Women Changemakers

Nalafem’s Representative to the African Union; Executive Director, NAF Foundation for Young Women (Nigeria)

Nafisa Atiku-Adejuwon is a Nigerian lawyer, policy strategist, and civic leadership practitioner whose work advances women’s leadership, peacebuilding, democratic participation, and systems change across Africa. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, Nalafem Fellow, Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, and author of Girls Just Want to Run, a book encouraging young Nigerian women to engage in political leadership. Her advocacy work includes engagement within African Union spaces through the Nalafem Feminist Coalition, contributing to conversations around feminist leadership and representation across the continent, and she has represented Nigeria in international policy dialogues on democracy, development, and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Founder, Teach Us Consent (Australia)

Chanel Contos is the founder and CEO of Teach Us Consent, a campaign that resulted in mandatory consent education in all Australian schools and that has since evolved into a sector-leading sexual violence prevention charity. She has a Master’s in Education, Gender and International Development from University College London and was a Governor Phillip Scholar at the University of Oxford, where she read Public Policy. Chanel was part of the Australian Government’s delegation to the United Nations for CSW70 as an Official Civil Society representative.

Member of the European Parliament (Hungary)

Dóra Dávid has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2024. She is a member of TISZA, the new democratic opposition party in Hungary. TISZA is part of the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political group in the European Parliament. Dóra sits in the Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, where she focuses on EU digital policies, especially on the protection of minors online, AI policymaking, and technological sovereignty. Dóra is a multilingual London- and Cambridge-educated lawyer with many years’ experience advising multinational companies in competition, data protection, and consumer protection law. She has worked at international law firms, global tech companies, an international NGO, and in an EU institution.

Member of Parliament, The House of Commons (Canada)

Karina Gould is the Member of Parliament for Burlington and currently serves as Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance in Canada. Since first being elected in 2015, she has held several senior Cabinet positions, including Minister of Democratic Institutions, Minister of International Development, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and Government House Leader. Prior to entering politics, she worked in international trade and migration policy, gaining experience in both economic and global affairs. A graduate of McGill University and the University of Oxford, she is also the youngest woman ever appointed to the federal Cabinet and the first federal Cabinet minister to give birth while in office.

Regional Trade Analyst, United Nations Development Programme Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa (South Africa)

Nozipho Hlophe is an econometrician and development practitioner who has contributed to initiatives that strengthen regional integration, expand market access for businesses, and advance opportunities for women and youth. Currently serving as a Regional Trade Analyst at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Service Centre for Africa, she supports the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). She is also an alumna of the African Young Women Leaders Programme, a flagship initiative of the African Union Commission and UNDP. Born in Soweto, South Africa, Nozipho is driven by a belief that prosperity, dignity, and opportunity should be accessible to all and that Africa’s future will be shaped by the people bold enough to build it. She holds dual Master’s degrees in International Political Economy & Development (International Banking and Finance) and Economics from Fordham University, graduating summa cum laude.

Human Rights Officer, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Brazil)

Camila Koch is a Human Rights Officer at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), where she has worked since 2017. Before joining the IACHR, Camila served as an Advocacy Advisor at the Institute for Development and Human Rights, Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Committee on Human Rights and Foreign Policy, and a member of the National Committee on Human Rights Education, among other roles at the local and national levels. She holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law with distinction from the University of São Paulo School of Law and is fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.

Senior Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Japan)

Tomoko Matsuzawa is a specialist in the humanitarian–security nexus, with over 20 years of experience bridging humanitarian action, security policy, and WPS initiatives. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA. Previously, she served in Japan’s Ministry of Defense as the Ministry’s first Gender Advisor and Director for International Cooperation on WPS. She also became the first civilian and the first woman to co-chair the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping. Earlier in her career, she worked with the United Nations, served as a Human Rights Advisor at Japan’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, advised Japan’s Cabinet Office on peacekeeping, and held leadership roles with the International Committee of the Red Cross in South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, and the Philippines, including as Head of Office in Mindanao.

People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine)

Iryna Nykorak is a Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Head of the Subcommittee on Veterans’ Rehabilitation, and Head of the Inter-Factional Group “Veterans Now” in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. She is the founder of Arm Women Now, a leading Ukrainian initiative supporting servicewomen, veterans, and gender-responsive defense reform. She also leads one of the largest studies on women in Ukraine’s security and defense sector. Iryna has represented Ukraine at NATO Headquarters, the Royal Navy Leadership Symposium, the Nordic Center for Gender in Military Operations, and other international defense forums. She is an Open World Program alumna of the U.S. Congress and was recognized among Ukrainska Pravda’s Top 100 Most Influential Women of Ukraine in 2025.

Executive Director, Gulf International Forum (Qatar)

Dania Thafer is the Founder and Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute based in Washington, D.C. that provides analysis on political, economic, social, and security issues for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. She is a Lecturer at Georgetown University and the National Foreign Affairs Training Center of the U.S. State Department. Her expertise is on the Gulf region’s security, U.S.-Gulf relations, and the political economy of the GCC states. Her commentary has appeared in international media outlets, including: The New York Times, BBC World, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, CNN, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, and others.

Executive Director, Gulf International Forum (Qatar)

Dania Thafer is the Founder and Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute based in Washington, D.C. that provides analysis on political, economic, social, and security issues for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. She is a Lecturer at Georgetown University and the National Foreign Affairs Training Center of the U.S. State Department. Her expertise is on the Gulf region’s security, U.S.-Gulf relations, and the political economy of the GCC states. Her commentary has appeared in international media outlets, including: The New York Times, BBC World, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, CNN, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, and others.

Indonesia Country Representative for the US-ASEAN Business Council (Indonesia)

Nugraheni Widia Utami is the Chief Country Representative for Indonesia at the US-ASEAN Business Council, where she leads engagement with government and industry on regulatory and policy developments affecting the U.S. business community. With more than ten years of experience in public policy and government relations, she advises member companies on navigating Indonesia’s business environment and fosters strategic partnerships at national and regional levels. Utami was awarded an Australia Awards Scholarship to pursue a Master of Public Policy at the Australian National University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Universitas Indonesia. Earlier in her career, she served in the Indonesian Government, including at the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS.

Co-Founder and Education Director of #Undi18 (Malaysia)

Qyira Yusri is the Co-Founder of #Undi18, the nationwide movement that successfully lobbied the Malaysian Parliament to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, enfranchising 5.8 million new voters. Her work sits at the intersection of youth politics, democratic reform, and civic power-building across Malaysia and the wider region. In 2022, she was appointed Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships. That same year, she served as Chief of Staff to MP Syed Saddiq during the General Elections. Qyira also co-founded The 111 Initiative, a program equipping young Malaysian women with political advocacy skills, with alumni going on to contest in both state and general elections. She continues to serve on the National Consultative Youth Council under the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports, and on the Advisory Board of the Youth Democracy Cohort, a coalition of over 300 organisations advancing democratic access globally.

Laura Alonso is a politician and institutional consultant. She is currently the spokesperson for the city government of Buenos Aires. She has been recently elected state-deputy (2025-2029). She was twice elected national deputy (2209- 2015). She directed the Anti-Corruption Office of Argentina (2015-2019). During her tenure, Argentina reached its best score in the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International. She directed the legal team that investigated former Presidents and ministers in corruption cases. The majority were prosecuted and found guilty. She co-chaired the G20 Anti-Corruption Group in 2018 and was a mission chief to the OECD Anti-Bribery Group. Laura promoted several laws related to transparency and anticorruption. She is one of the co-founders of the consulting firm Línea Final in 2023, specializing in strategy and communication for the development of political and corporate leadership. She was selected Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and received an award by Vital Voices Global Partnership in 2008 for her public leadership.

Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is currently a third-term Member of Parliament for the Klottey-Korle Constituency in the Republic of Ghana serving as a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party. Committed to environmental activism and as a strong advocate of inclusivity and empowerment for all people, she serves as the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Intelligence, a Member of the Defence and Interior Committee and the Committee on Petitions.

Anna is a two-term Member of the Parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) who served from 2019 to 2024. Concurrently, she was also the Bangsamoro Attorney General and, prior to this, the Assistant Cabinet Secretary of the Bangsamoro Government. In Parliament, she was Deputy Floor Leader and the Chair of the Committee on Accounts, in charge of the budget and all matters related to the running of the Parliament. Before joining the Parliament, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, the government agency tasked to serve the particular needs of the minority Muslims of the Philippines. She also headed the legal team of the negotiating panel representing the Philippine Government during the critical parts of the peace process with the revolutionary group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which ultimately led to the signing of the peace pact. She later became a member of the peace panel representing the MILF. She continues to serve as an advisor and consultant on matters covering Bangsamoro governance and the peace process, women, peace, and security, and Islamic finance.

Aya Chebbi is a Pan-African feminist and diplomat. She is the founder of Nalafem, one of Africa’s largest multigenerational alliances of women politicians and activists united towards transformative feminist change. She served as the African Union’s first Special Envoy on Youth from 2018 to 2021. Aya has served in various capacities, including the World Refugee Council, the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Progressive International Council, and the Oxfam Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct. She received the 2019 Gates Foundation Campaign Award and was named in Forbes’ Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women and New African Magazine List of 100 Most Influential Africans.

Dedetas made history in 2024 by becoming the first woman to become the mayor of the Üsküdar Municipality in Istanbul. Before becoming mayor, Dedetas served as the head of the Chamber of Turkish Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (GMO). In 2023, Dedetas was elected head of the Waterborne Transport Committee of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). From 2014 to 2016, Dedetas was head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB). In 2019, she made history as the first female general manager of Istanbul City Lines Inc., a subsidiary of IBB. Her tenure saw a 295% increase in female employment.

Anna Júlia Donáth was elected as a Momentum Movement (part of the Renew Europe group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2019 European Parliament election. Donáth was the leader of the party from November 2021 to May 2022, and also from January to July 2024. In 2018, during a protest, she was taken by the police and became a symbol of the fight for fundamental rights in Hungary. In the European Parliament, she focuses mainly on issues linked to the rule of law, non-discrimination, the integration of people with Romani backgrounds, shrinking civic space and media freedom.

Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram is an attorney-at-law and social activist, working with NGOs on developing a democratic civil society and protecting the rule of law in the Polish justice system. She is Co-Founder of the Justice Defense Committee and the Free Courts Foundation, both of which monitor and archive political pressure on judges and lawyers, giving them legal aid. Sylwia was appointed by the Prime Minister of Poland to serve as Chairwoman of the Committee for Clarification of the Mechanisms of Repression against Civil Society Organisations and Social Activists from 2015–2023. She regularly participates in legislative processes in Poland’s Parliament as an expert in parliamentary Constitutional Governance and Reform of the Justice System groups. She also presents on the state of the Polish justice system to the European Commission. The winner of the “Golden Paragraph” in the category of the best lawyer in Poland, in 2016 she received the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award, she was also included in the Forbes ranking of “The most influential women in Poland” for 2020.

Hon. Joanah Mamombe is a Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe’s National Assembly representing Harare West Constituency in her second term. She was first elected in 2018 becoming Zimbabwe’s youngest MP. She is an executive member of Zimbabwe’s largest opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change Party. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate, Wildlife and Tourism and the Vice Chairperson of the board on Africa Network of Parliamentarians on Climate Change. Hon. Mamombe is a recipient of the One Young World Politician of the Year Award (2020). She is a current candidate of the Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.

Khadijah is known for her philanthropic and gender balanced youth development advocacy. She has co-founded numerous social impact initiatives, including Water Relief Nigeria, Help Our Youth (HOY), To Better Nigeria & Project: Bridge the Gap. Khadijah is a member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and has been featured as one of the Top 50 Women in Marketing & Communication in Nigeria.

Nour Salam is a human rights activist and defender of women’s rights. Along with being a member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, she is a founding member of several local initiatives aimed at enhancing the role of women in society. She previously worked as a field coordinator and communication officer at the “Baytna” organization supporting Syrian civil society.

Trisha Shetty is an Indian human rights lawyer and the founder of SheSays, a youth-led nonprofit advancing gender equality through civic and youth engagement. SheSays led the largest citizen-driven global campaign on menstrual equity, #LahuKaLagaan, which successfully lobbied the Indian government to eliminate the tax on sanitary products. Trisha serves as President of the Paris Peace Forum, Steering Committee and was a member of the high-level advisory group for Olof Palme’s Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security. She was an Obama Scholar at Columbia University, was honored by the late Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for SheSays’ contribution to gender equality across the Commonwealth and is a TED speaker.

Marinika Tepić (born 1974) is a Serbian politician, journalist, and human rights activist, known for her work in the fight against corruption, media freedom, and the protection of human and minority rights. She holds a degree in philology and currently serves as the head of the parliamentary group of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), the largest opposition party in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. In that role, she has become one of the most prominent opposition figures in Serbia. In the 2022 elections, she was the lead candidate of the “United for the Victory of Serbia” coalition and its nominee for Prime Minister. In December 2023, Marinika Tepić drew national and international attention by launching a hunger strike in protest against election fraud following the December 17 elections—fraud later acknowledged in a resolution of the European Parliament. Before entering politics, she worked as a professional journalist (1997–2008) and was active in civil society organizations.