Rani Pramesti has been a lifelong advocate for gender equality. They come from a long line of Chinese Indonesian women advocates, changemakers, and entrepreneurs.

For over 18+ years, Rani has consistently devoted herself to collaborating with and uplifting systemically marginalised communities, including refugee and migrant women, communities of diverse SOGIESC, racialised communities, Indigenous / First Nations communities, as well as Deaf and Disabled communities.

Rani brings a systems lens to her leadership. She leads with questions and strives to activate collective intelligence, creativity, and energy towards a shared vision. She practices feminism by centering relationships and working in a power literate and trauma-informed way.

Rani holds a Bachelor of Social Work (First Class Honours) / Anthropology from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Dramatic Art from the University of Melbourne, and is currently completing a Master of Design Futures from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University.

Aarati is an intrapreneur with over 11 years of global experience in organisational leadership, education policy and impact measurement in various capacities across geographies. She has led strategic initiatives with Leadership Accelerators such as Teach for India, Global Citizen Year, and the Latin American Leadership Academy, enabling them to scale. Leadership, gender equality, and inclusion have been the overarching themes throughout her career. She has actively participated in various initiatives, such as AIESEC, Education Pioneers, Global Shapers, volunteered for the Paralympics, and served as a Climate Ambassador to Antarctica through the Leadership on the Edge program.

Aarati holds a master’s in International Education Policy from Harvard University, is a certified Yoga & Mindfulness instructor and an Advanced Open Water Diver. As the Regional Executive Director, she collaborates with the Executive Director and boards to successfully implement Wedu’s strategy and achieve widespread impact in closing the gender leadership gap.

Sara is passionate about design, culture, and education. She draws on over a decade of experience in creative expression, community engagement, and leadership development to spearhead leadership trainings at Wedu.

Most recently, Sara led Acumen’s leadership initiatives in Pakistan, focusing on designing learning experiences for social impact innovators. Previously, she worked with PeaceNiche/T2F and Salt Arts, promoting inclusive discourse through intellectual and cultural engagement. She has also taught courses exploring design and social entrepreneurship at the University of Karachi. Her passion for gender equality has led her to become a founding curator for the WOW – Women of the World festival in Pakistan and design an illustrated publication for young adults featuring stories of fifty exceptional women of the country.

Sara is an Acumen Fellow and holds a bachelor’s degree in design from the Department of Visual Studies, University of Karachi.

Aina Eriksson is a Filipina-Swedish communicator passionate about intercultural translation and fostering hybrid knowledge systems. She brings over seven years of experience in strategic science writing, policy engagement, youth activism and digital campaigning in the Nordics, South Africa, and the Philippines.

Interweaving her background in law (LLB) and development communication (MA) she applies an intersectional approach to her work, carefully considering local conceptualizations and multiple realities when crafting strategies for community work. Her career highlights include lobbying for seed freedom in Cape Town, crafting a digital campaign brought to COP26 on the role of artists in climate action, and coordinating the United Nations One Planet Network on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education.

At Wedu, Aina leads strategic communication initiatives to elevate Wedu’s impact and mobilise gender equity advocates in closing the gender leadership gap.

Annum is an international development professional with over a decade of experience advancing high impact solutions to issues around sustainable economic development and gender equity. She has three years of banking-sector experience, and her programmatic expertise include project and grant management, impact investment, policy research, capacity building, multi-stakeholder engagement, and MEL. Her operational experience spans across North America, the Middle East and South Asia. Annum completed her Masters in Public Administration (Development Practice) from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

The common thread across Annum’s diverse cross-sectoral engagements is the emphasis on making public and private sector programs equitable and inclusive. She excels at creating partnerships and effectively managing teams to maximize collective impact. Her recent work includes managing a £15 million, multi-year local governance reform project in Pakistan funded by FCDO; overseeing an investment fund for women-led SMEs; executing grant challenge rounds to support financial inclusion innovations; and coordinating the development of grant proposals across South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya for a USAID inclusive digital economies project.

Dah has over four years of experience overseeing the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the programmes focusing on advancing women’s leadership.

As Programme Coordinator of Wedu, Dah leads mentorship and education financing programmes, supporting the individual and collective resilience of refugees from Myanmar who live in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border with mentoring, ensuring the Mentorship Programmes for women in Asia run smoothly; and helping women leaders achieve their post-secondary education goals on their own terms using Income Sharing Agreements to overcome financial barriers. Prior to joining Wedu in 2021, she worked with the under-represented ethnic minority women from Myanmar to foster their leadership growth, upgrade their soft and hard skills, and increase their awareness of social and political issues.

Dah also serves as an advisor at the local mentorship initiative – SheOwner Business Mentorship Programme in Myanmar to support minority women, mothers and girls from rural areas with mentoring and training. She holds a BA (Honours) in Human and Organisational Development and a minor in General Psychology from the Education University of Hong Kong.

Yvie is a public speaker and development professional dedicated to youth empowerment and women entrepreneurship. She played a pivotal role in formulating the Philippine Youth Development Plan (PYDP) 2023-2028, a comprehensive blueprint for youth development in the Philippines. She graduated with a degree in Management from the University of the Philippines Tacloban College in 2019.

Beyond her career in development, Yvie is a professional host and entrepreneur. She participated in the Philippines’ Youth Entrepreneurship Program alongside young women entrepreneurs and now runs her own event hosting business for national and international summits and conferences. She sharpens her public speaking and leadership skills as an active member of Toastmasters International.

Yvie’s influence extends internationally, having represented the Philippines at the ASEAN Youth Dialogue 2023 in Jakarta and the YSEALI Regional Workshop 2023 in Vietnam. Her dedication to empowering youth and women across Asia is exemplified through her work with Wedu, where she leverages her multifaceted expertise to create meaningful impact.

Babita brings over seven years of experience specialising in international development finance in Nepal, along with a firm belief that once equal opportunities are provided to women, every sector will start experiencing incomparable growth and development. Babita holds an MBA in Finance from Purbanchal University. She leads Wedu’s accounting and finance functions and oversees global operations.

Francine is a Filipina geologist dedicated to leveraging her background in science communication to achieve gender just systems. With over a decade of volunteer experience in women’s CSOs/NGOs, she brings to the table extensive insights on crafting tailored campaigns to advocate for the representation of women in public spheres of decision-making (Motion 32 advocacy) and to address the disproportionate impact of malnutrition among girls (Girl Powered Nutrition).

Some of her career highlights include leading panel events in the Commission on the Status of Women for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the Global Youth Summit with the 4SD Foundation, and the World Food Forum alongside the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction. In addition to this, she works towards amplifying the voice of marginalized communities through mentorship initiatives such as U-Go and people-led platforms like Ilaw.

Francine started her transformational leadership journey with Wedu as a YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy alumna and now she develops meaningful communication strategies to further women’s rights across borders and barriers.

Mizzah is a dynamic and passionate youth advocate and graphic designer with a strong commitment to community development and empowerment. With extensive experience in digital literacy initiatives and youth advisory roles within the ASEAN Foundation, Mizzah has contributed to fostering regional partnerships and enhancing digital literacy in Brunei Darussalam.

Her creative talents in graphic design are matched by her dedication to education and social impact, making her a versatile and impactful leader in both local and regional initiatives. Mizzah is also a proud volunteer under the Angat Buhay education program, ‘Bayan Ko, Titser Ko’ – working to improve educational outcomes for early-grade learners.