ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Melvine Ouyo is the founder of Hope for Kenya Slum Adolescents Initiative. Growing up, Melvine wanted to reverse the structural bias that exposed women and girls from her village to gender-based violence, forced marriage teenage pregnancies, early births and lack of education. She draws her experience working with the most vulnerable, marginalized and hard to reach communities in Kenya as a reproductive health care provider and a reproductive health and rights advocate. Her focus is on global health and health policy reforms, women and girls' empowerment and community development.
Melvine Praxides Ouyo
BOARD MEMBERS
Rebecca Harrington
Rebecca Harrington (Member) is the Senior Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Population Connection and Population Connection Action Fund, where she manages the grassroots field program.
In her role, sheworks to develop campaigns and messages that seek to defend reproductive freedom for everyone, everywhere. She has spent over a decade working in progressive organizing around reproductive health and rights.
Raila Opany
Raila A. Opany (Board Member) is an educationist, peace ambassador and a youth Mentor. He is a holder of Bachelor of Arts in Education; he is a certified Alternative to Violence trainer. He serves as the Kenyan regional director at one African child foundation and also a board member at HKSAI.
He is the founder of the Humane Initiative, a community based organization that has grown as a formidable role player in youth empowerment and peace promotion. Raila is zealous in spearheading zero teenage pregnancies in Kenya.
Eunice Murambi Chairlady
Lauren Salmiery
Lauren Salmiery (Advisory Team Member) is an advocacy and communications professional with nearly 10 years in the global health space. Lauren is currently an institutional contractor at USAID where she serves as the Communications and Support Advisor in the Global Health Bureau's Office of Country Support (OCS). In that role, Lauren supports bridging the USAID field Missions and headquarters in Washington. She also leads communications and policy for the Agency's renewed focus on primary health care, Primary Impact. Prior to joining OCS, Lauren supported the writing and approval process for health policy with the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration. Prior to her time with the VA, she spent over six years working in the international reproductive health advocacy space conducting grassroots advocacy campaigns, strategic alliance building with various global organizations, supporting communications efforts across various platforms, and liaising with members of Congress on global reproductive health policy. She holds a BA in International Studies from American University and a Master in Public Administration from George Washington University, where she focused her coursework on health policy and international relations. Lauren has a passion for travel, cooking (and is working on a cookbook!), and exploring new restaurants around the DC area.
Dr. Jallicia Jolly
Dr. Jallicia Jolly (Board Member) is an Assistant Professor in American Studies and Black Studies at Amherst College. Jallicia is a researcher and a public scholar committed to action.
Dr. Jolly researches and teaches on Black women’s health, political leadership, and reproductive justice organizing; intersectionality, HIV/AIDS, and health equity; and Black and Caribbean feminist theory and transnational social movements.
Dr. Jolly co-leads Birth Equity & Justice Massachusetts (BEJMA), a reproductive justice coalition that aims to advance reproductive health equity in policy and to improve the health outcomes of Black and Brown birthing people
Dickson Okong’o
Dickson Okong’o (Board Member) is a youth advocate with a special interest in human rights advocacy, good governance, and sexual reproductive health rights. Dickson is the founder and the Executive Director at Stretchers Youth Organization, champions for united Nations sustainable development goals 3, 8, and 16. Dickson is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, he has a diploma in community development and social work, a certificate in community paralegal and organization management. Dickson is a YALI alumni. In 2020 Dickson was awarded as a top 35 under 35 Youth of the Year under the Health services/projects category
Gagan Vaseer
Gagan Vaseer (Advisory Team Member) is a Programme Management Officer within the Office of the Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations Secretariat, where he oversees innovation strategy for organization-wide operational support. Before joining the United Nations, he built a career in the private sector doing management consulting for public and commercial clients at Deloitte and Guidehouse, and driving strategy and effectiveness initiatives at Google. Gagan began his professional career in education, where he served as an elementary school teacher as a Teach for China Fellow in rural Yunnan. He holds a BA from Duke University, where he studied International Comparative Studies and Political Science, and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Kevin Owino
Kevin O. Owino (Board Member) is a Tech Enthusiast , Entreprenuer and Co-founder at Nestict Infotech , a Startup IT Firm Offering SMB IT Solutions and General IT in Business Processes Automation .