Dr. Ololade Julius Baruwa
Dr. Ololade Julius Baruwa is a distinguished Demographer and Public Health expert with a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from North-west University, South Africa. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, he leads quantitative data analyses, and literature reviews, and supports data management. With a strong background in evaluating health interventions, he has contributed significantly to research institutions like the University of the Western Cape South Africa, Université de Catholic, Belgium, and, North-West University South Africa. Dr. Baruwa's expertise extends to impactful consultancy projects and a robust publication record (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lVxP-G4AAAAJ&hl=en), showcasing his commitment to advancing global health.
Farirari Gumbonzvanda
Farirai is dedicated to sexual and reproductive health rights advocacy, focusing on ending Child Marriage. Notable achievements include contributing to 3 peer-reviewed papers and collaborating with traditional leaders to develop bylaws on child protection. She co-founded Girls & Goals, utilizing sports and culture for advocacy. She is a 2024 Mandela Washington fellow. She is also researching the long-term mental health impacts of child marriage with UCL. Farirai's goals include expanding evidence, policy influence, and her academic portfolio in gender equality and SRHR. She aims to grow Girls & Goals to support young women in Zimbabwe. Living and working in rural Zimbabwe, she serves on her village's child protection committee in the Bushu Chiefdom.
Kimberly Howe
Kimberly Howe is the Researcher Director of Conflict and Governance and Research Professor at the Feinstein International Center (FIC) at Tufts University. She leads the Early Marriage in Conflict and Displacement research program at FIC. Her work focuses on civilan adaptation to conflict, including how internatonal aid impacts well-being and governance in fragile settings. For the past 11 years, she has focused primarily on the Syria civil war. Prior to becoming a researcher, she worked as a psychotherapist specializing in supporting those who had experienced interpersonal and political violence.
Nicola Jones
Nicola Jones is a Principal Research Fellow at ODI and Director of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE), the largest longitudinal research study in the Global South (2016-2026), following 20,000 adolescent girls and boys across the second decade of life. Her research focuses on gender, adolescence and childhood, including child marriage, in developmental and conflict-affected contexts in sub-Saharan Africa, East and South Asia, and the Middle East. Nicola has published widely including two recent co-edited volumes with Routledge: Adolescents in Humanitarian Crisis: Gender, displacement and social inequalities (2021) and Young People in the Global South: Voice, Agency and Citizenship (2024).