A grassroots coach, co-founder & sports activist

Lipa Nessa is a dynamic football enthusiast on a mission to drive change. With the mantra "I'm going to change the world with a hijab on my head and a ball at my feet," she's a former semi-professional player turned grassroots coach and sports activist. Lipa's impactful work spans communities, promoting inclusivity through football. She's a pivotal voice on sports boards, shaping education, policy, and innovation. Lipa embodies the fusion of sports and social progress, inspiring a global movement.

Young Expert Girls Human Rights Hub & Campaigner for Our Streets Now

Lauren is an English graduate from London. Having campaigned for various NGOs and grassroots organisations, her experience lies mainly in policy and advocacy work, with a focus on gender-based violence and gender-responsive policymaking, and interests in digital activism, sports equality, and education also. She has come to appreciate the role of the law in igniting sociocultural change, and seek to integrate women and girls into the political sphere, especially those from marginalised communities; for them to be represented not only in legislation, but to have a voice and hold power in such spaces.

Seyi is a Black feminist organiser, fundraiser and keen pop culture observer. She is co-director of Level Up, a feminist community campaigning for gender justice in the UK, where she leads on collective strategy and fundraising.

Seyi is also a member of the Project Tallawah collective, an emerging Black feminist resourcing and community initiative based in the UK led by and for Black/Global Majority women, girls and gender nonconforming people. Seyi is a big fan of pop culture, podcasts and sees herself as the first gif connoisseur.

Co Director, Level Up

Janey is a seasoned feminist activist, writer and musician who is co-director of Level Up, where she is currently focused on a campaign to end the imprisonment of pregnant women and new mothers. Janey lives to create spaces for women’s collective rage, joy and solidarity. From taking direct action with grassroots feminist groups to touring across Europe as the singer in a queer punk band, Janey’s feminism is one of power-building, disruption and fun. When she’s not fighting gender injustice, you can find Janey tending to flowers in her garden, or lifting heavy weights in the gym.

Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Officer, Girls Not Brides

Georgiana is a human rights and gender justice activist. Her commitment to girls’ and women’s rights began in high school, in her native country of Romania, where she started advocating for gender equality with the Association for Liberty and Equality of Gender. She continues to be an active part of the feminist movement in Romania from aboard, where she has studied and worked over the last decade to advance human rights through advocacy, litigation, and research.

Georgiana currently leads the global advocacy work of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, a global network of more than 1,400 civil society organisations from over 100 countries committed to ending child marriage and ensuring girls can reach their full potential. Previously, Georgiana worked on strategic human rights litigation at the Open Society Justice Initiative, at the European Union's diplomatic service headquarters, and in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

She serves on the Board of Women Deliver, a leading global advocate that champions gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women in all their intersecting identities, and several community-based Romanian NGOs. She holds an MPhil degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where she studied as a Gates scholar.

Project and Advocacy Officer, Girls Human Rights Hub, Digital Human Rights Activist

Ilvana Dedja is a driven and passionate advocate for girls' rights. Ilvana has worked extensively in the field of girl’s human rights, and has gained experience in various capacities, including as a member of the UN Youth Advisory Group in Albania, and as a Youth Ambassador for Women Against Violence Europe. In these roles, she continues to raise awareness about violence against women and girls and focuses on digital rights in cyberspace.

Bangladeshi human rights activist

Rima Sultana Rimu, 19, is a Bangladeshi activist living in Cox’s Bazar, which hosts Rohingya in one of the world’s largest refugee settlements. She has made literacy of Rohingya women and girls her mission. Rimu is a part of the Young Women for Leadership network, a programme of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders organized in partnership with the local women’s rights organization Jago Nari Unnayon Sangstha and supported by UN Women. She made the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women worldwide for 2020.