Meet the Team
Joe Bassey is a goal driven development practitioner with over eight years of experience in the development field. He has successfully carved a niche for himself in the field of women and youth development, with a strong focus on project management communication, monitoring and evaluation, coalition and capacity building. He is a fellow with the INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (ILI) with major capacity building experience and certifications from LEAD (RTI), ACTIONAID, TSHIP, PIND, WHO, DFID and USAID. Joe is an experienced tri-sector leader and development professional working to improve health, education, and economic outcomes in Nigeria with a gender inclusion lens. He is currently a board advisor to Novus Africa and Vitonia Lead Foundation. Joe is a life soft skill coach who has successfully mentored fellows from renowned organisation like YALI, LEAP AFRICA etc.
Christiana Kuntin Afolayan loves Social Work, Counselling and is so passionate about the plight of Indigent Women and Children, Vulnerable, Special needs, and Motherless Children and widows and has over a decade of experience in the Care and Support, Monitoring and Evaluation of such persons.
She started her career as a volunteer Youth Corp Member at Wellbeing Foundation Africa and over a year rose to the position of Programme and Field Officer assigned to cater for Indigent Women, Motherless and Vulnerable Children as well as management of a monthly volt of Medical Indigent Fund for such a category of persons by providing access health care, food, education, Skill Acquisition etc.
She coordinated a Cervical Cancer awareness campaign and a free screening of over a thousand women at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital in Kwara State. Sponsored by Wellbeing Foundation through an awareness campaign, community town hall meetings, radio broadcasts, and the engagement of community health workers.
She was the State Coordinator for the White Ribbon Alliance program for Respectful Maternal Health Care in Kwara State.
And received various training and certificates in Healthcare; Care and Support for Special Needs and Vulnerable Children and Women, Respectful Health Care for Women, International Volunteering, and Social Welfare from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMH), Prof. Adeoye Lambo Foundation, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UNICEF, and USAID.
Fatimah has over a decade of experience in the banking and financial services industry. She has led campaigns and developed creative solutions for the financial inclusion of women living with special needs through her positions at United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ). Undergirding all of Fatimah’s work is her unwavering commitment to sharing financial knowledge that aids women’s self-sufficiency and empowerment. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the Federal University of Technology, Minna.
Board of Trustees
Mr. Thomas Etuh founded TAK Group of Companies, with the purpose of establishing an agro-allied company that is providing quality agro-inputs for the Nigerian farmer. The Company under his leadership has become ‘the Farmer’s choice’, and over the years, established fertilizer blending plants across Nigeria.
Pastor Sarah Omakwu is a charismatic and visionary leader who serves as the Senior Pastor of Family Worship Centre, Abuja. Her life passionately models the Agape Love of God, which is evident in her compassion, giving and caring. Her belief that the gospel should be ‘good news’ to the weak and vulnerable has been the drive behind Family Worship Centre’s large-scale support of widows, orphans, prisoners and people displaced by sectarian strife.
Emmanuel Alhassan, BSc (Jos), MSc (Jos), MBA (Lagos), PhD (Ibadan) is a senior lecturer and researcher at Nasarawa State University. He is the Nigeria Country coordinator for the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and has gained a high level of experience working with policymakers in the development sectors over the years. He has an outstanding track record of delivering results in target-driven settings i.e highest World Bank project credit effectiveness rate in Nigeria to date.He works with various stakeholders (NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health, National Assembly, World Health Organisation, World Bank, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, CSOs, etc.) to improve budget allocation and other policies related to preventing epidemics in Nigeria.
Mabel Ndagi, currently works as the Head, Communications and External Relations Division at the Bank of Industry (BOI); a Development Finance Institution established by the Government of Nigeria to support the growth of the real sector of the economy.
Her vast experience spans across many areas of core banking operations including Treasury Management, Corporate Finance, Special Products Management (Gender-based projects, Support for MSMEs and Strategic Partnerships), Relationship Management, Project Finance and Financial Advisory.
Ms Laraba S. Bonet serves as part of the management team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident mission in Nigeria. She has extensive experience in social protection and development work involving people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people with special needs. Prior to her time at the IMF, she served as a consultant under the World Bank country office, Abuja.
She is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, where she obtained a BSc in Engineering. She subsequently obtained a Master of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies, at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and professional development on Policy development and Advocacy in Global Health at the University of Washington.
Emmanuel is an attorney, with a particular focus in international law. As an alumnus of the UN award-winning Parliamentors leadership programme, he has gained vast experience in managing non-profit organisations. He holds an LLB from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and an LLM from Durham University. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar association and a member of the International Bar association.