Contributors
Perry Maddox
Founder of Just Open Leaders and passionate about helping other leaders to create change in this world.
I’ve led organisations from small grassroots outfits to complex, global organisations. Along the way, I’ve failed plenty, suffered the imposter syndrome, been blind to my privilege, learned about how much I don’t know, weathered more crises than I care to mention, and just kept going and kept growing leaders around me.
Nashwa Mohammed
Nashwa is passionate about social entrepreneurship, positive psychology, women and youth empowerment. As a cofounder of “Fadfada startup”, she aspires to combat psychological health stigma through provision of professional online counselling and raise mental health awareness through social media platforms.
She worked with Restless Development as a co-researchers with the “Youth at Heart” research, a project aimed to spotlight the youth’s insight on education, work opportunities, how to effectively use their voice in the society and build back better after the COVID-19 crisis. Nashwa is keen to constantly evolve as an entrepreneur, a leader, but most importantly as a human. She is a graduate of the Orange Corners program, a Young African Leader alumna (YALI), and she was selected by Women In Africa initiative as one of the WIA laureates 2020.
Bipana Dhakal
Bipana Dhakal is a young change maker enthusiastic about quality education with the motto of educating and raising awareness in rural communities about non formal education and child pedagogy. She is the founder of ‘The Learning Fortress’ (an initiative for creating non formal teaching learning environment in the rural communities of Nepal). She is a GenEndIt Youth Ambassador advocating in the field of SRHR, CSE and HIV AIDS. Along with that she is a WEDU Rising Star 2021 and YouthxPolicymakers Ambassador 2021. She has well accomplished contribution and experience for 5 years in development initiatives, social action and leadership. She is motivated and dedicated to develop non formal education methods and approaches, community engagement and enhancement of education with soft skills development for rural communities.
Richard Dzikunu
Richard Dzikunu is an award-winning United Nations youth activist with over 10 years of community, national, and international working experience in global health with a focus on sexual and reproductive health rights, primary healthcare programming and advocacy, integration of digital technology and strategies for Universal Health Coverage advocacy, and implementation of projects related to youth-led governance, research, and accountability. He is passionate about working with funders, advocates, researchers, and implementers to systematically integrate youth participation and equitable partnership practices in their work. He is currently the Action Learning Groups Lead for the YIELD Collective Action Learning Hub, an independent adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (AYSRHR) initiative hosted by Rutgers International
Read Richard’s blogs. Follow Richard on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Raquel Barrios
Raquel is originally from Nicaragua and has worked in civil society NGOs for more than ten years. Her experience working with young people from diverse and complex backgrounds drives her to make a contribution to her country and society in general. Currently, Raquel works at YOURS (Youth for Road Safety) as the Manager of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety.
Aparajita Dhar
Aparajita holds a Post Graduate degree in Sociology and more than 2 decades of experience in the social development sector in South Asia. She has worked with various international agencies in senior management roles. She is an expert in Gender, Adolescent and Youth Leadership, Child Protection, Migration, Health, Education, Water and Sanitation, Livelihoods, Sexual and Reproductive Health
Rights, HIV, Disability and Inclusive Development in designing and managing community-led programmes within a rights-based framework to promote meaningful participation of the ultra-poor at the national and global decision-making platforms for policy influence and change.
Born and brought up in Kolkata by parents who instilled the values of social justice, she has keen
interest in people and the intricacies of human behaviour and culture. An ardent foodie, when not
working, Aparajita loves to travel and engage with art.
Read Aparajita’s blogs. Follow Aparajita on LinkedIn.
Michelle Mutogo
Michelle is a Human Rights Lawyer from Zimbabwe specializing in Disability Rights, Women’s Rights and Youth Empowerment (Inclusion). She has worked on mainstreaming Disability and promoting inclusion in Zimbabwe’s Health, Justice and Education departments through public policy analysis, advocacy and strategic litigation.
Her experience with working with marginalized groups has given her a unique understanding of the importance of inclusive societies and she uses that experience to share the knowledge with different leaders within the communities so as to promote inclusion. She is currently working at Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network as a Women‘s Rights Lawyer.
Segun Olowookere
Segun is a social entrepreneur, passionate about inspiring young people and helping them to achieve their dreams. He is the author of the motivational book You Might As Well. Segun has spent his entire professional career working in the social sector using his passion for numbers and people to help make positive change.
Segun spent 3 years working with Restless Development and then went on to work for Humentum (previously Mango) where he travelled the world providing financial management, training and consultancy to NGOs of all types and sizes for over 5 years. He then moved onto Comic Relief and the UN before coming back to Restless Development a Finance Director at the beginning of 2020. Segun is also trustee for the The Blagrave Trust.
Rohati Chapman
Rohati is a values-driven Social Impact Leader who is energised and inspired by ideas and actions for inclusive growth. Over the past 20 years, Rohati has gathered a systemic view of how social change works (or doesn’t) through both a Funder and Implementation Partner perspective. She has worked for big and small charities, as well as seven years as a management consultant in PwC’s Government and Public Sector consulting practice.
Rohati has led partnerships and programmes for different Investors in a range of contexts including the UK, Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Eastern Caribbean. She has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly, and what hasn’t defeated her has made her stronger.
Lily Mackow-McGuire
Lily has worked in international development for five years, designing, delivering, and scaling government-funded, multi-million-pound programmes. At the moment she supports the implementation of the Development Alternative in Madagascar and Uganda; supporting young people to use technology to hold development actors to account. Previously she was based in Cambodia on behalf of GVI, establishing a new hub, securing local partnerships and designing and implementing programmes to improve access to education.
She is passionate about changing the way the sector works to ensure it is led by the communities it serves.
Jami Dixon
Jami is a social impact professional with over 15 years of research and evaluation experience working in the UK and internationally. As a curious, collaborative and creative leader, she is passionate about using insights and evidence to drive change, and ensuring that equity is at the heart of this.
Jami is also a passionate environmentalist and in a previous life completed a PhD that explored the impacts of climate change on farming systems in Uganda. Outside of work you’re likely to find her exploring the great outdoors, curled up reading a book somewhere, or putting the world to rights over coffee (or maybe wine).
Jayma Pau
Jayma is a Managing Partner of global social enterprise Leaders’ Quest. LQ grows wise leaders capable of building a regenerative future. LQ’s model of learning is through direct experience combined with deep reflection. Jayma designs and facilitates programmes for senior leaders of multi-national companies, on issues such as culture, values, resilience and purpose. She’s passionate about social equity, something that shaped her from a very young age. She loves yoga, playing the piano and an addictive boxset.
Shaun O’Connor
Natasha ChadwickNatasha Chadwick is proud to have enabled hundreds of people over the last 15 years to realise their potential. Natasha has had the privilege to make a different through delivering careers education to young people in schools, to leading teams delivering employability programmes, and improving the way services are delivered in criminal justice and local government.
In 2019 Natasha took a career break and moved to Uganda to lead a team of volunteers to deliver an educational programme in rural communities, with Restless Development which is where she met Perry. This was a transformative experience and on her return Natasha founded her business Impact People & Change, and co-founded a community-based organisation CommUnity Works Uganda.
Natasha now works with organisations and people to realise their potential, create change and make a positive impact. She delivers coaching, training and development programmes such as mentoring and social action.