Meet the Equal Team

Director - Equal International

Anton Ofield-Kerr

Anton has over 25 years’ experience in global health and human rights, and has worked in collaboration with multilateral agencies, bilateral donors, governments, community networks, civil society organisations, and private foundations. Anton began his career as a nurse in South Africa before moving into policy. He is a specialist in advocacy and organisational strategy, policy development, and programme management, as well as facilitation and multi sectoral collaborations. Anton has been involved in many initiatives which have shifted policies, raised resources and improved programmes focused on meeting the needs of marginalised communities and those at risk of being ‘left behind’. He has worked extensively to advance the conceptual and methodological approaches to better plan, monitor and evaluate HIV, health and human rights focused interventions, with particular emphasis on community-led policy.

Director - Equal Africa

Maria Stacey

Maria is Director of Equal Africa, based in South Africa. Maria has an extensive track record of managing and implementing complex health, human rights, development and social justice programmes, particularly with socially marginalised populations, using an inclusive, consultative, participatory approach. Her skills encompass facilitating consultative processes; community engagement; research and knowledge management; strategic planning; policy; advocacy; evaluation; proposal development, programme development, and organisational strengthening. Areas of interest and expertise are sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, mental health, human rights, gender and sexuality, with a particular focus on the health and human rights of sex workers, and other key populations, in Sub-Saharan Africa.   

Director - Think Equal

Khalil Elouardighi

Khalil Elouardighi is an influence strategy professional with 20 years’ experience in think-tanking and non-profit advocacy. He is in charge of Equal's thought leadership arm, and in particular of the Global Public Investments programme, an effort to effect a rethinking of international cooperation and global public finance. Previous to joining Equal, Khalil was second in command at IDDRI, France's premier think tank on global sustainable development and international relations. At IDDRI he led in particular the crafting of the institute’s intellectual influence strategy, and helped develop Ukama, the Africa-Europe platform of sustainability thinkers. Before joining IDDRI, Khalil worked on global AIDS policy at Coalition PLUS and Act Up-Paris, being part of successful grassroots activist efforts to reduce drug prices, set up multilateral health funds, and create international solidarity taxes.

Technical Lead - Cocreation

Valli Yanni

Valli is a highly experienced (30 years), multi-lingual (Arabic, English and Spanish) international development consultant with dual nationality (Egyptian/Irish). She has exceptional facilitation skills for planning, assessment and learning events with a very dynamic, engaging and innovative approach. She has extensive experience in formulating and delivering training programmes to diverse audiences as well as conducting organisational assessment and strategic planning processes using the Theory of Change and from a gender perspective. Valli has strong cross-culture expertise with well-developed people skills and innate abilities to inspire others through energetic approach and passion. She is highly resourceful with abilities to create projects from inception as well as develop and review development programmes.  

Senior Associate & GPI Regional Lead - Europe

Louise Holly

Louise Holly is a policy and advocacy specialist with 16 years’ experience of working with civil society, policymakers and intergovernmental organisations to reduce inequalities in access to healthcare and to promote children’s rights. In previous roles with RESULTS, Save the Children and UNICEF, Louise led the design and implementation of advocacy campaigns focused on TB, HIV, child health and health system strengthening. She has extensive experience of leading and working through global health networks and coalitions. Since 2018, Louise has worked as an independent consultant supporting a diverse range of non-governmental organisations and UN agencies with advocacy strategy development, policy analysis, report writing and qualitative evaluations on issues including digital health, paediatric HIV, malaria, health workforce, education, and gender-based violence. Louise has a BA Hons in Philosophy from King’s College London and an MSc in History and International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Senior Associate

Jane Coombes

Jane Coombes is an Equal Associate and freelance programme manager, writer and editor with over 19 years’ experience in international development and health. She has worked on community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment; sexual and reproductive health; human rights and gender programmes, as well as research initiatives in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Jane has extensive experience working with community-based organisations in low- and middle-income countries, key population networks and non-governmental organisations.  

Jane combines programme management experience with strong written and editorial skills and technical knowledge in areas including comprehensive sexuality education; sexual and reproductive health and rights; gender; human rights; sexuality and life skills for young people; HIV prevention, care and treatment; community mobilisation; stigma and discrimination and access to health services. She has reviewed literature and current research to develop evidence-based technical programme guidance; training materials and policy documents.

GPI Regional Lead - Asia

Hannah Wanjie Ryder

Hannah is the CEO of Development Reimagined, a ground-breaking, African-led international development consultancy, headquartered in Beijing, China. She is a highly respected leader, a former diplomat and economist, with close to 20 years of hands-on policy experience on sustainable development, in the private sector, with the UN and other international and government organizations. Her work has covered both traditional development work as well as sustainable development themes (environment and climate change). She is particularly focused on developing robust, holistic, and long-term innovative solutions to challenging development issues – seeing mutual trade and green investment, not just aid, as the best path to development. 

Senior Associate

Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni MPhil. MBE

Mohga is a senior health advisor with 40 years of experience in health policy and programming with international and national health and development agencies including multilateral agencies, NGOs and governments. I also have in depth experience and knowledge of policy and advocacy on access to medicines and on financing and delivery of healthcare. 

She is currently senior policy and technical advisor to UNAIDS and the People Vaccine Alliance on access to Covid-19 health technology and Key advisor to the NGO board members of UNITAID.

Mohga has been deeply engaged with most international organizations related to health including WHO, The Global Fund, UNITAID, Medicine Patent Pool and the World bank as well as with pharmaceutical companies. She has in depth expereince in conducting programmes, advocacy, and research in several countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. 

Since January 2020, she has been providing regular information on COVID-19 in Arabic on Twitter and through podcasts. 

Senior Associate

Rebekah Webb

Rebekah is a skilled international development professional with over 20 years of experience in global health policy and advocacy, including 12 years as a freelance consultant delivering assignments for diverse international clients. She has specific technical expertise in HIV, SRHR universal health coverage and global health R&D. Rebekah has a strong competency in all aspects of non-profit management including managing budgets, fundraising and M&E systems, including expertise in designing impact assessments and evaluation of advocacy projects. She is skilled in qualitative and quantitative research methods, data analysis and writing for a range of audiences. Rebekah received a Master’s degree in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies in 2001, and also holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews.

Partnerships Lead

Daniel Rogers

Daniel is a senior humanitarian and development professional with over 20 years of experience. He has extensive expertise in all aspects of programme management, partnership development, business development, programme design and review, organisational assessment, capacity development and quality assurance.
Daniel has experience in programme audit, monitoring and organisational accreditation systems. He has supported humanitarian and development programmes of national and international organisations across a range of sectors in more than 25 countries, with a particular focus on accountability and human rights.
Daniel managed donor relations and led the institutional funding and partnerships team at Frontline AIDS, designing numerous health and human rights-based programmes for a wide range of government donors, and has previously held senior posts at head, regional and country offices with Plan International.
Daniel has a bachelors’ degree from the University of Sussex and master’s degree from the School of African and Oriental Studies at the University of London

GPI Regional Lead - Africa

Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi

Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi is Executive Vice-President at the African Center for Economic Transformation. ACET is an African Think Tank focused on supporting countries to develop and implement sustainable growth strategies that benefits its citizens and improves their well-being.  Prior to joining ACET, Mavis was Director of Investments at Power of Nutrition where she helped to grow the portfolio from $40m to over $500m in Africa and Asia. Her other roles include Director of Programme Policy and Quality for Save the Children UK and twelve years as a private sector specialist at the UK’s Department of International Development. Her last role at DFID was as a Deputy Director and Head of Profession for Private Sector Development cadre. Mavis is a Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow with an MPhil from the University of Sussex. 

Senior Associate

Florence Obua

Florence possesses qualifications which combine law, human rights and HIV. She has extensive knowledge and experience of global, continental, regional and national policies, initiatives and strategies to fast-track AIDS coupled with extensive knowledge and experience of the national context for the AIDS response and intellectual property rights and access to medicines. Florence has over sixteen years’ progressive professional experience in programme development, implementation and documentation with eight years being in HIV and AIDS programmes and projects, policy research, analysis and advocacy. She has extensive experience in human rights programming including: the development of the Uganda five-year comprehensive response plan to human rights and gender-related barriers; organization of the multi- stakeholder dialogue to validate the baseline of human rights-related barriers to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria services; and the development of a capacity-building plan for implementers of the Global Fund human rights catalytic plan. Additionally, she has recently contributed to UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development programme through the sub- component: creating an enabling legal environment, which focused on law reform for effective AIDS response, catalyzing municipal action and intellectual property rights and access to essential medicines; and UNAIDS’ community mobilisation, policy advocacy and human rights of key populations.

Programme Officer

Angela Adepoh

Angela is a programme assistant at Equal International. Her work has been focused on civil society sustainability in Africa. She has worked with both local and regional Civil society organisations in Africa including the Springup Global Network, an NGO focused on promoting SDG goal 4 in underprivileged communities in Ghana and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), a regional organisation focused on strengthening civil society across West Africa. She is currently the Programme Assistant at Equal International where she provides administrative and research support for GPI consultations in Africa and Asia as well as towards the development of a high level concept paper that will explore the GPI approach for pandemic preparedness.

Senior Associate

Gill Naeser

Gill is based in South Africa and is an ECD Specialist who has been in the education, training and development sector for more than 30 years. She has a Pre-Primary Teachers Diploma and a Postgraduate degree in Education and Psychology. Gill has extensive experience in all aspects of project implementation in the Education, Training and Development Sector. Gill is a seasoned evaluator and an accreditor of ECD and early education programmes and training materials. She also designs and develops ECD materials and training courses and conducts capacity building in the ECD sector. One of her key areas of expertise is carrying out quality assurance of projects and training. Gill has also been involved in a number of ECD for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) research projects in Sub Saharan Africa. 

Senior Associate

Cheikh Traore

Cheikh is an international development expert based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is an active leader in several civil society spaces and is passionate about preserving spaces for civil society to thrive. Cheikh brings with him nearly twenty years of experience in policy and programme development in public health. He has worked as a policy expert for a variety of organisations; municipalities, NGOs and UN agencies. Within those organisations he has developed skills in designing normative guidance, policy frameworks as well as evaluating multi-year strategic frameworks for AIDS and malaria. Throughout the past decade, his professional interest has been focused on supporting African countries to mobilise resources for their programmes to eliminate AIDS, TB and malaria. The other focus of his work has been to work with civil society groups across the continent and help enhance their capacity to influence national health and human rights agendas. He sees this project as a valuable opportunity for him to raise the profile of civil society organisations in Nigeria. 

GPI LAC Regional Lead

Andrea Vignolo

Montevideo, Uruguay 1968. With a Degree in Psychology from Universidad de la República (UdelaR). Associate Professor at the Academic Support Unit of the International Relations Service of the University of the Republic of Uruguay, since May 2021. Expert consultant in international development cooperation since March 2021.

From March 2015 to this February 2020, she has been the Executive Director of the Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation (AUCI).

Between march 2010 and February 2015 she assumed for Director of International Cooperation and Projects in the Ministry of Education and Culture and the General Secretary in the National Commission of Uruguay for UNESCO.

During 2005 and 2010 Vignolo was an Advisor to the Intendent of Montevideo in the area of International Cooperation. Before she was an Academic Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Science of UdelaR as Responsible for Cooperation.