Memory Bandera joined DefendDefenders as the Director of Programs and Administration. She is in charge of programs, and deals extensively with organisational development and human resources management. Memory is a US trained Zimbabwean who specialises in International Development.

Before joining DefendDefenders, she worked with the International Law Institute-African Centre for Legal Excellence (ILI-ACLE) where she was responsible for coordinating the design and implementation of seminars and supporting the Institute’s technical assistance projects and advisory services. Prior to joining ILI-ACLE, Memory was the Regional Program Coordinator for East Africa with Youth Action International, and also worked with the Marketing Science Institute in Boston, USA as a Publications, Research, and Membership Coordinator. Memory is also a founding member of the Girl Child Network Zimbabwe (1999); co-founder of Tariro: Hope and Health for Zimbabwe’s Orphans (2003); and Girl Child Network Uganda (2009). Memory received her Master of Science in International Relations from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Complex organisations from Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, USA.

Dr Dinesh Balliah is the acting Director of the Wits Centre for Journalism at Wits University in Johannesburg. She also sits on the Board of the Deutsche Internationale Schule of Johannesburg, the Health-e News Agency and VOW FM campus radio station.

Since, 2017, Dinesh has been part of the advisory committee of the South Africa Media Innovation Program (SAMIP) and is the former deputy public advocate of the Press Council of South Africa.

AGUEH Dossi Sekonnou Gloria is the Founder and Chairperson of Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD). RFLD (Regional Organisation in West Africa) has considerable experience in carrying out research, publications, training, advocacy and litigation work in West Africa and with regional AU institutions.

Gloria has a degree in Communications and has been working for nine years on thematically related topics: women rights, gender equality, digital advocacy and education. She has led several projects that empowered women and protected the rights of girls most especially those in vulnerable situations.

Sofia Hultqvist is senior advisor and programme manager at Fojo Media Institute. She has a special focus on safety and sustainability. The role entails a strategic responsibility for Fojo contributing to sustainable journalism. She also reviews how we can conduct our work in a safe way for employees and partners.

With a background in radio journalism she started her career as a reporter and morning host. She funded a research agency that used the methods of investigative journalism to produce reports and campaign material for NGOs. At Fojo, she has been stationed in Dhaka, Bangladesh for three years to support investigative journalism. She has extensive experience of advocacy, investigative journalism and of leading change processes and has a degree in radio journalism from Luleå University of Technology.

Sofia enjoys outdoor activities and spends most of her time digging in the soil or trekking in the forest.

Jean Nyaradzo Mujati works as a Programme Coordinator for the CHARM project and also helps with proof reading and quality control of Fojo reports. Previously Jean worked in the Zimbabwe Media Development Programme from 2015 to 2018.

She has two decades experience working in development projects with local, regional and international organisations in Africa. Having worked for Norwegian People’s Aid in Zimbabwe, and Volunteer Services Overseas in South Africa. She has contributed to building the civic movement both locally and regionally. She also did an internship with the International Press Institute in Vienna, Austria while awaiting to start her postgraduate studies.

Jean holds an MA in The Politics of Democracy: International Relations from Oxford Brookes University, UK and a Diploma in Mass Communication: Print Journalism major from the Harare Polytechnic College, Zimbabwe.

Jean is a wife and mother of three boys whom she loves to nurture, apart from being part of a big family of seven siblings. Jean loves family and going out and about with her boys in town.

Mesfin Bekele is the Director of Africa Department at Civil Rights Defenders based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has been part of CHARM since the inception in 2019 and responsible to introduce key pillars of his organisation’s activities under the consortium.

He serves in the CHARM Steering Committee that is responsible for overall strategic issues. Mesfin has worked with local and international civil society organizations in his native Ethiopia and the East &Horn of Africa region. He was the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of an influential current affairs weekly in Addis Ababa before leaving the country into exile escaping government persecution.

He studied political science and journalism in Ethiopia and Sweden.

Paul Mulindwa is a governance and development practitioner, with a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Johannesburg, majoring in Governance and Human rights studies. He holds MPhil in Policy Development and Practice from the University of Cape Town; MA in Human Rights from Makerere University in Uganda; and BA Philosophy from Pontifical Urbaniana University, Italy.

Paul has extensive experience of about 20 years in governance, sustainable development, international relations, social justice, and peace building in Africa. Paul has worked with various international and regional organisations and is currently working with CIVICUS as Advocacy and Campaigns lead for Africa.

Samm Farai Monro AKA Comrade Fatso is Zimbabwe’s trailblazing politicalsatirist, a leading creative organiser and a media disruptor in a country with very little democratic space.

Comrade Fatso is co-founder of Magamba Network, one of Africa’s leading creative & digital media organizations working on the cutting edge of arts, digital media, activism and innovation. Through Magamba, his award-winning media projects include the internationally acclaimed Zambezi News satire show, the weekly political news show The Week and the pioneering citizen journalism project Open Parly ZW.

Comrade Fatso is also co-founder of the country’s longest running urban culture festival, Shoko Festival, and Zimbabwe’s first creative hub, Moto Republik. Comrade Fatso’s work has been highlighted and featured on CNN, the BBC, Channel 4 (UK) and The Guardian to name a few.

Joanna Hellström is a Program Officer with Civil Rights Defenders Africa Department. She has been the project lead for CHARM and a member of the Program Committee since January 2020. As part of the CHARM consortium, she has spearheaded passion projects on feminism for human rights defenders as well as innovative training of trainers programs in digital and physical security. Prior to joining the Africa Department, she has worked at Civil Rights Defenders Rapid Response Unit, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA as well as lived, researched and worked on Freedom of Expression in Uganda.

John Gbenagnon has served as Program Director for Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) since 2019.

He has a Degree in Linguistics and Communication. He has more than 8 years of experiences in project management, communication and community development. He has served with regional leading organizations on human rights, women's rights, and climate for change.

His goal is to contribute at the International level in fields related to Sustainable Development, Peace and Human Rights.

Hassan Shire is the Executive Director of DefendDefenders and has steered the organisation through its growth over the years. He is also the Chairperson of AfricanDefenders (Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network).

Shire is a human rights defender from Somalia, with over 20 years’ experience working in the region. While in Canada, he worked with the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University and Amnesty International Canada to create the African Human Rights Defenders Project. In 2005, he returned to Africa and founded DefendDefenders in Uganda. Shire has been instrumental in building coalitions for the protection of human rights defenders in the East and Horn of Africa, namely in Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Somalia/Somaliland.

He regularly engages with African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council, the Community of Democracies, government authorities, and African and foreign diplomatic missions for the advancement of human rights in Africa. He is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (Geneva, Switzerland), board member of the Institute of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (Banjul, The Gambia), and Board Chair of the African Center for Justice and Peace and Studies (Kampala, Uganda).

Shire has received numerous awards from the international community including the U.S. State Department’s 2011 Human Rights Defender Award, the Leadership Awards of the Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network in 2015, and the Richard C. Holbrooke Leadership Award by Refugees International in 2017.

Patrick Dowan, Quality Assurance and Reporting Coordinator (CHARM), leads the CHARM programme's quality frameworks and systems (including M&E, gender and social inclusion, risks associated with programme activity etc.).

Patrick is an enthusiastic and organised professional with experience in high level executive support roles in Research, Project Management and M&E for numerous interventions.

Based in Kampala, Uganda, Patrick has worked across East and Southern Africa with different NGOs, CSOs and government of Uganda on several projects and programmes.

Patrick is passionate about supporting the most vulnerable groups to improve their livelihoods and be able to participate in major decisions at national and international level.

Sibahle Zuma works on the CHARM project, which aims to empower partners to promote human rights and defend civic freedoms in Africa. Sibahle has worked in climate change advocacy and youth participation in public policy since 2014. She is passionate about human rights and international relations.