Strategy and Operations Assistant (Based in Lebanon)

Melissa is a strategist, advocate, and active volunteer focused on youth leadership and advancing gender equality. She currently serves as Strategy and Operations Assistant at World YWCA, where she drives global engagement and operational coordination to support youth and women’s advocacy.

Melissa was a Global Youth Representative of the Gender Patrol at the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and a member of the UN Youth Office’s Youth Reference Group, where she provides strategic input to the UNYO on advancing meaningful youth engagement.

In addition to her current roles, Melissa has extensive experience in application review and selection processes. She has reviewed and assessed applications for several youth programs, including imaGen ventures by Generation Unlimited, Moonshot Camp and Awards, and as a pre-shift consultant for the Global Youth Mobilization EU Youth Empowerment Fund (YEF). Her experience in these roles has equipped her with the expertise to evaluate and select impactful projects and initiatives that promote youth leadership and innovation across global platforms.

Melissa’s commitment to gender equality is further demonstrated by her role as a MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders Gender Scholar during her studies at the Lebanese American University (LAU). She also has a published article in the Al-Raida Journal, exploring gender discrimination within Scouting. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics with a Minor in Computer Science and has held leadership roles at The ARK as the Program Manager and later the COO, and at Geek Express where she was the co-lead trainer for the Girls Innovate Program, which empowered 120 young girls in Gambia with coding and ICT skills. She is also a Generation Connect Arab Youth Envoy Alumni, a Gender Champion at the ITU, and among the first certified NewGen Peacebuilders and Facilitators in the MENA region. She was previously a Generation Connect Implementation Intern at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Arab Regional Office; she played a key role in supporting the Generation Connect regional efforts, including organizing youth engagement activities and contributing to implementing the ITU Youth Strategy in the Arab region.

Advocacy and Training Manager (Based in Kosovo)

Eurisa Rukovci is a Kosovar feminist leader and strategist, currently serving as the Advocacy and Training Manager at the World YWCA. In this role, she leads global initiatives focused on advancing young women’s leadership in advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), peace, and justice.

Prior to joining the World YWCA, Eurisa worked at CIVICUS, where she led communications and project learning for the Digital Democracy Initiative. She also managed a multi-year UN Trust Fund programme with Women for Women – Kosovo, focused on economic empowerment and violence prevention for women.

Eurisa is the founder and editor-in-chief of Grazeta, the first feminist media outlet in Albanian, and the founder of Shnet, the first Albanian-language mobile app providing a menstrual health calendar and comprehensive sexual education. Her work has been widely recognized, including being named Kosovo’s Balkan Hero by BIRN for her contributions to gender justice and feminist media.

Her career bridges research, media, grassroots mobilization, and international advocacy. Eurisa brings a background in psychology, with expertise in trauma-informed care, mindfulness-based interventions, and research. Her approach is grounded in feminist values, political clarity, and an enduring commitment to transforming systems of power.

YW4A Project Manager for South Sudan (Based in South Sudan)

Beina Eveline Alex Ruben is a skilled project manager and passionate advocate for gender equality with over ten years of experience empowering women and youth. Based in Juba, South Sudan, she has led several impactful projects focused on helping women and youth become entrepreneurs, leaders, fight sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), and promote fair gender equality policies.

Currently, Beina serves as the Project Manager for the WorldYWCA’s Young Women for Awareness, Advocacy, and Accountability (YW4A) project in South Sudan. In this role, she manages a program that supports young women in the western and central regions of South Sudan by offering training and mentorship through the World YWCA RiseUp! model. This program promotes young women transformative leadership, gender equality and challenges traditional gender norms. Beina has played a crucial role in advocating for important policy changes in South Sudan, such as ratification of the Maputo Protocol, the enactment of anti-GBV bill, and other laws related to women’s rights.

In addition to her current role, Beina’s career spans various fields, including cooperative and entrepreneurship development, with a special focus on women and youth. She has worked with organizations like the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, and the Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs as a trainer and expert in women’s entrepreneurship and cooperative development. She is experienced in organizing community events, designing training programs, and leading discussions on topics such as enterprise development, gender-based violence, and child protection. A committed advocate for women’s rights, Beina holds a Master’s degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Her expertise includes project management, partnership building, research, and gender-responsive advocacy. Beina continues to empower young women by fostering leadership skills and driving long-term positive changes in communities across South Sudan.

Accountant

Technical Programme Manager in Eastern Africa for the YW4A Initiative (Kenya)

With close to 8 years’ experience, Dolphine has a strong passion for anti-gender-based violence (GBV) and disability programming. She is committed to addressing the root causes of violence and promoting human rights. Her vision for change encompasses system transformations, individual growth, and organizational development.  

As a specialist in gender equality and social inclusion, she has experience in gender transformative programming, addressing the root causes of inequalities, and economic empowerment of women. She understands gender analysis, empowerment, and evaluation frameworks. In addition to that, she enjoys content simplification and delivery to various audiences on different approaches in the gender sphere.

Dolphine has worked with various projects involving women, girls, youth, and persons with disabilities, working closely with UN Agencies and County governments to ensure sustainability and a multisectoral approach.

Outside the office, she is in the farm looking after her crop or having a quiet day indoors.

Victoria Kahla (she/her) joined World YWCA in 2023. She respectuflly acknowledges she lives and works on the traditional lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation (Victoria, Australia).  She grew up in a multi-culutral family with a Scottish mother and Lebanese father, both migrants to Australia. She lived in the UK for 10 years working in book publishing, film and TV before joining the international development community.

She is an experienced development professional, with expertise in program management and youth leadership across Africa, Asia, Australia and Pacific Island countries. She is passionate about girls’ and women’s engagement, and specialises in adolescent development, safeguarding, and feminsit participatory practice in program design, implementation, and MEARL (monitoring, evalution, accountability, research and learning). She is deeply committed to making inclusive, safe space and place for girls and women both online and in person. She works in solidarity to decolonise and dismantle attitudes and practices that hold back progress towards justice for all. 

She has 20 years experience in co-creating face to face and digital programs and advocacy campaigns with young women and adolescent girls’ addressing access to education, economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and wellbeing, digital access and safety, living free from violence, safer public spaces, leadership, political engagement, and climate change. 

Technical Programme Manager in Middle East and North Africa for the YW4A Initiative

Monica joined the World YWCA in April 2023, she is based in Egypt where she is providing close technical support to the implementation of the YW4A initiative in Egypt and in Palestine.

With over 9 years of experience, she has a background in psychology, social work, and working on projects related to women’s rights, child development, and climate change. She is also specialized in designing and implementing MEAL systems and leading programs’ evaluations. Moreover, she worked in case management for Gender-based violence survivors with refugees for three years. In addition to her interest in facilitating trainings and working with partners on mutual goals. Her skills and experiences reflect her rooted dedication to gender equality, feminism, and a life free from violence. 

Outside of the office, Monica loves theater and oil painting. She is also an accomplished author, having published a novel on refugees and gender-based violence survivors. She is happily-married to a fellow human-rights advocate, and she is a proud mother of a four-year-old son.

Finance and Administration Coordinator for the YW4A Initiative

Originally from Zimbabwe, Ndulamo (he/his) is an accomplished and solutions-driven Development Finance Practitioner with over nine years of experience in financial operations management, including financial planning, forecasting, reporting, risk mitigation, compliance, and strategic decision-making. His career history spans social entrepreneurship, development, and corporate sectors, in different finance functions that focused on accountability, continuous process improvement, strategic planning, and execution, as well as financial and thought leadership. He has worked as a Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for the US-based Velocity Global firm; Head of Finance for Shield GEO; Grants Accountant at World Vision International and a Finance and Partnerships Specialist at Lead Us Today Trust, among other mandates.

Ndulamo’s commitment to the pursuit of social development, social justice, and human dignity, leveraging financial and leadership skills to pursue such an ideal, has persistently attracted him to the development sector as evident in him joining the World YWCA team in 2023. Furthermore, Ndulamo believes that gender equality is a prerequisite to any form of development.

Ndulamo holds a Masters Degree in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch Business School, and a Bachelor of Commerce Honors Degree in Accounting from the National University of Science and Technology.”

Executive Office and Governance Associate ( Scotland)

Originally from Scotland, Vicki joined the World YWCA in 2022 and is based in Geneva working in the World Office. She joins the team with over 20 years of professional experience in the private and non-profit sector in a variety of roles that have contributed to her having a wide array of skills and competence across administrative and governance functions.

Before joining the World YWCA she worked in the Trade Union movement, championing the improvement of workers’ rights and equality for women.

Executive and Operations Associate (Brazil)

Victoria joined the World YWCA in 2018 and currently supports the executive operations.

She applies her experience in a start-up environment to her current role. The causes of stopping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), human trafficking, and forced child marriage are close to her heart, and she connects deeply with the work of the global YWCA movement.

Victoria has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. Since moving to Switzerland in 2015, she learned French and now considers the country her new home. She enjoys reading and is a fitness geek and foodie.