Evelyne Opondo (she/her) is the Africa Director at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) where she provides leadership for ICRW’s strategies and mission in Africa. She is a skilled strategist and human rights, reproductive health and gender justice advocate with over two decades of practical experience working side by side with activists on the ground. She has in-depth knowledge of the civil society sector, human rights advocacy, organizational leadership, and strategic communications. Prior to joining ICRW, Evelyne served as the Senior Regional Director for Africa at the Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) based in Kenya. In this role, she was responsible for developing, communicating, and executing strategies, as well as mobilizing resources to ensure successful delivery and sustainability of the Center’s mandate in Africa. Before joining the Center, she served as the Africa Regional Policy Associate for Ipas, a global sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organization, where she focused on regional norm building, working closely with the regional human rights mechanisms and partnering with both government and non-governmental organizations across several African countries to contribute to health systems strengthening and access to quality SRHR services for women. From 2004 – 2010, she worked for the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya, a premier women’s rights organization, where she advocated for a broad range of women rights issues and held a series of progressively responsible positions, leaving the organization in 2010 as the Senior Program Officer. Evelyne began her career in 2001 as a State Law Officer in the Office of the Attorney General of Kenya. She worked mostly with poor and vulnerable widows in the administration of estates particularly the identification of assets and beneficiaries, litigation, and subsequent transfer of estates. Evelyne has written several opinion and issue-oriented articles, primarily on women’s rights and holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Pune University, India and a master’s degree in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She is a board member of FP2030 and the Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the Reproductive Health Network – Kenya. She is also a member of Kenya’s Family Planning Total Market Approach Implementation Taskforce. She’s an alumna of WomenLift Health’s East Africa leadership journey, a program that provides the tools, mentorship, and coaching support to help expand the power and influence of women leaders in global health. She is also council member of The Council for Responsible Social Media .

Josphat Njeru (he/him) is the Operations Director for ICRW Africa. He oversees the operations of the regional offices, working closely with ICRW Africa’s Director and ICRW’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Finance Officer. Josphat is responsible for budget management, financial and contract management, and ensuring alignment to global finance policies and procedures. Josphat also monitors overall project spending against budget and annual targets and reviews financial projections to ensure programs are completed within budget and generating targeted overhead recovery. As a key member of the leadership team, Josphat oversees Office Administration in Kenya and Uganda, supervising and coordinating the efforts of all administrative staff. He also supports business development efforts to ensure alignment with global business development strategy and procedures. Josphat serves as Secretary to the Africa Regional Board and the boards of ICRW Uganda and ICRW Kenya, as well as ensures adherence to all statutory requirements of the Government of Kenya and Government of Uganda. Prior to joining ICRW, Josphat worked at Heifer International as Regional Finance and Administration Director, where he worked in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria and was responsible for overseeing the financial management and administration of the organization. He was also responsible for treasury and accounting, budgeting functions and systems, and formulation and implementation of financial strategies and policies. Prior to his work with Heifer, Josphat worked at KPMG Channel Islands (UK) and Ernst & Young (EY) for several years as audit manager.

Dr. Chimaraoke Izugbara (he/him) is the Director of the Global Health, Youth & Development portfolio, based out of the ICRW-Africa office, where he provides strategic direction, thought leadership, resource and talent management, technical oversight, and quality assurance within ICRW’s global research platform. With over 20 years of experience working within and with research and academic institutes, Dr. Izugbara has designed and directed research and programmatic activities on the health and rights of girls and young women in most parts of Africa and has served on numerous expert and advisory panels on issues related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender equality. Additionally, his research addresses issues related to SRH services such as abortion, men, sexuality, LGBT rights, and social development. Prior to joining ICRW, Dr. Izugbara directed the Population Dynamics and Reproductive Health Program at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), after directing the institution’s Research Capacity Strengthening Division for nearly a decade. A professor-at-large at the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Dr. Izugbara has taught in universities in West and East Africa, Europe, and the United States. Dr. Izugbara is a leading international scholar and researcher on gender, youth, sexuality, and maternal, sexual, and reproductive health, with over 120 published scholarly papers and books. He has a forthcoming book on Sex Work Third Sector Organizations co-authored with Susan Dewey and Isabel Crowhurst. Dr. Izugbara is the recipient of the 2018 Reproductive Justice and Abortion Research Champion Award. In addition to his membership on numerous editorial boards, he also serves as a paper reviewer for over 40 international journals including the Lancet, Social Science and Medicine, Sexualities, Gender & Society, The Social Worker, and African Journal of Reproductive Health.

Caroline is based at the ICRW-Nairobi office, where she oversees Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Research and Learning initiatives for projects focused on empowering young mothers and enhancing early childhood development. For over 13 years, Caroline has worked in the public health sector with extensive experience in health systems research, HIV programming and surveillance, project management, stakeholder engagement and knowledge management. Her work at ICRW includes designing, leading and managing comprehensive monitoring and evaluation frameworks for a multi-country project focused on preventing gender-based violence and promoting inclusive economic empowerment. She believes that no woman should lose her life while giving birth, and that every child deserves to celebrate their fifth birthday. According to her, women and children are the cornerstone of society and by empowering them, we empower the entire world . She firmly believes that ” if we cannot measure our interventions, then most probably cannot manage them.” Prior to joining ICRW, Caroline worked as a MEL Specialist at Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Kenya Red Cross Society, Program Manager at the Centre for Health Solutions Kenya, Recency Program Coordinator at UCSF Global Programs for Research and Training and Research Officer at Amref Health Africa.

Chryspin Afifu (he/him) is a Gender and WEE (women’s economic empowerment) Specialist for ICRW Africa and brings over decade of experience in East Africa. Chryspin carries out research and provides technical assistance on projects across sectors and topics including women’s economic empowerment, agriculture, labor markets, unpaid care, trade, and women’s work in non-traditional sectors. Prior to joining ICRW, Chryspin worked with national and local policymakers, developing evidence-based and gender integrated policies and plans. He has extensive experience on programs and projects with a focus on gender mainstreaming in project planning and management, specifically through human rights-based approaches to programming, results-based management, and outcome mapping. Chryspin previously worked as a consultant for ICRW Africa on the Women in Manufacturing project and on REBUILD: COVID-19 and Women in the Informal Economy in Kenya, Uganda, and India. Chryspin also worked with OXFAM on a study to establish pathways to eliminating critical barriers facing women’s economic empowerment in Kenya. He has carried out several other studies and direct implementation of programs with the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), UN Women, the World Bank, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) National Taxpayer’s Association (NTA), the State Department of Gender Affairs (SDGA), the Centre for Parliamentary Studies and Training (CPST), and many other international and local organizations that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment principles. Hellen revolutionized monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning systems for impact and amplified brand visibility for different non-governmental organizations through strategic communications and public campaigns. She has built systems for program and grants management, designed road maps for strengthening locally led development, and coached managers into leaders. Hellen works as the Strategy, Quality, and Impact Director at World Vision in Ethiopia. She previously served as the Director of Programme Development and Quality at Save the Children Kenya and Madagascar Country Office. Hellen is a board member of Femicide Count KE a Nongovernmental Organization that focuses on eliminating Violence Against Women in Kenya, particularly Femicide.

Deborah Nakisuyi (she/her) is the Associate Director of Program Management and Operations based out of the ICRW-Africa office. She has 13 years of work experience in banking, project implementation, and administration of NGOs for both national and international organizations. She has experience with both startups and growing multi-donor-funded institutions and programs. Deborah has taken the lead in establishing office and unit structures and the development of institutional policies and procedures, as well as facilitating staff recruitment and capacity building. Prior to joining ICRW, Deborah worked with Catholic Relief Services as Administration Manager. Before that, she worked with One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA), a network institution operating in six countries in East and Central Africa, where she led the financial management and reporting for large USG-funded projects while contributing to portfolio growth and expansion. She worked with the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) from 2009 to 2012 and Technoserve Inc. from 2008 to 2009. Deborah also worked at Barclays Bank Limited, where she started her career as a banking officer.

Faith Tsuma (she/her) is a Research Assistant based out of the ICRW- Nairobi office where she provides support towards implementation of project activities. She provides technical support in research protocol development, study tools; conducting literature searches/ reviews; providing technical support for quality implementation of research activities; supporting field data collection (qualitative and quantitative) and management; data transcription, entry, cleaning, coding, and analysis; supporting project documentation and learning; and providing administrative assistance to projects. She has majorly worked in Kenya. For the past two years, Faith has worked both as a consultant, researcher, and research assistant to various research projects that involved qualitative and quantitative research methods, impact evaluation as well as policy-oriented research projects. She has also co-authored several conference papers and published research articles. Prior to joining ICRW, Faith consulted for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) as a researcher under the CGIAR initiative: Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems. She was a research assistant to the following policy-oriented projects: Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Value Added Tax Implementation in Liberia sponsored by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Assessment of the Direct Tax System in Kenya sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). She was a research assistant at Kenyatta University Women Economic Empowerment Hub (KU WEE Hub) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, under the project: Effectiveness of Women-in-Manufacturing Program in Promoting Economic Empowerment for Women Entrepreneurs in the Manufacturing Sector in Kenya.

Josphat Njeru (he/him) is the Operations Director for ICRW Africa. He oversees the operations of the regional offices, working closely with ICRW Africa’s Director and ICRW’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Finance Officer. Josphat is responsible for budget management, financial and contract management, and ensuring alignment to global finance policies and procedures. Josphat also monitors overall project spending against budget and annual targets and reviews financial projections to ensure programs are completed within budget and generating targeted overhead recovery. As a key member of the leadership team, Josphat oversees Office Administration in Kenya and Uganda, supervising and coordinating the efforts of all administrative staff. He also supports business development efforts to ensure alignment with global business development strategy and procedures. Josphat serves as Secretary to the Africa Regional Board and the boards of ICRW Uganda and ICRW Kenya, as well as ensures adherence to all statutory requirements of the Government of Kenya and Government of Uganda. Prior to joining ICRW, Josphat worked at Heifer International as Regional Finance and Administration Director, where he worked in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria and was responsible for overseeing the financial management and administration of the organization. He was also responsible for treasury and accounting, budgeting functions and systems, and formulation and implementation of financial strategies and policies. Prior to his work with Heifer, Josphat worked at KPMG Channel Islands (UK) and Ernst & Young (EY) for several years as audit manager.

Judith Otindo (she/her) is a Finance and Administration Specialist based out of the ICRW-Africa office in Kenya where she works with the programs teams and management to maintain financial integrity and ensure sound financial and administrative management of ICRW Africa. With 13 years of experience in managing multi-million dollar financial portfolios across the NGO and private sectors in the areas of operations management, financial accounting and auditing, grant and contract management, implementation of management control and reporting and compliance. Her current work at ICRW includes implementing and developing procedures, which promote financial and administrative discipline to meet organizational goals as well as maintaining strong controls as they relate to the organization. She oversees the Human Resource and Administrative systems and practices, provides guidance on human resources policy interpretation, recruiting and retention, employee relations and local employment laws to ensure that ICRW remains a competitive employer. Prior to joining ICRW, Judith worked at Wetlands International based in the Eastern Africa regional office in Nairobi where she was part of the team that set up and oversaw financial and operating systems in four countries and worked with implementing partners across the region in capacity building. She also worked at IRnet Coop Kenya a subsidiary of World Council of Credit Unions as Compliance and Operations Officer where she developed and implemented processes and controls that facilitated liquidity and cash management and ensured compliance in Anti-Money Laundering.

Kerryn Magak (she/her) is a Research Assistant based out of the Kenya office where she is currently working under the Economic Opportunity and Security program. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with keen interests in Human Rights, Research and International Law. For over three years, Kerryn has worked in the human rights and legal sector where she contributed to ensuring the marginalized in society have access to justice. Her current work at ICRW includes providing technical support in development of research proposals, supporting literature reviews and data collection amongst many other responsibilities. Prior to joining ICRW, Kerryn worked at Kituo cha Sheria (Legal Advice Center) as an Advocate trainee as well as Data clerk where she supported the implementation of various research projects and programs. She also served as a National Coordinator for UNESCO’s ‘Girls Back to School Campaign’ in Africa to ensure young girls continue with their education even after the Impact of Covid-19.

Kirabo Suubi (she/her) is an economics and public health specialist with wide ranging experience in research and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Prior to joining ICRW, Kirabo was a research analyst at Synergus RWE in Stockholm. There she supported digital health market access and undertook various research and data analysis using large data sets in support of the initiatives for service providers across Europe. She conducted research studies on the Swedish primary health care systems’ remote monitoring solutions for chronic disease management and co-authored a publication on the same. Prior to joining ICRW, Kirabo was a research, monitoring and evaluation specialist at Marie Stopes Uganda, where she developed the M&E system and tools for the DFID 5-year RISE program, she developed protocols, handled IRB and EC approvals and undertook various research. At the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers – FIDA Uganda, she was the monitoring and evaluation officer, where she established the M&E system that the institution uses to date. While at the institution, she cultivated, advocated, and boosted the M&E culture and evidence-based practices, and handled a portfolio of four international donor programs running simultaneously. While at Makerere University School of Economics, she was a programs, research and evaluation coordinator, a position she obtained as a promotion from research assistant. Kirabo has also undertaken various consultancies as an expert on projects within the horn of Africa conducting impact assessments, costing and evaluation studies. During her professional journey, Kirabo has conducted empirical research as well as advocating for evidence-based practical solutions to inform policy formulation. She has contributed to projects that; have enhanced equitable access to justice for women, children aimed at reducing gender-based violence in west Nile and northern regions of Uganda. The programs that have promoted social inclusion, women economic empowerment and community sustainable livelihoods in central and eastern Uganda. Other programs have contributed to improved sexual reproduction and health rights of women plus young people. Enhanced access to contraception and family planning services to the hard-to-reach areas in Uganda. Improved maternal and child health services programs. HIV/AIDS projects that have improve the health status of people living with HIV/AIDS, Promoted HIV prevention approaches while reducing the rate of HIV infections among vulnerable groups. Advanced gender responsive governance of women plus the youths’ effective participation in public life. Kirabo has conducted research to contribute to the body of knowledge and evidence-based action. Studies have included ‘Access to health and covid-19 in Uganda’, ‘Contraceptive use and its determinants, among of migrants in Sweden’, and ‘Fear and Ambivalence – Understanding perceptions towards modern contraceptives for men living in urban informal settlements of Uganda.’

Dr. Linet Arisa (she/her) is a Senior Research Scientist – Women & Youth Economic Opportunity & Security, based at the ICRW-Nairobi office where she leads in proposal development, research design and implementation. For over a decade, Linet has worked in the financial sector in the area of research and capacity building, with extensive experience in micro-econometric research methods, collaborative and interdisciplinary research. Her focus is in improving the livelihoods of the young people through capacity building and advocating for enhanced projects that promote youth and women empowerment. Her current work at ICRW includes overseeing the Women and Youth Economic Opportunity and Security program and leading in research design, dissemination of evidence and policy advocacy. She has worked throughout East and South Africa. Prior to joining ICRW, Linet worked at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board at the enterprise development unit, market support and linkages, credit management, research and policy analysis. She also worked at the Kenya Women Finance Trust in business development, and as sessional lecturer and researcher at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Methodist University and The University of the Witwatersrand. She has also served as a peer reviewer and consultant in financial inclusion research, for the Central Bank of Kenya and the Financial Sector Deepening Kenya.

Matilda Sang (she/her) is a Research Scholar based at the ICRW Uganda Office, joining us as part of the Scholars for Social Change project, in partnership with Crossroads International & The Mastercard Foundation. Matilda is supporting ICRW’s research and evaluation projects focused on youth, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and women’s empowerment. With a strong background in research and project implementation, she has worked on various projects, including a comprehensive needs assessment study with UNFPA and research consultancies with Mastercard Foundation (UG), Medicines San Frontiers (Cameroon), and Ilara Health. Matilda is skilled in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, Matilda is proficient in software packages such as SPSS, STATA, and Dedoose. She has expertise in evaluation methodologies, program logic, and theory of change. When she is not working, she likes traveling, experiencing new cultures, and reading lots of African literature.

Sam Kirabo (he/him) is a Business Development and Administrative Assistant based out of the ICRW-Africa office. He works on a wide range of projects, such as helping to drive the successful delivery of ICRW’s ICPD25 side event in Nairobi. Prior to joining ICRW, Sam worked with CivSource Africa (a philanthropy organization whose mission is refining the footprint of philanthropy for effective civic engagement in Africa) as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer. He also provided logistical and administrative support to the senior management team. Sam is an author, and is passionate about supporting and helping others achieve their goals as he also journeys toward achieving his own goals. He has a background in administration, operations, and logistical support. Sam is a graduate of the Harvest Institute (a leadership institute in Kampala), and upon graduating published his book entitled “Fund Your Dream.”

Sam Kirabo (he/him) is a Business Development and Administrative Assistant based out of the ICRW-Africa office. He works on a wide range of projects, such as helping to drive the successful delivery of ICRW’s ICPD25 side event in Nairobi. Prior to joining ICRW, Sam worked with CivSource Africa (a philanthropy organization whose mission is refining the footprint of philanthropy for effective civic engagement in Africa) as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer. He also provided logistical and administrative support to the senior management team. Sam is an author, and is passionate about supporting and helping others achieve their goals as he also journeys toward achieving his own goals. He has a background in administration, operations, and logistical support. Sam is a graduate of the Harvest Institute (a leadership institute in Kampala), and upon graduating published his book entitled “Fund Your Dream.”

Venantius Bbaale Kirwana (he/him/his) is a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, based out of ICRW Africa office. He leads the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Research, and learning of projects focusing on sexual reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, and inclusive economic empowerment. For over 12 years, Venantius has gathered experience in the design, execution, and quality assurance of multi-partner monitoring, evaluation, and research frameworks. He has mastered documentation of project results/outcomes/impact and utilizing this evidence to inform advocacy and policy actions to enhance social justice. He believes that through studied methodologies and approaches, women in their diversity, can use evidence to lead actions that promote just societies; free from violations, structural and systemic exclusions. He is an experienced academic and action researcher, with a focus on breaking systemic and structural inequalities. He has special skills in collaborative learning, adaptive management, knowledge management, resource mobilization, quantitative and qualitative data analysis using STATA, SPSS, Atlas Ti., Dedoose, Epi-Info, Epi-Data, R, and Python. He has particular strengths in building and managing diverse, multi-disciplinary teams to create unimaginable results. Before joining ICRW, Venantius worked at the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance Uganda in Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning role where he worked on several programs including GetUp Speak Out (GUSO), Transform SRHR (TSRHR), Enhancing Access to Justice for SGBV Survivors (ENAJUS), Right Here Right Now (RHRN2), We Lead, Make-Way, ACT SRHR, and many others. He also worked as an Academic Registrar at Mildmay Institute of Health Sciences and as a Research and Evaluation Manager (Part-time) at the Innovation Program for Community Transformation (INPACT)- Uganda.