Welcome 2025-26 Advocates!

Júlia Mota (she/her) is a 25-year-old black Brazilian woman. She holds a degree in Public Policy Management from the University of São Paulo and works as Advocacy Specialist at Fundo Agbara, the first fund focused on the economic justice of Black women in Brazil.

Onesmo Olengurumwa is a distinguished human rights lawyer, renowned for his significant contributions to the field. As a founding member of the East Africa Human Rights Institute (EAHRI) and Managing Partner at Afritanza Attorney, he applies his extensive legal expertise and unwavering dedication to advance justice, human rights education and uphold human rights. Widely recognized as one of Tanzania's foremost human rights expert and ardent defender of rights, he has served in key leadership roles including as the Founding National Coordinator (CEO) of the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC). 

Ronald Roger Rohrohmana (he/him) is a development professional with over a decade of experience in program management, policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and rights-based campaigns on transnational organized crime, environmental justice, human rights, and sustainable development.

Christopher Rutledge (he/him) is the Executive Director of the MACUA WAMUA Advice Office, an institution that provides legal, advocacy, and research support to mining-affected communities across South Africa. Since the earliest days of Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), Christopher has worked in collaboration with a leadership collective to build the movement into the most organized rural social justice formation of communities in South Africa. Together, they have transformed MACUA from its humble beginnings into a formidable national movement that has impacted legislation and policy affecting mining-affected people.

Maiya Shang (she/her) is a Tangkhul Naga Indigenous Woman from North-East India. Currently, she is the Regional Program Technician for the Asia-Pacific region with International Indigenous Women's Forum (FIMI). In this role, she works closely with Indigenous Women’s organizations at the local, national, and regional levels across Asia and the Pacific region, providing support in grant-making, project management and capacity building. Maiya is also involved in the organization of various linking and learning workshops, community of practice and trainings for FIMI’s partners in the region. She has represented FIMI in donors’ meetings and conventions of global alliance of feminist organizations, where she advocated about the issues of Indigenous Women. The thing she likes most about her work is the interaction with Indigenous Women at the community level and learning about their aspirations, issues, and stories of self-empowerment that generates long-term impact on the ground. 

Nyawira Wahito is a Kenyan feminist dedicated to nurturing the leadership, voice, and personal transformation of girls and young women, particularly in rural communities. With nearly 13 years of experience in feminist organizing, she has worked extensively with grassroots movements, centering the lived realities, dreams, and power of girls in both programming and advocacy.

Tatsiana Ziniakova is a legal analyst with Human Constanta – a Belarusian human rights organization, now liquidated by the decision of Belarusian authorities and working in exile. Tatsiana holds an LL.B. and LL.M. degrees in public international law and human rights law from Belarusian State University and Wake Forest University, respectively. As a Fulbright scholar and grantee of the Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program, she was a research fellow with the World Justice Project, focusing on legal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the global erosion of the rule of law.