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Meet Our Mentors

These are the people who guide our fellows, each bringing years of real work on gender equality to the men coming up behind them. Several are women, because work on masculinity has to stay answerable to the people it most affects.

Cody Ragonese

Leadership Development Consultant

Cody Ragonese is the Director of Programs at Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, where he leads U.S. and global initiatives to engage men and boys as partners in advancing gender equality, care, and social justice. A leading voice on evidence-based solutions for transforming harmful gender norms, Cody works at the intersection of research, policy, and practice to promote healthier, more equitable models of masculinity.

Msen Nabo

Development Communications Specialist

Msen is a Development Communications Specialist committed to leveraging storytelling to influence policies, inspire citizens’s action, shape new narratives and correct harmful ones. A strong believer of #EducateGirls, and currently a Lake Chad Climate Justice Youth Fellow.

Ruth Okafor

Program Manager and Policy Specialist

Ruth is a development program manager and policy specialist with over six years of experience in advancing government relations, public policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement across various sectors, including youth, gender, agriculture, governance, and education. She has experience managing multi-state government partnerships, coordinating development programs worth over $900,000, and leading evidence-driven advocacy efforts that have strengthened policy adoption and public accountability in Nigeria.

Ruth has a proven ability to build strategic alliances with government institutions, civil society organizations, and local communities. She has successfully managed a network of over 120 advocates, designed research and policy briefs, and delivered inclusive, citizen-centered reforms. Additionally, she is adept at program design, grant management, and translating policy insights into operational strategies that drive sustainable development outcomes.

Ruth has managed diverse projects such as the ProjectTRUST funded by the MacArthur Foundation; the Fair Finance Research Project funded by Oxfam Novib in 2024; the Power of Voices Partnership Fair for All (PVPF4All) Project, also funded by Oxfam Novib; the Youth Organizing Leaders (YOL) project funded by ActionAid Nigeria and the Dutch Government; and the Galvanizing Mass Action Against Gender-Based Violence Project in Kano State funded by the Canadian High Commission to Nigeria at Connected Development (CODE).

Noel Ifeanyi Alumona

Founder, Boys Champions | Obama Foundation Fellow

Noel is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Boys Champions. In 2022, Noel was named the first African to win the American Field Service (AFS) Award for Young Global Citizens at the AFS Youth Assembly in New York, for his work with Boys Champions.

Currently pursuing a PhD in Education, Noel holds a M.Ed in Special Education from Vanderbilt University, USA, and a B.A. in Philosophy of Education from the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, Rome, Italy. 

In his free time, he can always be found playing badminton or checking the new restaurant in the next street.

Iya Bawa Pyiki

Gender Justice Advocate

Iya Bawa Pyiki is a gender justice advocate, legal professional, and Commonwealth Fellow with a deep commitment to advancing women’s rights and strengthening accountability for gender-based violence through law and policy reform. She holds a Master’s degree in Constitutional and Human Rights Law and is pursuing doctoral research on Gender-Based Violence and Law, with a focus on policy implementation and women’s lived experiences in the Global South.

Her work reflects a strong engagement with Nigeria’s gender equality movement. Notably, she contributed to the landmark 35% affirmative action judgment that secured greater representation for Nigerian women in governance; an achievement that continues to shape national discourse on inclusion and equity.

Beyond her legal and advocacy work, Iya has held leadership positions within the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum, the Young Women in Politics Forum, and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, where she has championed women’s empowerment and access to justice.

In her current role with the Gender Mobile Initiative, she drives evidence-based advocacy and multi-stakeholder partnerships aimed at creating safer, more inclusive learning environments across Nigeria. Her work bridges research, activism, and policy engagement, advancing a vision of justice that is both transformative and survivor-centered.

Stevelee N. Mwichigi

Women’s Economic Empowerment & Advocacy Officer

Lee works at the intersection of gender justice, enterprise development and economic inclusion. As a Women Empowerment & Advocacy Officer at AGRA, he leads VALUE4HER, a platform advancing the economic agency of women agripreneurs across Africa whilst shaping how institutions integrate gender equity into programs, partnerships and investment. His gender justice work, however, runs in both directions. He is an emerging voice on masculinity and gender justice, engaging young men not just as allies to women’s empowerment but as people navigating their own questions of purpose and what it means to be a man in today’s world.