Melanie is a gender and media development expert with more than ten years’ experience leading capacity building and advocacy initiatives which place gender equality at their core.
As Director of Media Development for WAN-IFRA, Melanie oversees the organisation’s media development portfolio, which includes management of a multi-million euro budget to support media in 25 countries around the globe. Melanie is a creator of WAN-IFRA’s sector-leading Women in News (WIN) programme and the architect of WAN-IFRA’s Gender and Media Freedom Strategy, an ambitious multi-year initiative to promote women’s leadership and voices in the news with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She manages WAN-IFRA’s Media Freedom Board, as well as the Media Freedom Brain Trust, which contributes to WAN-IFRA’s media freedom programmes as trainers, mentors and advisors.
Melanie has held various leadership, programme development and social investment strategy positions in North America and Europe, including four years with the Toronto-based Women’s Executive Network. As Vice President International, she led the company’s expansion to its first international market with the launch of WXN Ireland. Melanie has a BA (Hons) from Kings College, Dalhousie University, and holds an MSc from the London School of Economics, University of London.
Tamala Chirwa is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Credentialed Associate Certified Coach specializing in Executive Leadership and Group and Team Coaching. She is a Certified DISC Practitioner, Corporate Trainer/Leadership Consultant. Her has an MBA from MANCOSA, ACCA Diploma in Financial Management and a Post-Graduate Management Certificate from University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. During her twenty-year corporate career, she held various positions in leading organizations in Malawi, South Africa and Kenya and excelled at delivering high-value solutions as a manager in the Finance, Administration and Human Resources Management functions. She is highly experienced in designing and delivering leadership development and coach-training programmes in organizations.
Tamala heads Professional Coaching Institute (PCI), a coach-training company that develops professional coaches through coach-training programmes and supports leaders to embed coaching in their corporate cultures through leadership development and coaching programme. She is also the Founder of Women’s Leadership Footprint, a Coaching Practice that supports women in leadership to be effective and impactful in their roles. Her past roles include Subject Matter Expert and Coach for the MBA Leadership Lab of the African Leadership University; Malawi Coach/Cohort Facilitator for the Breakfast Club Africa.
Apart from developing women in leadership, Tamala works with and supports leaders who intentionally seek to transform their leadership journeys for their own growth and the people they lead. Her coaching philosophy is on the premise that high performers/potentials must be adequately supported to sustain the successes they register in their career trajectories to build powerful legacies. Her coaching and facilitation style entails guiding executives through life-changing personal/leadership development expeditions in their quest to succeed. She is committed to significantly contribute towards advancing the coaching agenda in Africa for the greater good.
From 2016, Tamala served as Coach for Women in News, Malawi; acted as Project Manager, ECA (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania) in 2018; Project Manager, ECA from January to June 2020 and is currently Director–Women in News Africa, ECA. She has been instrumental in the compilation of Coaches Handbook, designing the WIN Advisory Career Planning and Management Module and conceptualization and planning of the Coaches’ Retreat (TOT).
Jane Godia has worked as a Journalist and Editor in one of Kenya’s mainstream media, The Standard Group having started as a Sub-Editor and rose to the position of Deputy Managing Editor. She has also served as Head of Editorial at African Woman and Child Features Service, a women’s rights organisation and acted as Managing Director at African Gender and Media Initiative Trust.
Jane holds a Master’s and Post Graduate Diploma in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi. She is a trained Coach by Centre for Population and Development Activities (CEDPA) where she coached women leaders. She also coached for Coady International Institute at St Francis Xavier University in Canada.
Her areas of expertise include capacity building, training, coaching, mentoring, project management; event organising and coordination; editing and publishing report writing, journalism skills and documentation. She has over twenty years in capacity building and training and has done a lot of work in building capacity at community, national and international levels and has been particularly keen on empowering women at all fronts.
Jane sits in various boards and committees. She serves as Board Chair for Indigenous Information Network; Board Member at African Gender and Media Initiative Trust; Board Member at Network for Adolescents and Youth in Africa (NAYA); Member of Kenya Editors Guild; Member of Rapid Response Committee of the Association of Media Women in Kenya and Member of AMREF Health-Kenya Ethics and Scientific Review Committee.
Jane Godia currently serves as Director, for WIN Africa (Botswana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), having previously served as Capacity Building Manager, WIN Africa; Project Manager WIN East and Central Africa and Coach for Kenya.
Fatemah Farag is the Founder and Director of Welad Elbalad Media Services LTD, a company dedicated to community media development and media excellence in Egypt.
She was also previously a Nieman Fellow, the Arab Region Regional Director for WAN IFRA’s Women in News Program and a WEF Board Member. Before establishing Welad Elbalad Media Services, Ms. Farag was the founding chief editor of the English Edition of Al Masry Al Youm. Before 2009, she divided her professional time between the newsroom and journalism training and education. She was Assistant Chief Editor, responsible for the features and life-style sections and senior staff reporter at Al-Ahram Weekly, the English language newspaper issued by Al-Ahram, before which she worked for the Regional Bureau of the Washington Post, was a full time staff reporter for the Middle East Times – Egypt, and has freelanced for a host of local and international news organizations. As an educator she has held the position of Training Consultant for the Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism and has also consulted and trained for various organizations including the European Union, the British Council, Free Voice and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. She also taught journalism at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for two years and continues to dedicate time to journalism training.
Ms Farag began her career specializing in development issues with the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP), and as a reporter and newspaper editor she has dedicated much of her work to the coverage of social issues. She is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, from which she also received a Masters degree in political
science.
Jen oversees a number programmes for WAN-IFRA in Southeast Asia. In addition to running the newly launched Women in News Southeast Asia programme, she manages WAN-IFRA’s Media Mentoring Programme which has been running for 4 years in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam through support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is also in charge of developing, organising and promoting the training program for Asia Pacific. Prior to the media development responsibilities, she oversaw the Asia’s flagship events on Publish Asia, Digital Media and Asia Media Awards activities, while working closely with the media supplier community in a number of capacities.
Gabriella is a skilled communications consultant with deep experience in diversity and gender-related issues. She has also worked with a wide range of corporate, government and not-for-profit clients on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and community projects.
She has extensive experience leading brand awareness, executive positioning, and thought leadership campaigns with senior-level stakeholders across Canada, the USA and Europe.
Gabriella spent four years in London at international communications firm Edelman where she took clients to the World Economic Forum in Davos, navigated crises for multinational retailers, and launched successful international reports at the UN General Assembly.
Gabriella has a Master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from Glendon College at York University in Toronto, Canada and a BA (Hons) in Global Development Studies from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. She is bilingual in French and English.
Caroline Phiri-Lubwika is a Journalist and Communication Specialist with over twenty-five years’ experience in the media industry. She holds a Diploma in Journalism from Africa Literature Centre in Zambia, Bachelor’s degree in Communication Science from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Master’s degree in Applied and Professional Ethics from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Her passion is more on media training, mentoring and capacity building ranging from organization development, leadership, problem-solving, children reporting, and news writing to media ethics.
From 2002 to 2007, Caroline was Information and Research Officer for the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana Chapter and she was instrumental in transforming the MISA Chapter into a thriving media advocacy organization through conducting research; monitoring and assessing media performance; steering media advocacy campaigns and coordinating training for various media practitioners in the country. She has also been a Facilitator, Planner, and Trainer for a project on the formulation of HIV and AIDS Policy and Code of Conduct in Botswana Media Houses from 2007 to 2009. She has solid experience in radio producing on women, children, and many social issues pertinent to society. Her expertise includes gender, media advocacy and strategic planning with proficiencies and competences in desktop publishing; project management competences; training of trainers; instructional techniques (teaching methodology) and several other computer abilities.
In the pilot phase of Women in News run in Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia, from 2010 to 2014, she coached and mentored Botswana media practitioners in mid-management to senior executives. Caroline currently serves as Manager for WIN Advisory, a new division that delivers bespoke, in-house advice and training services on key operational and management issues to help media improve their gender balance track record and achieve operational excellence.
Elige is an award-winning Lebanese journalist, who has contributed to a number of Lebanese, and international publications, including Raseef22.
Farah joined Women In News (WIN) from a five year stint with WAN-IFRA’s press freedom and media development team where she administered and coordinated a diverse number of regional and global projects, from advocacy campaigns, to skills exchanges, trainings and conferences.
Farah is a founding member of Egyptian digital media start-up Medina Media where she is responsible for digital strategy and managing partnerships with other media organisations in the region and beyond.
She has a BA in Language, Literature and Civilisation from Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle, and is based in Cairo, Egypt.
Thandar moved to Yangon from the small town, Lashio of the Northern Shan State to Yangon in 1996. Twenty percent of Shan blood is flowing in Thandar till now. Thandar studied Maths and proceeded to work in the fascinating environment in The Myanmar Times. Passionate about the marketing communications and with the encouragement from friends she moved to Doha to work in Qatar Airways as the flight attendant. Since after she left Qatar Airways, Thandar decided to spend most of her years in sales, marketing, and communications field which she is enthusiastic about. Thandar gathers extensive experience in advertising and publishing, customer service and marketing communication over the past 13 years working with the organizations including The Myanmar Times, Mizzima Media Group as head of Sales department, Mango Marketing and Communications Agency as Business Development Manager and currently at the Black Knight Media Group, a publisher of Frontier Myanmar magazine as Head of Commercial and Creative Solutions. Thandar is a meticulous worker and always use hands-on approach from creative ideation to on-ground implementation in all our projects. In her free time, Thandar loves painting and drawing.
Leah is a communications specialist and digital storytelling trainer with over 15 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She is a Women in News (WIN) alumni from Tanzania. Currently, she serves as WIN Communication Coordinator for the African region and is responsible for coordinating communication efforts and engagement activities for Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Leah holds a Master’s degree in International Communication from the Communication University of China – CUC Beijing, a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from St Augustine University, Tanzania and a Media Management Certificate from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Leah started her career at a community radio station, later becoming Online Editor at Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). She has dedicated her career to digital storytelling training and advocating on sexual harassment in the workplace and universities.
She was a Senior Programme Officer at Internews in Tanzania and was a Country Lead, Fellow and Mentor of journalists for the International Women Media Foundation. Leah is a Board member of the Tanzania Media Women Association and the Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania. Leah also serves as Tanzania Chapter Leader for the Graca Machel Trust Women in Media Network. She is a member of Tanzania Public Relations and Media Women Network and China Alumni Association of Tanzania. She is a freelancer, writing mostly on women and digital technology.
Molly is a consultant with 12 years’ experience in media development work, with particular focus on gender and media, media monitoring, advocacy for free expression, public information rights and media organisations’ development. An established project designer and manager with skills in monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management and managing work out of multiple countries, Molly has worked in Zimbabwe’s media development sector and is currently a Research, Knowledge and M and E Manager with the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers’ (WAN-IFRA) Gender and Media Development Programme, Women in News (WIN). Between 2015 and 2019, she had oversight over the WIN programme as Programme Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa with focus on Botswana, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. She has experience in human rights, governance, political and social movements work. Her experience has seen her become an activist for freedom of expression and access to information issues where seven years of her career was spent in promoting public information rights for citizens in the country. She is an avid writer and has been published by the Africa in Union – the African Union’s flagship magazine. Molly has also conducted various researches on gender and media issues in Zimbabwe and co-authored research such as Gender responsiveness of Policies and News Sourcing Trends in Zimbabwe’s media houses: A situational assessment of gender policy availability and gender sensitivity in the media’s selection of news stories and more recently Gender Sourcing Patterns of media in Zimbabwe (2015-2019 study). She has in-depth knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation, experience in facilitating workshops and conferences and has made presentations at high profile meetings such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. Molly is also a mentor with Global Giveback Circle, where she has been a mentor who builds relationships and provides advice to young women on how to navigate their lives. Molly holds an MA in International Affairs, a BSc Honors in Media and Society Studies [both obtained from the Midlands State University], a Postgraduate Diploma in Knowledge and Information Systems Management from Stellenbosch University and a diploma in Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation.
Dr. Mona Magdy Abdelmaksoud, Associate professor, Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University. Main subjects of teaching are: Public opinion, Media digital production, Dealing with Mass Media, Research methods and Media Literacy. She has participated in scientific conferences in many countries, such as Germany, Austria, Tunisia, Turkey, Qatar, Netherlands and Greece. In addition, she is a certified trainer for TOT, Media Production, Communication Skills, and Journalism.
Myra Abdallah is a Lebanese journalist and gender rights activist. She is currently the Women in News Arab region communications manager at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the Head of Media Department at the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE), and an advisory board member at the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). Before joining WAN-IFRA, she worked with several local and regional organizations as a trainer and communications consultant. She also worked as a political and human rights reporter for NOW news English. Abdallah holds a political and administrative science degree from Saint Joseph University in Beirut. After graduating, she started her career specializing in gender and communication, focusing on the intersection between media and gender issues in the MENA region. She is an active advocate for social justice, gender rights, women and LGBTIQ+ rights. She also works as a trainer and consultant on digital security, communications, media and gender for several regional and international organisations.
Samar Haddadin is a managing editor at Al-Rai newspaper in Jordan, specialized in human rights, women’s issues and civil society. She graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communication at Yarmouk University. In 2001 she started working with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai until she became managing editor of human rights, women’s rights and civil society. Haddadin is a certified trainer from the International Federation of Journalists on human rights journalism, as well as parliamentary and municipal elections. She was elected as a member of the Journalists Syndicate Council between 2014 and 2017, she is a former member of the complaints committee in the Media Commission, she was a member of the national team for preparing the comprehensive national plan for human rights, and a member of the national team for monitoring and preparing the first parallel government report on the rights of persons with disabilities. She is a member of the Supreme Council of the Jordanian National Assembly of Women’s Committees. The reports she publishes focus on the obstacles facing women in media to access decision-making positions, on early marriage, and refugee issues. |
Tran Le Thuy is an award-winning journalist. She won a first prize and a special prize as Young Development Journalist of the year in Developing
Asia Journalism Award in Tokyo, 2004 and winner of Panos London/GKP journalism award in United Nations’ Information Society summit, 2005. She has worked and published in top Vietnamese and international press, including the Saigon Times, Vietnam Economic Times, Tuoi Tre, Reuters News, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the International Herald Tribune, the Guardian, etc,. Thuy was co-founder and chief editor of VnExpress International, the most read English online news site in Vietnam.
She is an experienced media consultant and expert on media development for international agencies, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Thuy holds an M.Phil in Development Studies from University of Oxford and a B.A in journalism from Academy of Journalism and Communication.
Boitshepo Balozwi is a Communications Specialist focusing on HIV and Health reporting with a passion for advocating and raising awareness on Gender Equality matters particularly in context to HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa. She has an MA in Journalism from University of Arkansas, USA and is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Certified Professional Coach.
Boitshepo has eighteen years’ experience in the Botswana media arena serving in different capacities i.e. News Editor, Newsreader/Presenter at Gabz FM (radio), Editor of FLAIR (magazine), Editor of The Midweek Sun (newspaper), Workplace Wellness (HIV) Communications Coordinator at Scania Botswana for about seven years and has also worked as Media Officer for the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA). In 2014, Boitshepo received Presidential recognition for her reporting on HIV Health issues. She has corresponded for the Botswana Guardian and provides media and communication consultancy services.
Boitshepo currently serves as Country Lead and Coach for Women in News, Botswana. She joined the Botswana Women in News Community as a Cohort 2 Member in 2015 during her tenure as the Editor of The Midweek Sun. She is a beneficiary of Women in News sponsorship for the Certificate in Media Management from the School of Literature, Language and Media, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa attained in 2016. In 2019, she benefited from yet another Women in News sponsorship to attain her International Coach Federation Certification in Professional Transformational Coaching from Coach Masters Academy in Kampala, Uganda.
Faith Oneya is a Writer and Editor. She pens a weekly opinion column in the Saturday Nation, commenting on social and gender issues. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Digital Journalism from Aga Khan University, Kenya, Master of Arts in Communication Studies and a Bachelor of Education (English and Literature), from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She has a Certificate in Online Journalism from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC), Netherlands. She is a Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Faith has been a journalist with Nation Media Group, Kenya since 2013. Before this, she worked for ten years as a market researcher and trainer. She is a member of the Online News Association, Association of Media Women in Kenya, and a board member of the Kenya Editors’ Guild.
Faith is the Women in News Coach in Kenya, in charge of developing female journalists through coaching and training. She was in the 2016 Women in News cohort where she graduated with a Media Management Certificate from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She served as an Assistant Coach in Kenya in 2019 before taking up the position of Coach, in 2020.
Fatma is the founder of Women For Media Network (WMN), an educational and guiding network targeting women in media from all ages. She was the first woman to assume the post of Editor-in-Chief of a news website in Egypt when she established and headed the website Dream News, as well as the first online news
radio in Egypt: Youm7 radio. She assumed the position of editorial development and quality manager at Youm7 newspapers and website – one of the largest news websites in the Middle East, as well as being one of its founders. Furthermore, she established and headed the Video 7 website, and has been a weekly columnist in its printed newspaper. She then moved to work at Dream channels, as she established and headed the Dream news website and Dream TV Online. She also headed thenews station. She is one of the few professional trainers on the online press in Egypt and the Arab region. She has published four books, two of which on women’s issues, and is preparing to publish a fifth by the end of this year. Fatma wrote a weekly coloum for the Dot Misr website for a year and has previously participated in many events related to women and development. She worked as the chief editor of “3asal Abiadd”, a program on Ten TV for 2 years, and currently works as the chief editor of “Alsafeera 3aziza”, a program on DMC TV.
Joan Mugenzi is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Credentialed Associate Certified Coach. She is the Founding President for ICF Uganda Chapter and serves on the Coach Masters Academy Global Faculty. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health Leadership from Uganda Christian University and prides herself in focusing on the health of the mind. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Media Management from Uganda Management Institute. Joan is also a Jack Canfield Success Principles Trainer (Jack is America’s Success Coach and Fortune 500 Business Coach for over 40 years whose success principles are applicable across any sector).
Joan has vast experience working with executive leaders in the NGO sector in close to 30 countries. She provided technical oversight in World Vision International health programmes covering 25 countries in East, West, and Southern Africa. She has been in the motivational and coaching space for eight years and engaged teams across various sectors in the corporate and public sectors. She runs a company called Imagine Me Africa whose main focus is to enable individuals and organizations imagine where they want to be and supports them to develop strategic road maps to get to their intended end.
Joan joined the Women in News community as Coach in Uganda in 2019. Her best experience on the Women in News programme so far was supporting a journalist whose five-year dream on the career roadmap was achieved in four months. Her take on this: “As a coach, once you allow to be authentic and be present for your client, you will be amazed at the results.”
Dr. Joyce Bazira holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Mass Communication (Media, Conflict and Peace Studies) from St.Augustine University of Tanzania and a Masters degree in the same area from the same University. She did undergraduate journalism studies at Tanzania School of Journalism, (now elevated to the Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Dar es Salaam). Currently, Dr. Bazira is a Lecturer at St. Augustine University of Tanzania. Since 2010, Bazira has lectured at University of Dar es Salaam, Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication and Tumaini University, Dar es Salaam Campus. Her areas of teaching at graduate and undergraduate levels include; Conflict Communication, Strategic Corporate Communication, Media Ethics and Writing for Communication, News Writing and Newspaper Layout, Editing and Design.
MUKANEZA Marie Ange is a passionate Journalist and Communicator. Her passion for journalism made her leave a job in ICT to enroll into a journalism school where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Communication at Mount Kenya University, Rwanda.
She worked with different online media papers before joining IGIHE Ltd, a digital media house based in Rwanda in 2015 where she was part of the Economic and Technology desks. In 2019, Marie Ange started working with Media High Council, a public institution with a mandate of building the capacity of the media sector in Rwanda. She plays an important role in organizing and conducting trainings, workshops, forums and other activities aimed at promoting professionalism and filling the gender gap.
She has been part of different programmes established to empower women in media, including WIN Programme and the African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative created by International Women’s Media Foundation.
She is currently the Women in News Coach in Rwanda responsible for coaching female journalists.
Kwamboka Oyaro is a Journalist and Editor with more than twenty years of professional experience, having worked for Kenya’s top media organisations – the Nation Media Group and The Standard – as a Features Writer and Features Editor respectively as well as being the East African Correspondent for the Inter Press News Service.
Kwamboka trains young female journalists at the workplace on safety and gender equality in the newsroom, a project she started in 2017 through the Kenya Union of Journalists supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also teaches Journalism at Multimedia University of Kenya and at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) in Nairobi. She has mentored a number of journalists in the course of her career. From 2016-2019, she served as member in the Media Council of Kenya Complaints Commission. She is a member of the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) and founder member of the Gender Media Network of Kenya (GEMNET).
In her career, Kwamboka has won awards and accolades besides making a huge contribution to the profession as a writer and editor. She has written two books for children – Amariga the Greedy Boy and Seven Shades of Dusk. Her motto is to give her best in anything she sets her energy on; a virtue she has lived by since she started her working life as a high school teacher. She is a mother of three.
Kwamboka Oyaro joined Women in News as Coach in Kenya, in 2020.
Susan is currently the Group Chief Executive Officer of AB Communications, owners of ZiFM Stereo, Zimbabwe’s first (and currently) the only private commercial radio station and Mighty Movies Private Limited, arguably the largest Independent mediaproduction house in Southern Africa outside of South Africa. Susan worked for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation(ZBC), becoming the first female Chief Executive officer of Zimbabwe Television. She is a published writer, trainer and lecturer. Susan has vast experience in the media industry, spanning over 15 years. She has a Master of Arts degree in Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Natal, Durban and a Bachelor’s degree in English, History and Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe, and a post graduate diploma in Media and Communication Studies from the same university.
Dr. Limbikani Kamlongera is a versatile, results-driven professional with over 15 years’ experience in broadcast communications. Limbikani has a Doctorate in Education, Master’s degree, Advanced Media Management certificate and Bachelor’s degree, with the latter three all focused on Media and Communications at management level (most of which is also development-oriented). She also holds an International Coach Federation (ICF) Certification in Leadership Coaching.
Limbikani has a strong background in creating, writing, and producing communication pieces, as well as comprehensive experience in developing exceptional relationships with clients, peers, senior leadership, students, and communities to provide successful programs and solutions. She has exceptional skills in critical thinking, community outreach, and public relations stemming from her experience as a news editor, researcher, and educator. She is very passionate about people, especially marginalized groups, development work, health, climate change, girls and women empowerment and broadcasting, areas in which she has a very strong set of skills.
Limbikani is a Women in News Alumni of 2016 Cohort for Malawi. She credits the Women in News programme with teaching her about demanding a seat at the table and affirms that the Programme taught her to be okay with leading; and, to be intentional about advocating and finding the ‘female voice’ within a story or situation. She is honoured to pay this forward in her position as Women in News Coach for Malawi as her contribution to the development of more female leaders in journalism.
Mahmoud Atout is an award winning Jordanian Media development manager, digital product strategist and data analytics expert, with a keen eye for details and deep experience in digital led best practices for journalism, digital transformation, Media Viability, digital product management and hacking newsrooms to develop workflows as well as helping media outlets to develop their data driven decision making capability.
Sandra is an experienced mentor and coach with a focus on supporting young people and women. She has been working with Women in News since the inception of the Women in News (WIN) programme in Zambia in 2010, and specialises in strategic management, career planning and leadership.
Sandra is a Certified Investment Advisor and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (UK). She is a graduate of the University of Greenwich (BA) and Edinburgh Business School (MBA) and has 17 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
Sandra is an Executive Director at The Institute of Strategy Execution and Leadership. She was previously Head of Consultancy, Investment and Asset Management at ZSIC Ltd, Zambia’s largest Insurance and Investment group and a Senior Trader – Debt Securities at Pangaea Securities Limited.