Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode
Founder Murtala Muhammed Foundation
Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode
Founder Murtala Muhammed Foundation
Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, Board Chair of AFWAG, is a seasoned business leader, development activist, social sector professional, and human rights advocate with a specialty in gender, youth, and equality initiatives.
As the founding CEO of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, she has committed her career to promoting development and thought leadership across Nigeria and Africa, focusing on reducing inequality, poverty, and hunger, while also championing economic empowerment, climate action, inclusion, education, disaster risk reduction, and peace and justice.
With a law doctorate and over two decades of experience in the development sector, Dr. Aisha employs her expertise in the creation and implementation of policies, programs, and initiatives that advocate for equity, fairness, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for women, girls, youth, and marginalized groups including older adults. Aisha is also a board member of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board (WLB) and the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP), serving as an advisor and country expert for the University of Pennsylvania Law Global Women’s Leadership Project. Her latest academic contributions include chapters on SDG 1 “No Poverty” and SDG 5 “Gender Equality”, published by Routledge in 2021.
H.E. Rosalía Arteaga
Former President of Ecuador
H.E. Rosalía Arteaga
Former President of Ecuador
Madam Rosalía Arteaga was the First Ecuadorian woman becoming President and Vice-President of the Republic of Ecuador. In addition to her presidency, Arteaga also served as Vice President of Ecuador from 1996 to 1998. She was also Undersecretary of Culture and Minister of Education, Culture and Sports. General Secretary of Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization ACTO.
Beyond her political career, Arteaga is a well-respected intellectual and an accomplished writer. She has written numerous books, articles, and research papers, covering various topics such as education, culture, ecology, women’s rights, and the constitution. Her work has been published in multiple languages and in many countries worldwide.
Currently she serves as Executive President FIDAL Foundation and President of the International University of La Rioja UNIR in Ecuador.
Nemaisa Kiereini
Director Of the Finance Trade and Investment Network Council
Nemaisa Kiereini
Director Of the Finance Trade and Investment Network Council | Partner at Genesis Nextgen Consulting
Nemaisa is a Partner at Genesis Nextgen Consulting and a Director on the Finance Trade and Investment Network Council, with over 15 years of experience in private sector development, business membership organisations, and regulatory reform.
She has held senior leadership roles including CEO of KNCCI Nairobi Chapter, Deputy CEO of KNCCI National Office, and Trade and Investment Advisor at KEPSA, and has worked in the telecommunications sector.
Nemaisa has partnered with organisations such as Mastercard Foundation, IFC, World Bank, TradeMark Africa, and CIPE, focusing on gender diversity, financial inclusion, and SME regulatory reforms.
Her achievements include developing the KNCCI MSME Recovery Program with Mastercard Foundation, leading the Boresha Mama Program with FSD Kenya and TradeMark Africa, and creating a Women in Trade platform to expand market access across Eastern Africa. At KEPSA, she played a key role in reforms that helped Kenya rise from position 136 to 56 in the World Bank Doing Business Index.
Sarah Henry
Executive Director, Tandem Equality
Sarah Henry
Executive Director, Tandem Equality
Sarah Henry is an accomplished leader in the field of gender equality and development. She is currently the Executive Director at Tandem Equality. Before founding Tandem Equality, she was the President of the Global Center for Gender Equality, where she played a pivotal role in addressing the root causes of inequality and promoting gender equality worldwide. As the founding Executive Director of the organisation, Sarah built a highly skilled team and developed a compelling vision for their work. Additionally, Sarah has been a Senior Strategy Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2015. In this role, she has provided valuable insights and guidance on incorporating a gender equality perspective into the foundation’s initiatives. Her expertise extends to areas such as partnerships, global health, organisational strategy, and impact.
With over 20 years of experience, Sarah has dedicated her career to advancing gender equality and creating positive social change. She is passionate about building organisations that embody their values both internally and externally, ensuring that they have a lasting impact on the communities they serve. Outside of her professional life, Sarah resides in Seattle with her three children. She shares her home with a dog and two cats, affectionately referring to them as her “zoo.”
Alex Mutambudzi
Finance Director, NEC Software Solutions UK
Alex Mutambudzi
Finance Director at NEC Software Solutions UK | Property Investor with Cobhold Property Group.
Alex Mutambudzi is the Finance Director at NEC Software Solutions UK with over two decades of experience in finance leadership, business development, and cross-sector collaboration. He has held senior roles at AstraZeneca, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Dell, and TLM Technologies, guiding both multinational corporations and emerging businesses through complex financial landscapes.
He has expertise in financial strategy, forecasting, mergers and acquisitions, and organisational growth, with particular strength in VC and PE-backed environments. Beyond corporate finance, he is also a Property Investor with Cobhold Property Group.
Alex holds a BA (Hons) in Accountancy with Business Finance from the University of West London, an Executive MBA from De Montfort University, and is a qualified CIMA Chartered Management Accountant. His innovative approach includes projects such as a fertility support app that gained national recognition for providing resources to individuals navigating fertility challenges.
Passionate about broad-based social impact, his interests span children’s welfare, economic empowerment, education, human rights, and community development.
Margaret Mliwa
Ford Foundation Regional Director, East Africa
Margaret Mliwa
Ford Foundation Regional Program Officer, East Africa
Margaret Mliwa is a Regional Program Officer based in the Ford Foundation’s office for East Africa in Nairobi. She has more than 30 years of social justice experience, working with government, civil society, and philanthropy to advocate for and implement policies that champion community-driven programs with an emphasis on girls and women’s voices, rights-based approaches, and strengthening leadership and capacity development among youth/women-led networks and organizations. She has been instrumental in catalysing and nurturing the growth of local, national, and global youth social justice movements to push for
government accountability and responsiveness, and to put mechanisms in place for meaningful youth engagement to improve resource distribution and service delivery.
Before joining Ford, Margaret was the country director of Restless Development Tanzania, a global youth-led development agency. Before that, she served as head of the Youth Social Mobilization Unit of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the government of Kenya and as lead consultant in the development of the National Youth Service framework for the Sierra Leonean government. Margaret is a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship and holds a bachelor’s degree in education.
Gerald Chirinda
Founder and CEO, Future Africa Group
Gerald Chirinda
Founder and CEO, Future Africa Group
Gerald Chirinda is the Founder and CEO of Future Africa Group which houses Future Africa Forum— a platform for thought leadership that partners with organizations to build a better Africa, and Future Africa Consulting— an Africa-focused and based management consulting firm.
He has co-founded Educate, an education access and improvement company that partners with schools to provide financial access through the issuing of loans within the education ecosystem; and Youth Combating NTDs, a global community of young people who are fighting to end Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Gerald has served on the Now Generation Network sub-committee of the Ibrahim Index Advisory Council for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which works to assess the effectiveness of the Ibrahim Index for African Governance (IIAG). He has also held several leadership roles, including being a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, a Young Leader at the French-African Foundation, an alumnus of the Global Shapers Community, and a member of the Advisory Board for the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Gerald Chirinda holds a MSc in Innovation, Leadership, and Management from the University of York.
