. Her core competencies are in M&E System Design and Implementation, Project Management, Data Quality Assessments, Programme Design, Coordination and Management, and Programme Evaluation.
Programme Officer for Anglophone Africa
Rose is a feminist researcher and activist who believes in building leadership of marginalised populations and communities in advancing social and environmental justice.
For the past 18 years she has worked within the civil society space supporting and resourcing feminist movements and women’s rights activism in Africa. She is passionate about issues of climate and economic justice and provides technical support to women’s rights and feminist organisations and movements in Africa. She is a Strategic Advisor for Global Fund for Women, USA; an Advisor for Spring Impact UK, supporting their Women Economic Empowerment Accelerator Programme in Southern Africa. She also consults for climate justice movements in Africa.
Rose has a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Ghana and a Master’s degree in Environmental resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, and is an Alumnus of the Global Women in Leadership Programme, by WLI, USA-ExxonMobil.
A firm believer in feminist knowledge building, Rose has written several blogs and is also currently publishing in the area of environment, climate and other social issues.
Rose loves to spend quality time with her family and also connect with the natural environment in her spare time.
Programme Officer
Gifty Ayebea Anim holds a Bachelors Degree in sociology and philosophy from the University of Ghana. She is also a graduate of the African Women’s Leadership Institute. Prior to working with the AWDF, she worked as a nursery attendant at Creator Early Childhood Development Centre. She is currently a student of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
Grants Administrator
As part of the Resourcing team, Alexandra helps to resource African women, girls and gender diverse people with financial and technical support to enable them undertake projects that will promote the rights of women, girls and gender diverse people across the African continent.
Alexandra holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Psychology from the University of Ghana. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Before joining AWDF, she worked at THCLR Ghana Limited as an Administrative Assistant.
Alexandra is a passionate advocate for the rights of minoritised groups and believes in justice and equity for all.
Programme Officer, Francophone Africa
Lana is responsible for the AWDF grant management portfolio of French speaking African countries. She liaises with other departments to provide technical assistance, support and expertise to the overall objectives of the organisation.
Lana has more than 15 years work experience in different fields, ranging from administration, project management, advocacy & communication, capacity building, grant-making and MEL. She has also undertaken consultations in the area of humanitarian advocacy and research, ecological & climate justice, SRHR justice, and African feminist movement building. For years, she provided technical support and expertise to various CSO-led, youth-led and women-led justice and activism movements in Africa.
Lana’s educational background is in Human Rights & Gender, Community Development and Communication for Development.
She is a proud feminist, passionate about feminism and its intersectionality. She also promotes values in justice, solidarity and leadership of African women for the full realisation of their rights.
Grants Administrator
Shirley is a burgeoning feminist who is passionate about women’s rights. She previously worked with the Seedshare Group and the Multipack Recruitment Agency, and is a graduate of the University of Cape Coast with a degree in Management Studies.
Programmes Assistant
As a Programmes Assistant, Programmes Support, Mary provides bi-lingual administrative support to the Programmes team- with a focus on the Grants Department, Capacity Building Unit and Catalytic Initiatives. She helps support programme communications, liaison with francophone grantees and provides support with translation.
Mary is a graduate of the School of Translators of the Ghana Institute of Languages where she studied Translation (English, French and Portuguese).
Mary has a keen interest in women and Girls’ economic empowerment and livelihood as well as health
Impact & Learning Officer
Passionate about work that is aimed at achieving socio-economic justice and gender equality, Valindra worked in projects that advocated for the advancement of workers’ rights including women’s rights.
She also did work that advanced the rights of indigenous women living in communities that are impacted by mining and extractive industries. In these experiences she learned that patriarchy and capitalist systems together reinforce the oppression of women. This has shaped her perspectives as a Pan-African eco-feminist.
She holds a B.Arts in International Studies from Monash University South Africa and Executive Certificates in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning from University of Zimbabwe. Her spare time is mostly dedicated to family. She enjoys exploring other cultures and learning about their food, art and music.
Impact and Learning Officer
Abena Bomo AFARI joined AWDF in November 2018 as a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Associate. She completed her national service at the Ghana Institute of Languages, where she taught French. She has a bachelor’s degree in French and Marketing from Central university and a Master’s degree in Gender, Peace and Security from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center.
She is passionate about women’s rights issues and issues of conflict in Africa.
Agency & Resilience Assistant
Abigail is a bilingual international development professional with about four years of work experience with international organizations. She has in her career supported international development teams in areas such as administration, procurement and event coordination.
She joins the AWDF as a Bilingual Capacity Building Assistant supporting with the implementation of the work of the Capacity Building Unit. Through this role, she aspires to be able to explore her passion for feminism and African development and to be able to continue a strong and impactful career in international development especially as it pertains to gender.
Abigail holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon and a Diploma in French Language Studies from the University of Abomey, Calavi.
Solidarity and Care Specialist
I am a queer Black African anarchist feminist. My identities as a queer Black African anarchist feminist mean that I have made a commitment to combining Black African feminism, anarchism and queer politics to living a life of labour that works towards dismantling white supremacy, capitalism and heteronormative patriarchy. I foreground a power and gendered analysis in my work and praxis
I have worked within civil society since 2001. I am passionate about creating and generating ideas, advocacy and justice, sustaining activism through healing and knowledge production, and to ensure the visibility, voices and lived experiences of African women in all their diversity in dismantling systems and institutions of oppression. I believe in Black African feminism, queer and anarchist politics to inform not only the work we do and the way we do it, but to also forge a path that will lead to individual and collective creation, healing and love.
Programme Officer - Solidarity & Care
Chaïmae Ribani is an Intersectional Feminist and activist for human rights, peace, justice. Over the past four years, she has worked closely with civil society, and international organizations advocating for basic human rights and empowering the vulnerable and marginalized.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy, Chaïmae has honed her expertise in Feminist Foreign policy and women’s roles in promoting security and peace.
Programme Specialist – Agency and Resilience
Samantha is a development practitioner, her work in supporting marginalized women’s rights ignited her passion for feminism, solidarity and movement building. She has also worked with social, labour, grassroots movements and women’s groups as a technical advisor in organizational development. Having worked with civil society and in international organisations since 2006 key issues that have caught her interest have been how women and girls can be an in-demand voice for their leadership and empowerment globally. She has worked as a strategic advisor for multi –donor and development agencies.
Earlier in her career Samantha spent extensive time leading the growth of a Mentoring and Empowerment Program aimed at creating safe spaces for young women to engage and express themselves. She draws inspiration from all the incredible women she has had the privilege of working with over the years.
Director of Partnerships and Philanthropy
Nadia Ahidjo is a Pan-African feminist development professional whose work leverages partnerships and philanthropy to resource African feminist and women’s rights movements. Her work leverages thought leadership, influencing, resourcing, and partnerships in the Africa region, but also alliances with like-minded institutions in Asia, Latin America, and the Global North. It has resulted in increased resources for high-quality programming concepts that are in line with funding partner priorities and centre the voices of African women and girls in all their diversities.
In her free time, Nadia loves writing feminist reflections, short-story fiction, and children’s stories. Her work has been published by Afreada, African Feminisms, Bakwa Magazine, Catalyst Press, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, the Moongirls Comic, the Nawi – Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective, and Short Story Day Africa. Her children’s books are distributed by the African Books Collective, and her stories are available at www.nadiahidjo.com
Partnerships & Philanthropy Officer
Afua is responsible for coordinating and managing AWDF’s donor portfolio, ensuring that AWDF meets its implementation and reporting obligations to all stakeholders.
Afua started her career at World Vision International- Ghana as a Programme Officer for Sponsorship. She worked with ABANTU for Development; a women’s rights organisation based in Ghana for about 6 years advocating for policies to increase women’s participation and representation in decision-making spaces, through policy influencing and action research.
As a consultant for the United Nations Children’s Fund, World University Service of Canada, Centre for Democratic Development, the Women Peace and Security Institute of the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre, she assisted in implementing programmes to promote social accountability to reduce inequality in Ghanaian society.
Afua holds a Master of Arts degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research of the University of Ghana. She also has a certificate in Development Management from the Open University in the UK and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Cape Coast.
She is passionate about advocating for women’s rights and contributing to feminist agendas in Africa.
Partnerships & Philanthropy Officer
Chandapiwa brings over eight years of experience spanning both the public and private sectors, focusing on continental development, grant and partnership management, resource mobilization, and program management. Her contributions have made significant impacts at various levels, including country, regional, and continental, through her collaboration with key organizations such as the African Union Commission in Ethiopia and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Botswana and South Africa.
Her commitment to social inclusion is evident in her advocacy for the empowerment of women, girls, and persons with disabilities, aiming for societal advancement through the lens of universal design. Chandapiwa has spearheaded projects aimed at enhancing the lives of these groups in collaboration with notable entities like the Global Shapers Community – Gaborone Hub (an initiative of the World Economic Forum), the Putting Women First Trust, the Rotaract Club for Young Professionals in Gaborone, and Faven Africa.
Academically, Chandapiwa holds a BA (Honors) in Business (Enterprise) from the University of Derby, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation from the Amani Institute, and a Diploma in Social Innovation from the UPEACE Centre for Executive Education.
Outside of her professional and academic pursuits, Chandapiwa is an enthusiast of the great outdoors, enjoying long walks, short hikes, and camping.
Funded Initiative Coordinator - KASA
Joyce started her career at the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) as a volunteer and later became a staff working as a Project Officer for the Accra Young and Wise Centre. She recently worked with the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as a Consultant on the World Bank funded Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP). She has also served on the UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel, National HIV Anti-Stigma Taskforce, PPAG National Governing Council and the Board of Purim Youth Development Platform (PAYAD).
She holds a Master of Arts Degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Ghana. She also holds a certificate in Project Management / Procurement and Financial Management from the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) and a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). She is an alumnus of the African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI); International Programme for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) by Carlton University and the Ghanaian Women Social Leadership Programme by New York University.
In her free time, Joyce writes and directs original plays on socio-religious themes for audiences of diverse backgrounds.
Funded Initiative Coordinator - LFS
Ramatoulaye, an Afropolitan feminist, is dedicated to empowering women socially, politically, and economically in her community. With a strong academic foundation from the University of Paris IV Sorbonne and a Professional Master’s degree from the University of Arizona, she specializes in women’s literature from West African and Black Atlantic authors. Her expertise extends to Black Atlantic literature, highlighting the diverse narratives of Black women globally.
Her research amplifies marginalized voices, with a focus on the narratives of Muslim women in France through an anti-racist, decolonial, and feminist lens. However, her journey extends beyond academia. While at Equipop, an international NGO, from 2020 to 2023, Ramatoulaye played a pivotal role in building and nurturing spaces for collective mobilization in West Africa. Her efforts aimed at empowering and amplifying the voices of young feminists in the region, fostering meaningful transformative change.
Ramatoulaye’s career spans various roles, from Marketing and Communications Officer at Enko Education to her impactful work with Equipop, where she supports feminist activists and civil society organizations, amplifying the voices of young feminists in West Africa. Her journey is marked by an unwavering commitment to women’s empowerment, rooted in her Afropolitan feminist identity.
Funded Initiative Coordinator - Gates
Lusanda Mamba is a Pan-African feminist activist and advocate for women’s human rights from the Kingdom of Eswatini and is passionate about reimagining and diversifying support to marginalized women’s groups in Africa. Her professional experience spans over almost two decades including working with grassroots organizations in Eswatini, the feminist movement in the SADC region and Africa as well as international funding agencies and human rights mechanisms.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and has diverse experience managing community development and social justice programs for women and gender diverse groups. She is excited about her new role as the Funded Initiative Coordinator – Gates and looks forward to working alongside the formidable feminists at AWDF and its broader community whilst learning from the diverse sister funds to streamline and strengthen the implementation of this incredible initiative.