The Kota Alliance is an umbrella organization elevating collaboration across borders for women-centered nonprofits, NGOs, social enterprises and entrepreneurs, that share the like-minded goal of improving gender equality and supporting women. Kota’s vision is to provide women entrepreneurs and women-focused nonprofits, local and global, with a platform to gather, network, learn, and execute their mission while saving resources and inspiring each other to new innovative solutions for challenging problems, through collaboration.
The active participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is a critical element in the work of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). NGOs have been influential in shaping the current global policy framework on women’s empowerment and gender equality
As part of our continuing support and outreach of women-focused NGOs, Kota is hosting a moderated discussion with four NGO partners focusing on the CSW review theme of women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. The presentations highlight relevant projects and programs which use education as a tool for the economic empowerment of women and girls.
Chiwoniso Kaitano, Executive Director, comes to Girl Be Heard from Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, a 30 year old Brooklyn-based youth empowerment and arts and culture organization where she served as Executive Director. Chiwoniso’s nonprofit career has been dedicated to helping organizations at the forefront of arts and culture, social justice, youth education, and social services. Prior to joining Ifetayo, Chiwoniso served as the Director of the All for One Collaborative, a collective impact partnership spearheaded by three major Brooklyn-based Community Development Corporations; Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, IMPACCT Brooklyn and Bridge Street Development Corporation. Under this initiative, Chiwoniso was charged with launching and implementing the All for One initiative, a collective impact project which focused on promoting economic mobility within low-resource communities of color in Northern Brooklyn.
Chiwoniso has long been involved in the arts scene including running the long-standing literary series The Salon, and founding Africa Redux a platform that promotes the art, culture and music of Africa. Chiwoniso also serves on the Board of Directors of three organizations: The Center for Fiction, The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Chiwoniso holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs. Originally a native of Zimbabwe, Chi lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Etali Akwaji from Sustain Cameroon
Etali Genesis Akwaji is the founder and CEO of the Association for Sustainable Development Livelihoods Initiatives (SUSTAIN Cameroon), a grassroots nonprofit, working with an overarching goal to contribute to eradicate harmful practices and cultures that perpetrate violence against women and children that include, but not limited to child early and forced marriages, sexual exploitation & amp; abuse of children, gender based violence, human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Etali Genesis Akwaji is also a Fellow and member of the global council for the Chartered Institute of Leadership, education and Development (CILED). CILED provides internationally recognized academic and professional development qualifications for practicing Leaders, Educators and Development Practitioners to confidently and efficiently meet the challenges of the present and the future.
Etali Genesis Akwaji holds a BA in African Studies with an option in International Relations from the University of Dschang, West Region of Cameroon. He has over 18+ years’ experience as a development practitioner, working as a community mobilizer and humanitarian relief worker, serving in various capacities ranging from volunteering work, part time and full time capacities in the area of conflict management, alternative dispute resolution approaches to settling inter-tribal conflicts in rural communities, gender equity assessments and sensitizations, gender mainstreaming, HIV/AIDS education and awareness, governance and advocacy on women and girls’ rights issues etc. Etali Genesis Akwaji has spent several of the years promoting gender equality and empowerment of women, girls and orphans and vulnerable children. He has co-founded and pioneered the creation of women rights organizations. He is very passionate about the rights of women, girls and orphans and vulnerable children.
Danielle de la Fuente from Amal Alliance
Danielle De La Fuente has vast experience in peace building and diplomatic efforts stemming from her work at the US Department of Defense and multiple Embassies. Her passion for achieving sustainable development, led her to form the Amal Alliance. Amal is a non-governmental nonprofit organization that provides displaced and disenfranchised children worldwide with social development programs that help cope with the invisible scars of trauma, and the learning fundamentals that guarantee them future opportunities to succeed. As a passionate advocate for childrens’ rights to education and to play, she specializes in social emotional learning. Bridging policy and practice, she sits on the Advisory Board of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, a G20Y committee, the Steering Committee of Karanga: The Global Alliance for Social Emotional Learning, and forms part of numerous international coalitions and UN task teams for early childhood development and inclusive education. Her work has received many accolades including winning UNHCR’s Humanitarian Education Accelerator COVID 19 Challenge, being a Top 3 Nominee for 2020’s Crisis and Conflict Response by mEducation Alliance, and featured for her COVID-19 Leadership Response in Vulnerable Settings.
Like her work, Danielle’s own background is rich in culture as she was born in San Diego to immigrant parents from Mexico and Iran, is multilingual, and has lived in 4 countries. She obtained her BA in International Relations from Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Affairs and MLitt in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Danielle is an active Rotarian, Kids Yoga Instructor, and Mindfulness Educator. She enjoys traveling, cooking, the arts, meditation, and skiing in her spare time.
Fereshteh Forough from Code to Inspire
Fereshteh Forough was born a refugee in Iran after her family fled Afghanistan because of the Soviet invasion. Despite the family’s circumstances, Fereshteh’s parents instilled in her and her siblings the value of education from an early age. Her mother sewed clothing to sell in order to earn money to buy school supplies for the children so they can go to school. When Fereshteh was a teen, the Taliban regime collapsed and Fereshteh and her family moved back to Herat, Afghanistan. After returning to Herat, she earned her Bachelor’s in Computer Science. She later earned her Master’s from Technical University of Berlin in Germany. She returned to Herat University to join the Computer Science faculty, where she taught for almost three years. In 2015, she established Code to Inspire, the first computer coding school for girls in Afghanistan.Leading all aspects of operations and fundraising remotely CTI educated more than 350 students so far in coding and graphic design classes. Fereshteh remains focused on a vision of a future for her homeland where young women play a prominent role in the economy and future success. Fereshteh is a pioneer in adopting blockchain and cryptocurrency technology in Afghanistan.