I am working to grow the movement for legal empowerment by bringing our community of practitioners to life.

Contributed Resources:

Abu Bakarr Kargbo is an advocate and human rights defender based in Sierra Leone. Presently he works with Namati as a Legal Empowerment Advocate in helping communities to protect, map and document land rights issues as part of the 2015 National Land Policy as well as environmental justice and land negotiation cases. Before joining Namati Abu Bakarr worked with Centre for Youth and Exploited Children (CeYEC-SL) on issues such as child labour, human trafficking, early marriage/forced marriage, children in conflict with the law and gender based violence. A member of the anti-human trafficking task force, child rights coalition and several other national platforms. my my expectations for joining the network are as follows:
-Opportunity to learn from other people across the globe through experience sharing
- To be knowledgeable how Legal empowerment strategies worked across different countries, successes and challanges faced by paralegals.

Contribuir para o bem estar da comunidade, constitui numa grande prioridade para os deferentes actores sociais e legais.
E eu tenho o maior prazer de juntar-me a eles.

I am Namati Senior Global Network Officer, based in Nairobi. I will be leading the Network’s efforts to build a stronger community, expand learning initiatives, and advance Namati's collective advocacy aims, both in Africa and beyond.

I have spent more than nine years working with communities in Kenya, promoting their active participation in pro-poor policies and laws, including the country’s landmark Legal Aid Act. I am experienced in conducting outreach and advocacy that connects communities with legislative reform processes, public interest litigation cases, and legal aid services.

By joining this network I hope to learn more about global empowerment initiatives.

I am a moderator on the forum. In this role I will:
- encourage organisations in the region to join the network and for those who are already in the
network - to become more active
- encourage the regional anchor to include forum participation as part of their key activities
- encourage lead organisations in the region to lead on activities such as community calls
- aim to organise a webinar

Contributed Resources:

Aisha is vastly experienced in implementing, managing and monitoring gender based communications, advocacy, products, services, tools and partnerships. I am able to increase capacity to communicate effectively at sub-regional and country levels and helping strengthen Gender development positioning among key partners and external audiences. With my experience I am highly capable of devising advocacy priorities and strategies, identifying advocacy opportunities, and undertaking lobbying and advocacy directed at influencing governments, intergovernmental organizations, human rights bodies and experts. I have excelled in coordinating and providing training and other capacity building activities to implement interventions to promote women’s empowerment in economic practices including interventions that increase women’s access to productive resources and optimize their participation and benefits from various economic projects.And also awareness creation on girl child rights, addressing issues of accessing basic rights and protection from retrogressive cultural practices among the Somali pastoralist communities from Norhern Kenya.

Aisha has a BA in Political Science, Sociology and psychology from the University of Nairobi. A Diploma in Criminology and Social Order from the same University .

By joining the network i look forward to sharing knowledge and learning from others to stregthen my skills and capacity in undertaking human rights agendas.

Akhila Kolisetty is Namati’s Senior Advocacy Officer, where she drives forward campaigns to improve global access to justice and expand the reach of the legal empowerment movement. Akhila brings years of experience in research, advocacy, and partnerships to advance legal empowerment, gender justice, and human rights across Nepal, Sierra Leone, India, Bangladesh, and the United States. Most recently, as MADRE’s Policy and Campaigns Manager, she partnered with grassroots women and girl-led organizations to advance feminist policies for peace and environmental justice. Previously, she was a Presidential Fellow with the Open Society Foundations and a Consultant on legal empowerment data, policy and research with the Open Society Justice Initiative and Alliance for Social Dialogue in Nepal. A lawyer by training, she has also provided legal representation and advice to low-income survivors of domestic violence in family courts in New York. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor’s in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University.

Contributed Resources:

Akmaral is originally from Kazakhstan and has over 14 years of accounting and finance experience. Akmaral spent last 8 years with non-profit organizations involved in international development. Most recently she worked as Financial Analyst for Counterpart International. The work involved detailed financial analysis of grants, final close out of grants and communication with donors. At American Bar Association Akmaral worked as Senior Grants Accountant and provided full cycle financial management and support for multiple projects around the world. Akmaral holds bachelor's degree in Accounting.

Por definir

Namati Moçambique Alcides has over 25 years of experience in accounting and financial management in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He received his certificate in accounting in 1985 from the Instituto Comercial de Maputo. Alcides dedicated 16 years of his life to the Mozambican League of Human Rights, first as Senior Finance and Administraion Assistant from 1995 to 2003, and then as Senior Finance and Administration Officer from 2004 until 2011. In 2012 he began working with the Wesleyana Methodist Church. He joined Namati in January of 2014. Alcides is a native of Inhambane Province, and he is the proud father of five children.

I have a degree in Geography from Eduardo Mondlane University in the specialty of Regional Planning and Development. My area of interest includes health, reproductive health and gender, environment and climate change and urbanism.

I am the Finance Officer at Namati, and seek to both utilize and grow my finance and operations abilities on the international level and to affect positive change. I've worked in the not-for-profit sector in finance for more than 4 years, and as a young professional, my goal is to accumulate a diverse breadth of perspectives to better serve the organizations I will choose to work for in the future.

Almirante Mavume

I am currently a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at the University of California, Los Angeles. This summer, I am supporting Namati as the Global Advocacy Fellow. I can't wait to engage with and learn from the members of the Legal Empowerment Network.

Amanda Padilla has worked independently in the human rights field for the past seven years in various capacities including partnerships and outreach, philanthropy, programs, and communications; she is currently the Grants Specialist and Technical Writer at Namati.

Though the foci of her work has varied- from modern day slavery to the U.S. criminal justice system to homelessness and poverty- justice and accountability have remained the common threads critical in advancing human dignity across the board. Notably, she facilitated the philanthropic outreach for the Partnership for Freedom, a private-public initiative announced by President Obama in 2012, helping to strengthen donor relations and procure support for anti-trafficking and modern slavery eradication efforts. Additionally, she was on the team responsible for creating “Immersion Journey: Human Rights,” the first U.S. donor education program specifically geared towards human rights.

Amanda earned her M.A. in International Politics with an emphasis on human rights from the University of Texas at San Antonio where she examined the impact of U.S. military aid on countries with known records of mass atrocities and gross human rights violations. She formerly served on the Women’s Community Clinic Advisory Council in San Francisco and recently volunteered at Gardens for Health in Rwanda. Over the past 18 months she has travelled and lived in Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa; she currently resides in Indonesia.

Trabalha em Inhambane

Hi, My name is Anissa Cartagena. I am an organizer with over 4 years of experience in community/field organizing, coalition building, and mobilization for local and national political/issue campaigns. I am joining the network in hopes to continue to incite change by advocating for the advancement of environmental justice policies, while uplifting the voices of people who struggle to advocate for themselves and their communities.

Por regularizar mais tarde.

Sou natural de Massinga,nasci aos 06/10/1989.Conclui o ensino primário aos 15 anos,aos 23 anos conclui o ensino secundário geral,fui professor do ensino primário de 2009 a 2013.
Trabalhei na baybayane serviços, durante 3 anos.Agora quero dinamizar os serviços de saúde nacional,levando o direito à saúde ao conhecimento público e consciencializar os provedores de saúde acerca da humanização dos mesmos.

I am the Deputy Director Operations at Namati Sierra Leone Office. A Financial Management Specialist with over 25 years of experience across both private and public sectors. I look forward to gain knowledge in legal empowerment issues generally and understanding the legislations around land right and justice issues

Estudante de Direito
Comunicativa

"só aprende quem tem coragem de errar"

Benedito Anastácio Mudine, de 36 anos de idade, casado, natural da Cidade da Maxixe – Inhambane, Moçambique.
Licenciado em Gestão empresarial, bacharel em Contabilidade pela Universidade Mussa Bin Bique em Inhambane e Médio em Geologia, pelo Instituto Médio de Geologia e Minas de Moatize- Tete.
Trabalhou como Contador Verificador Superior, Chefe da UGEA e Auditor financeiro no Tribunal Administrativo da Província de Inhambane, de 2012 a 2016.
Obteve experiencia na área de docência em quatro Universidades entre públicas e privadas, como técnico de campo no sector de água e saneamento e Infra-estruturas públicas.
Actualmente, frequenta o mestrado em Auditoria Internacional e Gestão Empresarial à distância, na Universidade de Barcelona - fundação FUNIBER.

Development Operations Officer at Namati

Live Org Testing Test

Por enquanto

por enquanto

Por enquanto

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Sou formado em Finanças pela Universidade Eduardo Mondlane e sou defensor de saúde na Namati Moçambique. Procuro ingressar na rede para ter contacto com a equipa e partilhar experiências e interagir com os membros da equipe.

Organizer in Residence

Custodio Costa e um jovem mocambicano, que gosta de abracar caudsas sociais e que se identifica muito em trabalhar para desenvolver aptidoes e despertar a coinciencia das pessoas sobtre varios aspectos da vida.

Dagem Legesse, General Accountant for Namati.

With roots in Utah, California, and Hawaii, Dallin brings three years of experience with non-profits to Namati in his role as Executive Associate.

Dallin graduated magna cum laude from Utah State University with degrees in economics and international business, where he was accepted into the interdisciplinary Huntsman Scholar program. With his class, he studied abroad in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and France and learned firsthand the importance of the law and intercultural collaboration in solving some of society’s most pressing issues. Like Bryan Stevenson, he believes that "each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done” and hopes to use his education and experience to help people find access to justice.

Dallin is an outdoor enthusiast and spends much of his free time skiing, hiking, attending concerts, and conversing over brunch.

I attained my Secondary education at the Prince of Wales School Kingtom Freetown, Sierra Leone. Upon graduation from secondary school, I enrolled at the Milton Margai College of Education Science and Technology (MMCET) Goderich Freetown where i attained a Diploma in Peace and Conflict Studies. I worked as a volunteer teacher at the St Luke's Catholic Primary School Wilberforce Barracks in Freetown. I joined Brac International Sierra Leone as a Paralegal, and i worked with them in three chiefdoms in Port Loko District for a period of 4 years (2010-2014). Until my present appointment, I served as an Intern/volunteer of Namati (Makeni) office. The conflict resolution and peace building knowledge I attained at the MMCET has helped me to build very strong mediation skills, one of the many tools used by community based paralegals across the World. I am open to new ideas, and I expect to tap from the knowledge, skills and experiences of members of this network.

I am a hardworking, honest, and dedicated gentleman with integrity and focus to bring out desired results. I have always found pleasure in working in the various stakeholders in my line of duty, with respect for all manner of persons, and the views expressed by my colleagues and superiors. My ability to interact is exceptional especially in the discharge of my official duties. I strongly believe in following appropriate channels of instruction, communication, and reporting. I am intelligent, purposeful, honest, dedicated to duty, articulate, and a good listener. I work as a Legal Empowerment Advocate/Paralegal carrying out the following:
- Addressing justice related issues affecting the Poor, Marginalized and Disadvantaged individuals and communities through mediation, Human rights education, Advocacy, Navigating authorities, and community dialogue meetings.
- Organizing community members to take collective a positive action on matters affecting their communities.
- Liaise with private and public institutions including Government institutions and NGOs to empower communities for national economic development.
- Educating community members on civil rights and responsibilities, legal rights and procedures.
- Guide community members in the use and understanding of the Customary and Formal legal system.
- Providing limited defense services such as tracking and ensuring attendance of witnesses and sureties to court.
- Facilitating links between courts, other governmental institutions, and local communities to help developed a strong relationship among them in furtherance of the organization’s objectives.
- Monitoring official’s compliance with client’s Human rights during and after disputes.
- Liaising with management staff and Lead Paralegals.
- Referring cases meeting certain pre-established criteria for further litigation by Timap or pro bono lawyers.
- Providing support to the Director(s) or appointees in the design and implementation of any project.
- Collecting data, office management and other functions as may be required by the organization.
- Writing monthly reports; computerized or hand written as required.
- Do other legitimate tasks as may be assigned form time-to-time.
- Participate in the annual Goals setting, and program budget preparation.
I am looking forward to learning new ideas from different teams in the worldwide globe

Daniel served as a lead paralegal for Timap for Justice in Sierra Leone. He consults community-based paralegal programs in program and case management and strategic oversight. Daniel has spoken at a number of conferences on the topic of customary law and community-based paralegalism.

Contributed Resources:

my name is dauda golia,i was born in Gbangbaia village Impere chiefdom bonthe district southern sierra leone.I attended the impere secondary school and the Eastern polytechnic Kenema. I have worked as a paralegal for Methodist church Sierra Leone in Bonthe district southern sierra Leone. Presently i am working with Namati in Bo office southern sierra Leone.

Arach David James is a Ugandan national who has experience working as a Monitoring and Evaluation specialist. Currently based in Nairobi – Kenya, David joined Namati as the Community Land Protection Program’s East Africa Program Officer in March 2016. He is armed with a strong passion for justice, advocating for security of tenure, and strengthening communities’ ability to protect, document and defend their land rights.

Before joining Namati, David worked with Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) to implement their Community Land Protection Program.

David graduated from Makerere University, Kampala in 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Chemistry, where he also attended post-graduate courses in M&E and Statistical Data Management. In addition, he has received formal training in facilitation skills.

Contributed Resources:

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David was born in Maputo, Mozambique. He has taken courses in Electronics and Telecommunications at the National Aeronautics School and worked as a voluntary activist with the Geração Biz program on issues of sexual and reproductive health. He has additionally been active as a field officer in the Mavalane Nucleus against drugs and AIDS. His passion for community work is driven by his conviction that health is a human right.

my name denis bindi ,i work at namati at bo office as office assistant.

Deyla has spent her career helping social justice organizations achieve greater impact by building effective, values and equity-driven internal operations. As Senior Operations Manager at Namati, Deyla partners with Jay Monteverde -- Director of the US Environmental Justice (EJ) Program -- to oversee all operational aspects of the program.

Though a new face on the US EJ Program, Deyla is a longtime member of the Namati family. Prior to her current role, she helped build and scale the organization’s global presence from 2014-2020 as Operations and Systems Officer, and later, People and Culture Manager.

Deyla is an avid hiker and tap dancer from a small rural town in New Mexico, and is fiercely passionate about realizing environmental, racial, and economic justice across the US and abroad. She holds an MSc in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Whittier College, and an active credential as a Society for Human Resources (SHRM) Certified Professional.

Oficial de Desenvolvimento comunitario
Oficial de campo
Formador provincial de MMVs
Docente na ES.Mapinhane

Dominique works as the Senior Network Associate for Land and Environmental Justice at Namati. Prior to joining Namati on October 2022, Dominique worked at the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) for four years. Through joining the network, she looks forward to meeting legal empowerment advocates and learning from their experiences to advance social justice.

Eduardo Malo has over a decade of experience in grassroots advocacy around health and human rights. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Coordinator of Community Programes for Geração BIZ, a national initiative aiming to advance the sexual and reproductive rights of adolescents and youth. From 2007 to 2011 he was employed by the Irish organization TRÔCAIRE, where his work focused on building the institutional capacity of Mozambican commmunity-based organizations working in schools to prevent unwanted pregnancy, gender-based violence, and HIV. Prior to joining Namati in 2014, Malo spent three years in Mozambique’s remote northernmost province, Cabo Delgado, where he served as Program Officer for Pathfinder International. His work in Cabo Delgado focused on promoting and protecting the right to health of vulnerable populations, including sex workers, gay men, intravenous drug users, and those in prison. Malo has earned certificates from both REPROLATINA-Brasil and UNFPA Moçambique and has a degree in Human Resources Management from the Universidade Pedagógica de Moçambique.
Along me to the group for the interest to develop and deepen my knowledge on good practices under the health law.

I'm a Finance and Administration professional and I will be supporting in Finance and Operations duties in Namati Kenya. Looking forward to make as much impact as I can in driving Namati towards its organizational goals. I'm glad to be part of this very worthy course.

#WomenLandRighs, Research and policy Advocacy

Contributed Resources:

I am a human rights lawyer working with Namati in Sierra Leone. By joining the network, I am looking to learn from others who are at the forefront of harnessing and using the law to bring about positive changes in their communities or countries.

Ellie has been living and working in sub-saharan Africa since 2000. Prior to joining Namati, she worked with Partners in Health in Neno, Malawi, where she was Director of PIH’s Program on Social and Economic Rights. Ellie previously established and managed the Clinton Foundation’s pediatric HIV/AIDS program in Malawi, where she focused on bringing care and treatment to marginalized families and played a key role in launching the country’s early infant diagnosis program. From 2002-2005, she worked in Nkwanta, Ghana with the Population Council and Ghana Health Service on scaling-up the national Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative in an effort to decentralize primary health care and increase access among the rural poor. Ellie has also worked with Pathfinder International in Mozambique, the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Botswana, the Institute for Global Health at UCSF/UC Berkeley, IRC, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization in Geneva. Since 2006, she has served as Advisor and Board Member of YOSSA, a grassroots orphan program in central Malawi. Ellie holds a MSc in Maternal and Child Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University.

Contributed Resources:

Por enquanto

I am the Director of Global Programs at Namati where I work closely with each of our program teams on strategies for legal empowerment. I focus on program design, strategic learning, and action research to advance social change. My background is in land and natural resource rights in West Africa. I've worked on community-based programs for participatory environmental governance in Senegal and Mali as well as doing research on how decentralization is impacting community land rights and the opportunities it can open for enhancing accountability to local citizens. I'm also currently affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I'm a rising second-year law student in southern California, committed to using my degree for community empowerment and the pursuit of justice. I've been lucky enough to have several careers already--in publishing, higher education, and nonprofit journalism; I've helped write TED talks and worked to support mutual aid efforts in southern California. Really, I'm passionate about stories: telling them, shaping them, learning from them, and using them to help us understand one another. I believe that effective legal practice is its own kind of storytelling, about the experiences we've had and the world we want to build. As I pursue my legal education, I stay connected to community and storytelling by working as the Managing Editor at LibroMobile Arts Coop. I'm honored to be spending this summer as the US Environmental Justice Fellow at Namati. I wanted to work in environmental justice because I am equally committed to healthy communities and a healthy planet, and because I think that having a safe and healthy home environment is a critical foundation for any other type of advocacy work. I think that I can be effective in this work because environmental justice is particularly subject to competing narratives: about why hazards get located where they do, about what's best for the community, about whose interests matter, and about what's done or should be done about environmental hazards. I hope to bring my passion and experience shaping narratives alongside communities to this work. As for what I'm looking for from the network, at this stage I'm really just open to learning. I'm new to a lot of this and eager to learn from folks on the ground and at all stages and levels of the work. I want to know what's been tried and how people felt about it, and how it worked, or didn't. I'm excited to hear new stories and become part of this incredible network of brilliant, devoted advocates.

General Nurse, graduated from the Health Training Institute in Inhambane, in 2015.
I am currently attending the fourth year of the degree in Public Administration at Eduardo Mondlane University.
I worked as Assistant Supervisor at District level of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program (PNCT/L), from January 2016 to June 2018. (SDSMAS de Panda);
I ensured the Integrated Consultations (Diabetes, Arterial Hypertension, HIV) from November 2015 to January 2016 at the Inhassune Health Center;
Worked as District Responsible for the Control and Prevention of Infection, from January 2016 to May 2018. (SDSMAS_Panda);
Worked as the Humanization and Quality Focal Point of Health Care from June 2016 to June 2018. (SDSMAS de Panda);
Worked as an interim Chief District Nurse for 7 months (May to December 2016) at SDSMAS in Panda;
Worked as a Nurse on shifts from September to November 2015, at the Panda Health Center;
Worked as an electoral brigade in 2013 in the City of Maxixe.

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Farida was born in Maxixe District in Inhambane Province, Mozambique. She studied Accelerated Accounting and Management at the Employment Training Institute and is currently enrolled in the Political History and Public Management program at the Pedagogical University, Inhambane Delegation. She previously worked as a peer educator at PROLIR, promoting leadership for girls, and as a research assistant on a CARE International study of living standards in Inhambane Province.

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I studied Accounting and Finance and have engaged in survey research and statistical analysis and have worked across a number of companies in Sierra Leone

I developed a strong motivation for joining the network because of its mission and vision in identifying negative trends in society and advocates for policy reform, building grass-root legal advocates that interface between vulnerable people and policy makers which am passionate to be a team player

Por enquanto

Having secured my Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Agricultural Economics from Njala University in Sierra Leone, all my work experiences have been on providing services to humanity in the areas of Humanitarian, Human Rights and community development, hence a development practitioner.
From 2007 to 2013, I have served with Timap for Justice (a Paralegal institution in Sierra Leone that provides primary justice to indigent citizens) as a community based Paralegal and Lead Paralegal. Throughout my career, I have worked in coordinating Paralegals and paralegal work country wide, I involved myself as a human rights defender in the protection and promotion of the rights of individuals, and communities with special reference to minority groups. I contributed in reuniting family members and revitalized the subverted fate of many school going children through mediation, advocacy and navigating appropriate authorities.
As an expert in mediation, I have supervised at district level the implementation of a community mediation programme with Timap for Justice. As a measure to increase access to justice to the rural poor, I extensively trained mediators at community level in various mediation skills so as to enable them handle or settle minor disputes arising at village level.
From 2013 to date, I am serving as a Legal Empowerment Advocate and engaged in helping communities to protect their customary land rights, natural resources and the environment. I continuously provide education to communities on laws and policies related to land and the environment, ensured an ethical business between investors and land owners by taking them through the various processes involved before, during and after leasing land to investors. I help in preparing communities and individuals to hold companies or investor accountable for environmental degradation caused. I am also assisting communities to demarcate their land and prepare a governance system at village level for effective and efficient management of their land and other natural resources.

Por enquanto

Namati Mocambique, Programa Direito A Saude

My name is Ibrahim R. Kanu, the office assistant of Namati Makeni office. i was born on the 25th october, 1986 at Tonkolili District Gbonkolenken Chiefdom Yele town. I attended at the Government secondary school for Boy Magburaka and later went to the Northern Polytechnic college Maken campus and purse a Higher Teacher's certificate in Agricultural Science.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER. Indira’s passion lies in building an organization that is deeply mission-rooted, built on values, and committed to rethinking our world and bringing justice everywhere. In six years at Namati, she has overseen the organization’s growth from an annual budget of $3 million, with 40 staff and 6 funding partners, to an annual budget of $9 million with 155 staff and 28 funding partners. Throughout that period, she has led with the philosophy that organizational growth must be careful, thoughtful, and attentive to core values and sustaining excellence. She believes Namati’s impact in the world comes through our people and finds her inspiration in the heart, brilliance, and dynamism of Namati’s paralegals, staff, partners, and network members worldwide.

Indira came to Namati after a decade working on global health and human rights across Asia and Africa. She teaches critical development studies at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and is a professionally-trained classical dancer and teacher in the Kuchipudi tradition of India. A dual citizen with roots in Atlanta in the southern United States, and Visakhapatnam in southern India, Indira has lived, worked and traveled across nearly fifty countries worldwide and now lives with her extended family in Washington DC. Indira holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies and Indian Studies from Harvard University and a masters in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She is called by sunshine and trees, rhythm and song, and the flourishing of local and indigenous communities, cultures, languages, and ecosystems.

Contributed Resources:

First of all I address my salutation,Iam Isac,I was a trainee of english course at Vilankulo teacher training institute ,graduated by Sasol as a painter ,I like so much Reading any leiture,my hobbies Is to take care for garden,cutting a grass and prune my smoll plants over there,further Iam happier for having become a defender on right to health of namati,my enterest Is to Grant justice,improvement in healh service supply and legal empowerment.

Global Programs Fellow at Namati

Senior Executive Associate at Namati

Formerly Director of Namati's Community Land Protection Program

Contributed Resources:

Jay has advocated for human rights and social justice through grassroots organizing and legal and policy advocacy for 20 years, focused largely on environmental justice, immigrant rights, and protection of civil liberties. At Namati, he leads the US environmental justice program, working with the U.S. program team to assist U.S. legal empowerment advocates and communities impacted by environmental injustice.

Jay started his legal career at the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where he handled environmental justice and other public interest litigation, investigations, and policy matters. He later moved to China and worked with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, supporting grassroots organizations to push for environmental enforcement, transparency, and access to justice. Most recently, Jay co-founded Breach Collective, which partners with activists and frontline communities to advance climate justice through organizing, legal advocacy, and storytelling-based communications campaigns. Jay was born and raised in Chicagoland.

Office Assistant at the Namati Sierra Leone team.

Hello! I provide critical leadership and support to the operations and people functions at Namati to ensure we are better, stronger, and more effective as we continue to grow the movement for legal empowerment. I started at Namati as a Fellow with Namati’s Learning team while I was finishing my Masters in International Policy and Development. I transitioned to global operations because of my conviction in the spirit of Namati and our people in order to support meaningful organizational development rooted in our core values.

My name is Jennifer Soila from Kajiado county.
professional. I am a holder of a diploma in community development and social work, with about 4 years’ experience working with communities on issues of human rights and women's empowerment. I served as a program assistant for GROOTS Kenya while performing the following duties:
• Assist with the implementation of the Tana River and Laikipia Counties' community resilience to disaster and climate change program in arid and semi-arid areas. The curriculum includes instruction on topics such as communal land rights, fostering women's climate resilience, access to agricultural information, and involvement in decision-making processes.
• Encourage youth and women to participate in civic education programs and government administration for rights and democracy. Through civic education and training on Kenya's devolution structures, roles and duties of important players, democratic rights, and provisions for decision-making procedures for which women and youth have rights, the program promotes legal empowerment of the poor, women, and youth.
Currently, I work for Namati Kenya as a program associate, undertaking the following responsibilities:
Key Areas of Responsibility:
Logistics and General Administration
Assist the Community Land Protection Program with general administrative tasks such as:
• I draft and edit program correspondence and memoranda.
• Assisting with the preparation of budgets and work plans
• monitoring expenditures and variances in program costs
• coordinating with Namati headquarters on financial, legal, and operational tasks.
• maintains and updates program working files.
• Providing basic translation and interpretation support, when required.
• performing clerical duties such as responding to general public requests, faxing, photocopying, preparing expense reports, ordering supplies, coordinating program outreach, and assisting in appointment and call scheduling
• arranging and coordinating travel logistics for international staff travel, among other responsibilities
• Coordination of conference, workshop, convening, and event planning, development, and logistical planning, including budget creation and oversight of the successful production of all other supporting documents.
General Program Support
• Help Namati staff to review and supervise national partner organizations’ contracts and deliverables, including:
• Coordinating the timely submission of all agreed reports and contract deliverables according to reporting requirements and deadlines.
Goals for My Career
• To apply my knowledge, expertise, and abilities in social work and community development to advance the rights and justice of local communities, women, indigenous people, the poor, and society's most marginalized individuals, as well as to assist the team and organization in achieving their objectives.

Holds a Higher Teachers Certificate Secondary from the Northern Polytechnic, now Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology, Makeni where I studied Language Arts and Religious and Moral Education. Upon graduation worked as a teacher at the Government Secondary School for Girls, Mathora before joining Timap for Justice; one time leading human rights organisation in Sierra Leone. Rose from paralegal to the rank of a Manager and a Lead Paralegal. I worked in Bombali and Tonkolili Disricts in Northern Sierra Leone as well as Bo and Kenema Districts in the South and East of Sierra Leone respectively.Worked with Timap for justice for six years . key responsibilities being but not limited to recording cases and finding concrete pratical soutions to them, visiting communities and giving legal education, solving individual and community level problems. Started work with Namati as a Legal empowerment Advocate on June, 2017.

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A human rights advocate from India, currently working as the Global Programs Fellow at Namati.

My name is Karleigh Shepard and I am an Advocacy and Engagement Fellow at Namati. I am currently a Master of Public Policy (MPP) Student at UCLA, and received my Bachelor's Degree in English and Political Science from Humboldt State University.

I have worked in the international development field for nearly 20 years, both in program and operations. Before joining Namati as Director of Global Finance, I worked for several non-profit organizations (most recently Eurasia Foundation) and U.S. Government at its missions in Taipei and Beijing. I hold a Masters degree in International Development from the American University and have done extensive coursework in accounting. By joining the network I hope to connect with my colleagues and learn more about the work of the Legal Empowerment Network.

Am an office assistant
That my position
Others, an athletes
A handball coach with license D

I am the organizing specialist for Namati's US EJ Program. My work allows me to help find connecting points between organizations and states within the region I am assigned in order to allow us all to rise together. I hope that by joining this network I will be able to deliver a broader array of resources to the people in the region and carry the lessons of the region to others in the worldwide network in exchange.

Kevin Mwanza is a communication professional with over ten years experience in local and international humanitarian organizations and media agencies. His background transcends Communications, Media and Humanitarian Advocacy.

I serve as the senior officer, development operations at Namati and have a background in nonprofit fundraising and conflict resolution. I'm looking forward to connecting with and learning from other members of the LEF!

Employed by Namati, Krista Bacchieri is the Delaware State Chapter Coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Justice Coalition. An experienced nonprofit professional and macro social worker, Krista is passionate about systemic social change and social justice. Previously she was the Director of Operations at Strive: How You Lead Matters and worked in many roles at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. She received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College. Currently, she serves on the Board of Trustees and Greater Newark Board at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware. Krista lives in Wilmington, Delaware.

Laura is Namati's Citizenship Program Director. The program works with communities who have citizenship in law, but in practice continue to face discrimination in attempts to access proof of nationality or related rights and services. Paralegals from these communities empower others to overcome discriminatory treatment to access legal identity documents and drive changes to the national legal framework on citizenship rights. The Citizenship Program is implemented with partners in Kenya and Bangladesh and provides technical support to organizations in Myanmar and Jordan.

Laura previously established and managed Namati’s Myanmar Program, which is primarily focused on land rights.

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Hi, I'm Lauren! My pronouns are she/her/hers. I'm a Senior Manager, Development at Namati. I live in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. My background is in drug policy, mental healthcare, and civil rights (with a particular interest in disability rights). I joined the Namati staff in February 2023.

Namati's Director of Finance and Administration. Over the past decade, Lee has worked with several grant-based organizations in international development. At the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, he served as an international staff accountant responsible for the Southern and East Africa, as well as Latin America Caribbean, portfolio before moving to the field to assume the role of financial manager for the Iraq program. Most recently, as the International Grant Manager for the American Bar Association, he oversaw association compliance with grant regulations and agreements, financial oversight of all 40 association field offices, and the development of the grant policies and procedures including the association NICRA. He holds a Masters in Business Management from the University of Maryland.

Por enquanto

Abogada y maestranda en Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos (UBA). Docente e investigadora.

Luciana Bercovich is currently collaborating with Namati´s network team, building and shaping a strong legal empower community in Latin America. She was a co-director of ACIJ – Civil Association for Equality and Justice. She is an attorney with expertise in the areas of housing and city rights, access to justice, and legal empowerment of the poor. She has been working with grassroots and social movements for more than ten years. She was also a university professor on human rights and constitutional Law. She has written books, papers, and articles about social rights and access to justice.

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I am a law student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, USA. For the summer of 2022, I am serving as the Land and Environmental Justice Fellow for Namati's Global Programs Team.

Operations Associate, Legal Empowerment Network

Sou uma pessoa extrovertida, gosto de fazer novas amizades.

Por enquanto

I work as a Data Storytelling and Public Narrative Officer at Namati exploring how research can support communities in their quests for social justice. I like to write and reflect about housing, social inequality, and the relations between space and societies. I believe in the value of policy shaping our social and material environments, as well as in the value of research showing that there is room for improvement.

Marlon has more than two decades of experience in legal empowerment work, having devoted practically his entire career to social justice and human rights lawyering. He has combined grassroots education activities with active involvement in strategic litigation on human rights and public interest issues, policy reform work on social justice legislation, and justice system reform programs on improving access to justice.

From 2008-2017, Marlon was the Coordinator of the Alternative Law Groups (ALG), a coalition of twenty (20) legal resource NGOs in the Philippines with distinct programs that are primarily concerned with the pursuit of public interest, respect for human rights, and promotion of social justice. Before joining Namati, he has served as member of the Global Legal Empowerment Network’s Guidance Committee.

Marlon is a professor at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1994. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management (Major in Legal Management) from the College of Arts and Sciences of the same university.

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Humanitarian professional with long term engagement in the human rights, protection and access to justice sector, with a particular focus on Latin America.

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Former Fellow under Stacey Cram, Policy Director

I am Global Systems Manager at Namati. I lead the technology strategy for Namati to optimize our internal workflows and knowledge management practices.

As the Senior Network Manager, Michael works on learning initiatives and operations within the Global Legal Empowerment Network. This includes learning exchanges, the resource library, and the annual Legal Empowerment Leadership Course, as well as other areas such as communications and monitoring and evaluation. He has worked within access to justice, legal empowerment, and international development since 2004.

I'm the Manager of Learning and Research with Namati. Interested in understanding the types of information that can help those in the legal empowerment field make better decisions and have a greater impact.

Paralegal at the Namati Sierra Leone team.

I am mohamed s kamara office assistant port loko office Namati Sierra Leone.

I work on the Global Programs team at Namati. My background is in organizing, human rights, and civic engagement.

Mustafa Mahmoud is the Senior Program and Advocacy Officer for Namati’s Citizenship Program. He has 7 years’ experience supporting partner organizations working with community-based paralegals on Citizenship issues in Kenya, Bangladesh, Jordan, and Myanmar. Before joining Namati, he was the Program Manager at the Nubian Rights Forum, a Kenyan NGO, where he managed a team of 7 paralegals assisting the Nubian ethnic minority in applying for citizenship documents. His responsibilities included overseeing casework, managing an online paralegal case database, and advocacy efforts. Mustafa also has previous experience with a wide range of community work, including hosting radio programs such as Uhaki Radio Programme: Showcasing Politically Motivated Violence, and Uhaki Radio Programme: Re-integration of Ex-inmates, and volunteering with the Kenyan Red Cross.

Mustafa is passionate about solving injustices, enlightening communities through civic education, networking with government and civil society counterparts, and providing technical support to other NGOs starting similar paralegal projects. He is currently pursuing a degree in Development Studies at the University of Eastern Africa Baraton, Nairobi.

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I am Mustapha Kanu, a Monitoring and Evaluations professional who believe in a society were the law is not just for the most powerful but seeks the interest of the poor with equity. I believe that empowerment is change and constant change is development and one way to get development is by getting the people to know what is for them and how they can use it. Being part of a team which strive towards achieving development through legal empowerment with an approach of shared learning and consultation, is just the right place. i am part of this network to share experiences, learn with others and improve on how we can achieve our goals.

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Nelia Manganhela Nhatsave, 34 anos, licenciada em Enfermagem Pediátrica e actualmente concluindo o mestrado em Saúde Publica na Universidade Eduardo Mondlane.

Nelson Chilengue, Oficial de M&A, baseado em Inhambane

N/A

Ofelia Paunde, formada em Historia na area de Desenvolvimento Comunitario, experiencia na coordenacao de actividades comunitarias, inicialmente trabalhou 3 anos na AMODEFA ( 2005-2007), posteriormente entre 2008- 2010 na Pathfinder Internacional com Programas de Saude Sexual e Reprodutiva voltado para Adolescente e Jovens Geracao Biz, entre 2010-2013 trabalhou na PSI com Grupos de Alto Risco. Entre 2013-2014 trabalhou novamente na Pathfinder Internacional como Oficial de Envolvimento Comunitario no Programa de promocao do Planeamento Familiar e actualmente trabalha na NAMATI como Oficial de Programa de Empoderamento legal no ambito da Promocao do Direito a saude.

I am a qualified Public Accountant (CPA K) with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) from Kenyatta University. I am currently pursuing an MBA in Finance from University of Nairobi. I have over 8 years experience working with International Nonprofit organizations with professional skills ranging from Financial management and reporting, implementation of accounting policies and procedures, tax compliance, procurement and payroll administration. Prior to joining Namati Kenya, i have been the Finance Manager at International Training & Education Center for Health(I-TECH) Kenya for 7 years. I have also worked at Samaritan's Purse International Kenya as an Accountant. I've joined Namati Kenya as the Senior Finance Officer responsible for all financial and procurement activities supporting the Kenya programs. I'm passionate about social empowerment and advocacy programs especially on marginalized communities. I was born and raised in Nakuru County in Kenya.

Poorvi Chitalkar is the Learning Agenda Specialist at Namati. In this role, she leads efforts to generate new knowledge on legal empowerment, connecting research and program experimentation to drive learning. She supports collaboration among practitioners from Namati and the Legal Empowerment Network as well as researchers to advance comparative learning across diverse contexts.

I'm a recent graduate of American University and an even more recent addition to the Global Programs Team at Namati. My experience around legal empowerment so far has focused on issues of criminal justice, specifically extreme sentencing of juveniles in the US, and also around women's and girls' empowerment in Sierra Leone. I am hoping to gain a knowledge of how justice and legal empowerment strategies are being deployed across the world, in different contexts, to inform how best I can be of use to the communities I am a member of and beyond.

I work at Namati supporting land and environmental justice warriors scale and sustain their work.

I am the Accounting Officer at Namati.

I am a holder of a bachelor of science degree from Fourah Bay College. After graduating in 2003, I joined the teaching profession. I taught for 5 years and then joined Timap for Justice and worked as a criminal justice paralegal. During my time with Timap, I did a lot of empowerment work with suspects and accused persons. In 2015, I left Timap for Justice and went back to teach. Having got the passion to help people, I decided to join NAMATI, to continue the work I have started. I am happy to be part of this great family.

Rosália Maria Cuco, nasceu em Maputo, filha de uma família humilde, trabalhou na Liga de direitos Humanos como paralegal, sempre lutou pela direitos humanos.

Senior Legal Officer, U.S. Program, Namati

My name is Rosta Cumbe

I am an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and currently the Program Officer for Namati's Community Land Protection Program. I have over five years’ experience in human rights work and programme work at the Kenya Human Rights Commission(KHRC), The Law Society of Kenya(LSK), the International Development Law Organization(IDLO) and the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network(KELIN). I believe that land justice is indispensable in ensuring that other fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, are protected. It is against that backdrop that discussions on key issues as sustainable development, conservation, gender equality, climate change resilience and community participation can thrive in order to draw the best ideas and solutions necessary in these challenging times. I look forward to enriching my learning on social justice issues and also sharing with the community of grassroots justice warriors on strategies that can improve the outcomes of people on the margins of society.

I am a trained Paralegal and an Advocate with 9 years’ experience in human rights practice and protection with regional focus in Africa, capacity building, prisoners’ rights, advocacy, public education, team building, rule of law, collaboration/networking expertise, and legal reforms within Ghana’s criminal justice sector.

I hold Bachelor of Laws Degree and Arts [in Psychology, Geography and Resource Development] from the Central University and University of Ghana respectively.

Prior to joining Namati, I served in various capacities at the POS Foundation i.e Project Manager, Paralegal, Admin/Finance Officer and managed several projects in Ghana and the West African Sub Region:

· Justice For All Programme - which provides access to justice for Pre-trial Detainees in efforts to de-congest overcrowded prison facilities by organizing Mobile Special Court Sittings in Prisons to adjudicate Remand cases.

· In-Prison Paralegal Program – Trained incarcerated persons and officers as paralegals to offer assistance to fellow incarcerated persons to appeal on their cases by self-representation per Article 19 (2)(f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

· UN Universal Periodic Review – Managed Ghana’s Civil Society Platform under the UPR, a peer review mechanism of the human right record of member states of the United Nations

· Promotion of Rule of Law and Judiciary – Promoting Small Scale Cross Border Trade, Rule of Law and Use of Technology in West Africa

I like swimming, hiking and adventure.

I am the Operations Associate for Namati, Sierra Leone. As a residing citizen of this country, I have learnt over the years that most of our problems and suffering stem from either not being aware of our rights or being aware and not believing the law can be enforced to our advantage. A great number of our population being illiterate suffer from the lack of awareness of their basic rights and laws to protect them. Unfortunately, the literate few who are aware of their basic rights are sometimes not aware of existing laws to protect them or do not believe in the institution charged with the power to enforce them or the know-how. Being part of a movement that creates legal awareness and empowerment is an act of patriotism for me and will give me the opportunity to play a small role in a much larger fight.

I am a Senior Global M&E and Learning Officer on the Global Programs team at Namati based in Washington, D.C. I am brand new to Namati and am looking forward to learning about the work of the Network and connecting with everyone to see how we can use M&E to track the great work the Network is already doing.

Serano Varela

Born and raised in Sierra Leone, schooled in Bo and did my degree at Fourah Bay College, have worked in both the public and private sector.

Sónia has 15 years of grassroots public health experience, with a focus on community education and participatory development. She began her career in the Ministry of Health, where she was responsible for designing communications and educational materials and organizing community mobilization campaigns around health. She then went on to work for the Organização Média, Comunicação e Desenvolvimento (MCOD) overseeing efforts to prevent HIV and diarrheal disease, and more recently for ESTAMOS, where she supervised health promotion activities, including an initiative to promote optimal infant feeding practices. Born in Mozambique’s Zambezia Province, Sónia has a degree in Communications Science from the Universidade Apolitécnica in Maputo. She joined Namati in March of 2016.

Sunyoung "Sonia" Park is the Justice Financing Advisor at Namati. In this role, she leads efforts to mobilize resources and support for grassroots legal empowerment work globally. Before joining Namati, Sonia spent 9 years supporting systems-changing social entrepreneurs around the world. She led Ashoka's Global Venture team to grow and innovate the search and selection of Ashoka Fellows, and launched Ashoka in South Korea. Earlier in her career, Sonia taught students of foreign affairs and worked as a trade policy analyst with the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC. She holds a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a graduate degree in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo

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Comecei a trabalhar na Namati este ano (2020) como educadora de comunitaria. Conecto me a rede como forma de estar a par sobre como posso apoiar as comunidades na defesa dos seus direitos.

Sonkita leads Namati’s work in Sierra Leone. He has been a legal practitioner of the High Court of Sierra Leone for 17 years and holds a master’s degree in human rights and democratization from the University of Pretoria. He previously worked as a consultant for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions Africa Office in Accra, Ghana. Whilst there he researched and reviewed law and policy on the right to water and sanitation in South Africa and Ghana; drafted amicus curiae briefs, publications, and training manuals; and provided training to civil society organizations.

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Sou jovem residente em Quelimane, Moçambique.

Strategic Advisor, Development at Namati

Current Namati consultant. Areas of interest include Gender Equality and peace-building.

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Hi, I'm the Namati Myanmar program director..

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Senior Operations Associate at Namati US

Vivek founded Namati in 2011 to grow the movement for legal empowerment around the world. Namati and its partners have built cadres of grassroots legal advocates– also known as “community paralegals”– in eight countries. The advocates have worked with over 40,000 people to protect community lands, enforce environmental law, and secure basic rights to healthcare and citizenship.

Namati convenes a community of 650+ legal empowerment organizations from all over the world who are collaborating on common challenges and learning from one another. This community successfully advocated for inclusion of access to justice in the new global development framework, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

From 2003 to 2007, Vivek co-founded and co-directed the Sierra Leonean organization Timap for Justice, which has been recognized by the International Crisis Group, Transparency International, and President Jimmy Carter as a pioneering model for delivering justice services in the context of a weak state and a plural legal system.

From 2007 to 2011, he served as senior counsel in the Justice Reform Group of the World Bank. His work focused on rule of law reform and governance, primarily in West Africa and South Asia.

In 1997-1998 he lived in a hut of dung and sticks in a village in Kutch, his native place, working on watershed management and girls’ education with two grassroots development organizations- Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan and Sahjeevan.

Vivek graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, and Yale Law School. His publications include Between Law and Society: Paralegals and the Provision of Justice Services in Sierra Leone and Worldwide in the Yale Journal of International Law and Allies Unknown: Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability in the Harvard Journal of Health and Human Rights.

Vivek serves on the international advisory council of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, the advisory board of the evaluation firm ID Insight, and the governing boards of the International Senior Lawyers Project and the public entrepreneurship organization Res Publica. He was an affiliate expert with the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Vivek received the Pioneer Award from the North American South Asian Bar Association in 2008. He was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2014, a “legal rebel” by the American Bar Association in 2015, and a Skoll Awardee for Social Entrepreneurship in 2016.

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