Aïssata Lam

Aïssata is the co-founder and President of the Youth Chamber of Commerce of Mauritania, an organization created in 2013 with the mission to bridge the gap for young Mauritanian Professionals and Entrepreneurs. A Mauritanian National, Aïssata has a background in agricultural finance and Microfinance, working for the Food and Agriculture Organization, as well as African Risk Capacity, an institution of the African Union. Besides her work in development, she is passionate about youth and women empowerment matters on the continent; she participated in several task groups on peace, stability and women empowerment in the Sahel Region with UN Women, the European Union and the US Government.

She was recently appointed by President Emmanuel Macron on the Gender Equality Advisory Council for the G7 to advise on matters related to girl’s education, gender-based violence and women's economic empowerment, specifically in Africa.

Anusha Bharadwaj

Anusha believes in the power of girls to transform communities and nations. It is with this conviction that she leads a group of passionate individuals at VOICE 4 Girls, a social enterprise that educates and empowers marginalized adolescent girls with the vision to eliminate gender inequality and violence. She is also the Founder Director of SoCh for Social Change, a platform that offers young women a chance to become ‘future-ready’ and to develop their leadership capacities and enable them to become agents of change.

Anusha is an alumnus of the Asia Pacific Leadership Program (2013-14), East West Center, USA; 1stCohort of Harvard-Dasra Social Impact Leadership Program (2014-15); and a Cordes Fellow (2017). She is also a Board Member of Bodhi Education Society, an NGO that runs an affordable English medium private school in rural Telangana, the NSS Advisory Committee at the Hyderabad Central University, an Executive Member of Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samata Society (APMSS) and an Executive Committee Member of RVBRR College for Women.

Emily Bove

Emily Bove is a seasoned executive leader within the global women’s rights movement and development community. She has been recognized for her visionary leadership and constant support of grassroots-led and feminist programming, as well as her strong experience in movement-building, collaborative leadership and philanthropy. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Batonga Foundation. Emily is the 2018 recipient of the One World Award for Feminist Leadership in International Philanthropy, as well as the founder and curator of the Feminist Leadership Project. She is also a proud Board member of Women’s March Global, and also serves on World Pulse’s Global Advisory Network.

Helene Wolf

Helene is co-founder and executive director of FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders. Before that she served as the Deputy Executive Director at the International Civil Society Centre where she led and managed the development from a start-up phase to a mid-sized organisation. In this capacity she also worked closely with the top leadership of the largest internationally operating civil society organisations on issues such as governance, accountability and cooperation. She lives in Berlin, Germany and has two sons.

Serap Altinisik

Serap, a passionate intersectional-feminist activist, is the Head of Office and EU Representative of Plan International. Previously, she held the position of Programme Director at the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) leading their Fundraising & Programme Strategy. Serap has also led the Campaign Unit at the European Network against Racism (ENAR) where she played a critical role in establishing the first European Foundation against Racism. She also spent several years as the Head of Domestic and Sexualised Violence Department and Head of Activists and City Groups for the largest women‘s rights organisation TERRE DES FEMMES in Germany, later leading on establishing and coordinating their representation in Berlin.

She has co-founded the EU Civil Society network (CSOs FPN) and is currently is a Board member of CIVICUS Alliance. A published author and scholar, Serap has written a book on the effects of domestic violence and also led the first study in Germany into implementation of favourable workplace policies for those experiencing domestic violence.

Zakiya Carr Johnson

Zakiya Carr-Johnson is a social inclusion, diversity and equity expert and strategist with extensive experience in international development and over 20 years shaping public policy. Prior to founding ODARA Solutions, LLC and launching the Black Women Disrupt Initiative, she served as Senior Advisor and Director of the first Race, Ethnicity and Social Inclusion Unit at the U.S. Department of State, and co-chair of the White House Inter-Agency Committee on Gender-Based Violence Monitoring and Evaluation during the Obama Administration. Prior to that, she was Foundation Representative for Venezuela and Ecuador at the Inter-American Foundation and Senior Technical Advisor for the Social Inclusion Trust Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Carr-Johnson has been at the forefront of promoting equality by supporting Black women and historically marginalized groups in community-based development, leadership and entrepreneurship and building bridges of transnational solidarity. Zakiya is also an accomplished public speaker, who loves to cook and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.