Cecilia Lodonu-Senoo is an experienced Ghanaian Public Health Nurse, a midwife and a social worker with an unwavering passion for upholding the rights and well-being of the vulnerable, especially women and children. Her career objective has been to manage an organisation with the ultimate aim of uplifting the image of women and girls through transformational processes that will empower and put them in the limelight of social development and decision making. Mrs. Senoo’s passion is “to see a strong and sustainable CSO platform in Africa, very independent representing the voices of the underserved and marginalised in society, advocating for social justice, gender programming, transparency and social accountability” for all and by all.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health at the University of Ghana, Legon. In 1984, she enrolled in the Holy Family Hospital Nursing Training School where she was certified as a state registered Nurse. In a bid to better contribute her quota to the reproductive health of women, she studied midwifery at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, after which she was certified as a state registered Midwife in 1990. Mrs. Senoo is also a certified Public Health Nurse and acquired an MPhil degree in Sociology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Sociology from the University of Ghana. She also obtained professional certificates in HIV/AIDS Management and Gender and Development from the University of California and GIMPA, respectively.
Mrs. Senoo is skilled in national and international advocacy, gender programming and has over 25 years expertise in NGO management, Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategies and interventions, psychosocial counseling, HIV and AIDS programming, competency-based trainings, participatory learning for action with strong advocacy skills, project development and implementation. She has worked on numerous successful state and multinational funded social interventions designed to bring relief to the lives of the vulnerable across the country.
Mrs. Senoo’s special interest areas include social and resource mobilisation, women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming, girls’ education, designing and managing people-centred programmes as well as research for evidence-based programming. She was the National Vice Chairperson of the Coalition of NGOs in Health, a founding member of the MamaYe MNH Advocacy Coalition, the President of the Society of Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA) and played a critical role in the establishment of the Non-State Actors on Health and Development in Ghana. As the Founder and Executive Director of Hope for Future Generations, Cecilia is very committed to achieving results and building excellent teams with clear goals and objectives. She is also a Board Member of the organization.
Edith is a Pharmacist and a Public Health Professional with over 32 years’ experience, and an expert in health policy analysis. She’s currently the head of the Drug Policy Unit (formerly the Ghana National Drugs Programme, GNDP) of the Pharmacy Directorate of the Ministry of Health, having been appointed as the Programme Manager since June 2012.
Prior to joining the GNDP, Edith had worked in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for twenty-three (23) years in various clinical settings and in management positions.
Edith has co-ordinated the review of the National Medicines Policy (2017), and recently, the mid-term assessment of the implementation of the Policy. Edith also co-ordinated the development of the National Policy on Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) initially, and remained part of the team that completed same. She also coordinated the review of the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List, 2017.
She has gained extensive experience in working with a wide range of health sector professionals, stakeholders and groups, as well as Civil Society Organisations and the private sector.
She is currently involved in projects on AMR, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and the Global System of supply chain standards (GS1). She has published a number of papers in collaboration with other colleagues.
Faustina Acheampong has expertise in Project Management, Sociology, Economics, and Business and Financial Management. She has trained women groups in small and micro enterprises in Business and Financial Management in communities in Ghana that has made her very adaptable to any socio-cultural environment.
She also formulates and implements policies and strategic plans to ensure gender equality and equity, the promotion of the rights of women, girls and children, vulnerable and the excluded in society and participated in several national and international programs/workshops/conferences in that regard.
Faustina is the Chief Planning Officer and head of Department of Gender at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP). She is also a board member of the Governing Body of the National Population Council.
John-Hanson Senoo has over three decades of experience as a legal practitioner. His experience spans both private and government sectors as a teacher, lawyer and manager. In the early 1980’s, Mr. Senoo earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Law & Political Science from the University of Ghana and a Qualifying Certificate (B.L.) from the General Legal Council of Ghana (Ghana School of Law). He progressed in his professional life to the State Insurance Corporation serving as a Clerk and becoming the Senior Manager and Head of the Legal Department for the Corporation’s Northern sector. He also holds a certificate in Human Resource Management.
As the Legal Advisor for HFFG, Mr. Senoo has oversight of all legal and compliance issues for the organisation.
Lucy Owusu-Darko is the Executive Director of the Youth Support Foundation. She is an experienced consultant with a demonstrated history of working in international development. Skilled in non-profit organisations, project development, management, and coaching, Mrs. Owusu-Darko is also an astute and experienced trainer. She is a strong consulting professional completing an Executive Management course with University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School.
Mrs. Owusu-Darko received her first degree at the University of Cape Coast and followed up later with her Master’s degree in Population Studies at University of Ghana, Legon. She has pursued a post-graduate certificate in Project Management and Gender Education from the University of Sussex, England, and an Advanced Management course also at The Wharton School’s Arresty Institute of Executive Education. Mrs. Owusu-Darko is a Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health/HIV Advocacy Specialist and has more than 30 years experience in policy dialogue and development on gender and reproductive health issues. With her wealth of experience in advocacy, Mrs. Owusu-Darko has engaged extensively as a consultant providing technical support, capacity building, advocacy and leadership trainings to different categories of people, including communities and women’s groups and organisations. The organisations she has worked with include, UNFPA New York, UNFPA Ghana, Plan USA, CEDPA USA, Futures Group, Ghana AIDS Commission, Johns Hopkins University and Opportunities Industrialization Centres International (OICI).
Rev. Abraham Nyako Jr. is a Reproductive Health & Organisational Development Specialist. Since 1999, he has been involved in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programme management, institutional and organisational capacity building of reproductive health institutions. As a highly self-motivated and results-oriented person, Rev. Nyako has provided leadership by increasing programme effectiveness, organisational impact and sustainability for several government, non-government and international development agencies. These include the Ghana AIDS Commission, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNAIDS, JICA, IPPF, SNV, ILO, IOM, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nubuke Foundation, FHI360, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, ActionAid, DFID, GTZ, the Ghana Network of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS (NAP+), and the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health.
As Board Chair, Rev. Nyako is responsible for monitoring, evaluation, learning and advocacy for the organisation.