Penda Sarr
Program Associate, Africa
Penda Sarr works on the Africa team at Global Fund for Children, supporting regional initiatives to empower adolescent girls. She also focuses on building relationships with GFC’s local partners, preparing grant reports, and assisting with project management and monitoring and evaluation efforts.
Her prior work experience includes working for UNICEF’s gender team, where she designed advocacy strategies to promote gender equality in the workplace; the Social Science Research Council, where she worked on issues around violent conflict; and the Global Business Coalition for Health, where she supported grants operations, communications, and the coalition’s partnership with UNFPA’s West & Central Africa Regional Office on the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend initiative.
Penda has an honors bachelor’s degree in Political Science and African Studies from the University of Toronto, and a master’s degree in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She is fluent in French and Wolof and is passionate about girls and women’s empowerment.