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Mayor, City of Yokohama
Mayor of Yokohama since 2009. Her previous roles include president of BMW Tokyo, chairperson and CEO of Daiei, and executive officer of Nissan Motors. She is committed to women’s empowerment projects such as the abolition of waiting list for nurseries, as well as support for female entrepreneurship and networking.
Chair of the Board, Gavi
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, and briefly as Foreign Minister, becoming the first woman to hold either position. She also previously served as Managing Director of the World Bank. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has promoted gender equality and women’s empowerment by introducing gender budgeting initiatives for ministries that go above-and-beyond to deliver results for women and girls. She also established a mentorship program to support Nigerian female entrepreneurs, who account for over half of the country’s small and medium-sized businesses.
CEO, Soronko Solutions
Ms. Honu is a skilled programmer who worked as an IT specialist before founding her software development company in Ghana. Ms. Honu also opened the Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school in West Africa, to train Africa’s next generation of women in tech.
CEO, EcoSmart Uganda
Ms. Aryanyijuka is the co-founder of EcoSmart, a social enterprise that develops low cost eco-friendly feminine hygiene products for women and girls from low resource environments. EcoSmart ensures equality, vibrancy and dignity in menstrual management for young women across Uganda.
CEO, Babymigo
Mr. Olanrewaju is the co-founder of Babymigo, an online network that connects new and expectant mothers with pregnancy, birth and baby information. As a native of Nigeria, Mr. Olanrewaju has worked to ensure even the most marginalized mothers have access to information, medical experts, services and other parents to mitigate preventable maternal and child death.
CEO, Polaris Co., Ltd.
After working as a Japanese surgeon, Mr. Mori founded Polaris, a health services company operating more than 57 self-supportive nursing care centers across Japan. Through his work, Mr. Mori ensures single mothers and domestic violence survivors receive support so they can attain economic security and independence.
Vice-President Agriculture, Human and Social Development,
African Development Bank
Globally respected development economist with over 20 years of experience, Dr Blanke leads the Bank’s action on gender equality and women’s empowerment. She drives Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), encouraging an innovative financing systems to reduce the finance gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa.
Senior Gender Advisor, JICA
Dr. Tanaka has a long career working on promoting women’s rights and women’s economic empowerment, particularly in Asia and Africa. She serves as Japan’s representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), and she sits on the Board of Directors for the Japan National Committee to UN Women and for CARE International Japan.
Chair, Development Assistance Committee (DAC), OECD
Dr. Moorehead served as the British Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and as the UK Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA. Since becoming the DAC Chair, she has vowed to prioritize gender equality and the ‘leave no-one behind’ principle of the SDGs.