We’re growing, expanding and scaling new heights in our feminist leadership journey!
We are excited to announce our new Executive Director Olaoluwa (Ola) Abagun.
Olaoluwa Abagun, affectionately known as Ola, is a lawyer, an unapologetic feminist, and an ardent believer in youth-led change making. She has a Masters in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Ola is bringing over 7 years of experience in grassroots and high-level gender equality advocacy, facilitating participatory processes with young people, and programme management on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues, girls’ education, and gender-based violence. From 2019 – 2021, she served as the Coordinator of the Commonwealth Youth Gender Equality Network (CYGEN), supporting collaborative advocacy efforts among 200 youth advocates across all regions of the Commonwealth. She has also worked as a Consultant with several INGOs and multilateral organisations, including UNICEF, UNGEI, Plan International, and the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP) where she designed and co-implemented youth engagement processes, learning/capacity strengthening interventions for SRHR advocates, and qualitative programme evaluation. She is also the Founder of Girl Pride Circle Initiative, a girls’ rights advocacy NGO based in Nigeria.
As we continue in our transitional journey, we are excited of the lessons and milestones this is bringing on in our HerStory. We recently adopted our 2021-2024 strategic plan which aims to advance gender equity and human rights across global health; nurture feminist leadership; promote and facilitate the inclusive leadership of adolescent girls, young women, and gender diverse people. As we work towards growing our network and paving the way towards a feminist future our key priorities for the next three years under Ola’s leadership will be to
center investments in our people and structures;
build and promote inclusive leadership from adolescent girls and young women;
advance feminist advocacy.
We are confident that through Ola’s dynamic feminist leadership we will achieve our goals to grow our network and continue to contribute towards creating a world where girls, women, and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, protected, included and uplifted.
Ola, welcome to the team! We’re looking forward to working with you, growing together, smashing the patriarchy, and leaving everything we touch a little better.
We (alongside Ola) hope that we can count on your unwavering support, solidarity, and continued contribution to our growth
Yours Truly,
The ATHENA Team and Board