Our team is excited to welcome Irene Mwendwa, as our new Director of Partnerships and Voice. Irene is a lawyer committed to building the partnerships, institutions, and collective power needed to advance African women’s leadership and solidarity. She has a particular interest in how African women and feminist movements can shape the policies, institutions, and technologies that determine their lives and futures.

As the Director of the Partnerships and Voice portfolio, Irene joins the team with a vision to strengthen partnerships and collective power of African women’s rights organizations and feminist movements and  enhance feminist approaches to resource mobilisation and philanthropy. ‘I am particularly interested in connecting movements, funders and allies in ways that shift power and enable African women to set the agenda for the futures they want,’ she says.

She believes we should never simply inherit the world we are given. “We have a responsibility to reshape it and to ensure African women have the power, voice and solidarity to shape what comes next,”

Asked which influential African feminist leader she would love to have dinner with, she notes Amina Mama.” I would discuss the evolution of African feminist solidarity, thought and movements and how we can sustain feminist organising as we navigate changing political, economic and technological realities. .I’d be especially curious to hear her thoughts on how younger generations can build on the intellectual and organizing traditions of African feminism while creating new forms of solidarity and collective power,” she concluded.

Join us  as we welcome Irene to the AWDF team and community. We look forward to a fruitful journey with her.

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