Amellia is a former Zimbabwe Women’s National Team soccer player who previously worked for an adolescent health organisation for 14 years as a youth mentor, facilitator, and trainer. Amellia is passionate about making a positive change and impact on the lives of vulnerable women and girls in underserved communities. She has facilitated activities on sexual reproductive health and rights, sexual violence, and challenging harmful gender norms with youth, parents, and the community as a whole. She has a passion for working with youth in order to increase health-seeking behaviours and decrease risks. In her spare time, she trains women and girls in soccer skills. As a part of the NMNW team, Amellia is super excited to play a part in ending sexual violence against women and children.

Katherine Daiss has significant experience in global youth development initiatives, behavior change communications, curriculum design, and impact research. She is deeply passionate about gender based violence policy, practice and research. Kat has spent the past decade living and working across Southern Africa and the US, and has engaged fluidly in private and public sector work, both domestically and internationally. She has designed and developed cutting edge HIV and sexual violence prevention curricula and training materials, led quantitative and qualitative research processes, and guided field staff to deliver high-impact front line work. She has a proven track record of mobilizing funding for sexual violence prevention, as well as managing awards to success, and is adept at developing high impact partnerships with a variety of stakeholders. As a founding member of NMNW, she is an important contributor to the growth strategy of the organization’s global work. Kat has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where she concentrated on adolescent health and violence prevention.

Craig is a Zimbabwean-born public health and social justice activist. He spent over 8 years facilitating and developing psychosocial support interventions for adolescents living with HIV in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries. In these countries, he witnessed multiple injustices that young people face, which included high cases of sexual violence and forced teenage marriages that contribute to higher adolescent HIV prevalence in the region. Craig is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute. He holds a BSc. Psychology Degree from Midlands State University in Zimbabwe and an MSc. Inequalities and Social Science Degree from The London School of Economics and Social Science.

Patrick holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Tai Solarin University of Education. With over 9 years of work experience in the NGO sector, he has spent the last decade working on youth development initiatives across his home country of Nigeria, and currently lives in Lagos. His work with Youth Empowerment and Development Initiative (YEDI) and Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) has focused deeply on gender equality, Gender-Based Violence prevention, and aftercare services, Sexual reproductive health HIV and malaria prevention. With his high proficiency in training and development, he has supported and trained alongside Grassroot Soccer global master trainers in Cameroon, Ghana and Liberia. Not only is he a highly skilled facilitator and trainer of facilitators, but he has also supported the design and adaptation of cutting-edge behavior change curriculum, and contributed to successful youth-driven projects across West Africa. Patrick is passionate about promoting a gender-equitable society, positive masculinity, and youth development.

Hind is responsible for providing on-going empowerment self-defense (ESD) training for NMNW’s trainers and ensuring that NMNW’s curriculum and training materials are aligned with empowerment self-defense best practices. She also manages NMNW’s engagement and participation within the global ESD community, while also cultivating a learning network of NMNW curriculum practitioners in order to advance the ESD approach to preventing sexual violence worldwide. 

Hind’s passion is to build safety and power for women and children by helping them tap into their inner strength and stand up for themselves and their communities against gender-based violence. Hind trains in Tang Soo Do Karate and received formal self-defense and by-stander intervention training from Defend Yourself and Malikah, where she has become an instructor. Hind is also a gender justice organizer and educator. She serves as Malikah DMV chapter regional director.

Hind previously worked as an adjunct teacher of Arabic at Montgomery College in Maryland and as a Communications Associate at KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. Hind received a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco; a M.A. in International Studies and Diplomacy from Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. She also  earned a certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University.

Kirk Friedrich is a social entrepreneur and non-profit executive who previously served as a co-founder and Executive Director of the award winning global adolescent health NGO, Grassroot Soccer. Kirk helped to lead Grassroot Soccer over a 16-year period from startup to scale, providing comprehensive health education for more than 2 million young people in 50 countries. Kirk has been a vanguard in the field of sport-based positive youth development, and is passionate about helping organizations develop their technical and operational skills to improve the lives of young people worldwide. Kirk serves on the Board of Directors of Youth Impact in Botswana and is Founder and Executive Director of Safe Roots Foundation.

For a closer look at Kirk’s path to NMNW, read about his journey here.

Michelle has over 20 years of experience in non-profit operations and fiscal development. She is a doctoral candidate in Public Administration and holds a master's degree in the same discipline, both from West Chester University. Her dissertation research identifies the role of mentoring in combating racism and sexism in higher education in the United States as a blueprint for other historic institutions (education, law, and medicine). Michelle also holds a BA from the Harvard University Extension School and an associate degree from Harrisburg Area Community College, both of which are in the field of International Relations. Michelle’s personal, professional, and academic pursuits bring people together to intentionally engage in educational and motivational dialogue about social justice issues to develop effective strategies that actively champion and protect human rights.

Annie Jones holds bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Throughout her time at UIUC, she worked with the Women’s Resources Center to teach incoming students about sexual assault prevention on campus. This passion for ending gender-based violence led her to join the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. During her time in Ethiopia, she facilitated workshops about sexual violence, reproductive health, and challenging gender norms. She is determined to live in a world without sexual assault, and is beyond excited work with NMNW to make that a reality!

Leah has nearly 20 years of experience designing, managing and evaluating youth empowerment and development initiatives across the globe. Having lived in Southern Africa for many years, Leah works fluidly across different cultures and builds strong relationships based on friendship, trust, and mutual respect. She has a comprehensive understanding of non-profit management, and has helped NMNW define a unique growth strategy, build streamlined operational structures, expand partner and donor networks, and design sustainable social impact programs. Having raised more than $22 million for youth-focused development initiatives worldwide, Leah is accomplished at both fundraising as well as managing awards to success. She is also the co-Founder of Groundswell Education, a global consulting group that has been working deeply with NMNW since 2015.

Kevin Liverpool is a men and masculinities practitioner and an advocate for gender equality in the Caribbean with significant experience in gender-based violence prevention. He is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity at the London School of Economics and Political Science and has worked on a range of violence prevention initiatives with communities and marginalized youth. His community work engages men and boys to promote gender equality and end violence against women and girls through a range of contextualized gender transformative initiatives which focus on promoting responsible fatherhood, sexual and reproductive health and rights, men’s health and wellbeing, gender equity, preventing violence against women and girls, and advocating for legislation and policies that promote equality, equity, social justice and sustainable development across the Caribbean.

Molly McHugh is responsible for leading NMNW’s external communications, telling the story of the organization’s programs, impact, and people. Prior to joining NMNW, she spent a decade with global adolescent health organization Grassroot Soccer, launching the communications and marketing department and growing it to span a large portfolio of projects. Molly previously served as the membership director at the Global Health Council, engaging member organizations from around the world in sharing best practices and advancing advocacy initiatives. Prior to moving into the global health sphere, Molly spent over a decade as a collegiate rowing coach, while also implementing community-based rowing programs. Molly is passionate about using nonprofit communications to tell stories, raise funds, and advance causes.

Patience Mungwari is a gender and women’s rights specialist with over 20 years work experience, predominantly in the women’s rights, HIV and education sectors. She is an experienced researcher, focusing specifically on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive rights. Prior to joining NMNW, Patience worked extensively across the African continent training and building the capacity of national governments, member states of the African Union, regional and sub-regional bodies, and civil society organisations on implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). She holds a Master of Philosophy in HIV/AIDS and Society (2009) and a Bachelor of Social Science Honours Degree in Gender and Transformation (2006), both from the University of Cape Town, and a Bachelor of Arts with Education from Africa University in Zimbabwe.

Judy is a passionate and dedicated certified public accountant with over ten years of experience in the financial field. With a strong belief in gender equality and women's empowerment, Judy has actively sought opportunities to make a positive impact in the lives of girls and women. Beyond her professional accomplishments, her passion lies in contributing to social change. She firmly believes in the power of education and equal opportunities for girls and women to break out of traditional societal barriers. Her strong commitment to this cause has motivated her work with organizations devoted to ending gender-based violence against women and children.

Judy is excited to leverage her financial expertise to contribute to the organization's mission to create a safer world for women and children.

Victor obtained his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the prestigious University of Lagos, Nigeria. During his undergrad, he championed a campaign against Sexual Violence and Gender Inequality against women. This was as a result of the unresolved case of rape against his friend. This informed his decision to further his passion by joining an NGO called Youth Empowerment and Development Initiative (YEDI). Victor has spent the last 7 years working on different health intervention projects such as HIV and Malaria Prevention, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Gender Based Violence and Positive Youth Development, across different states in Nigeria. He is effortlessly skilled at facilitating training sessions and has participated in curriculum development sessions. As a No Means No Trainer, Victor intends to build his training skills and also stay committed in putting an end to Gender Based Violence.

Oladele acquired her Bachelor's degree in Sociology at University of Lagos. With over 6 years of experience, Oladele is passionate about working with youths, children and women. This was evident in her work with YEDI (Youth Empowerment and Development Initiative) and WARIF (Women At Risk International Foundation) where she trained, mentored and inspired youths on prevention of malaria, HIV/AIDS and Gender-Based Violence. She then proceeded to serve in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development where she advocated for gender equality and women empowerment. Her drive for sustainable and economic development inspired her to volunteer at non-profit organizations like SFH (Society for Family Health) and AHI (Action Health Incorporated) to train youths on crafts and life skills. In a bid to impact more lives, achieve a healthy society and violent-free world, Oladele is beyond excited to join the NMNW team.

Nandita has a background in global health research and evaluation working with health systems strengthening and social and behavioral change interventions around the world. In the past, she has worked with programs on gender equity and gender-based violence, maternal and child health, and infectious disease in limited-resource communities in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology with a certificate in Global Health from Columbia University. Nandita is passionate about strengthening health and community systems to better protect the most vulnerable among us. She is excited to join the team at No Means No Worldwide and make an impact in ending sexual violence around the world.

Judith St. Fort is an international development professional with over 20 years of experience leading programs in the field and headquarters. She has extensive expertise in program operations and functions, grants management, staff development, and working with multiple partners and donors, ensuring compliance with donors’ agreements and organizational policies. She has managed programs in various technical areas, including relief efforts, conflict resolution, and gender-based violence. Judith has worked for several international organizations, leading teams in Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Ghana. She is thrilled to join No Means No Worldwide to support its mission to end sexual and gender-based violence against women and children globally.

Isaac was born and raised in Uganda, East Africa. He holds a Diploma in Business Administration from YMCA Comprehensive Institute Kampala and was trained as a No Means No Instructor in Uganda in early 2020. Isaac was a teacher in a small primary school in the slums of Kawempe, Kampala. He also worked with Raise All African Children Ministries (RAAC) that has helped to change many kids lives in slums of Kampala and many other villages around Uganda through training children how to live in a non-violent and Godly way of life. As a male No Means No Instructor he has been able to reach many young boys who have shared a lot with him about their experiences around gender-based violence, and he has also educated them on how to prevent engaging in GBV and avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.

Danielle has multiple years of experience designing, managing and evaluating sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, and gender equity programs across the globe. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Health for Development from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Having lived in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and North America, she works fluidly across cultures and loves bringing together diverse perspectives to create meaningful change. With a background in research, program management, and monitoring and evaluation, she is adept at leveraging data to ensure programs are sustainable, locally driven, and impactful. Danielle is passionate about empowering young people with the information and skills to stand up for themselves and their communities to end gender-based violence. .

Shepherd is a researcher who cuts across a spectrum of disciplines including sexual AND gender-based violence (SGBV), women and children’s rights, social protection, basic education, and local government. He is passionate about empowering young people and women with skills and knowledge to stand up against any form of abuse. He has over 9 years of research experience using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Shepherd holds a PhD and Masters degree in Public Administration and Bachelor of Social Science, all from the University of Fort Hare. Dr Shepherd has a mixed work experience sprouting from higher education, basic education, private sector and NGO fields. He has worked as a tutor coordinator, gender advocate, research mentor and research assistant on various projected funded by National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) at the University of Fort Hare, business analyst at Nihka Technology Group and research analyst in the Eastern Cape Department of Education where he was the chairperson for ECDoE Research Ethics Committee, policy developer, and reviewer. Dr Shepherd enjoys multidisciplinary writing and publishing of articles and book chapters. He is also a reviewer for a journal articles, e.g. Africa Renaissance Journal and the Asian Journal of Economics, Business & Accounting, and he is a special member of the Institute for Local Government Management of South Africa.