“To me feminist leadership is when you put the interest of the collective ahead of that of an individual. When you live and breath the principles of equality and truly lead (…) from a place of equality, a place where the interest of us all are above, and further greater, of that of an individual“.
Mónica De Pinto Ribeiro Hancke

Mónica’s Bio:

Mónica is global women’s rights activist and gender equality advocate, specializing in advocacy capacity-building and feminist movement-building. She sees herself as a bridge, closing the vast power and inequality gap between local and national women’s rights activists and global decision makers, to ensure that women and girls are not only at the center of policymaking but the authors thereof. Mónica has lived in Nicaragua, Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, and Timor-Leste working on the issues of gender-based violence, menstrual hygiene, girls’ education, and transitional justice and peace-building.

A Third Culture Kid, Mónica hails from Portugal and Norway by way of the UK and the Netherlands and speaks five languages. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development and Gender Equality Policy from the Elliott School at the George Washington University in Washington, DC (USA) and a B.S/B.A in Political Communications and Theatre from Emerson College in Boston, MA (USA). Mónica is a proud Board Member of Echoes of Women in Africa Initiative (ECOWA), a grassroots women’s rights and peace-building organization in Nigeria.