Saida is an intersectional feminist and an International Policy analyst. As an advocacy strategist she has steered and mentored, delivering indelible results at national, regional and global UN levels. Over time, she has built a wealth of over 20 years of experience working within feminist and women’s organisations and movements and, leading feminist advocacy and capacity building initiatives. She has built and managed partnerships, providing strategic leadership at different levels and shaping the conditions for gender equality, women’s rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocacy.
Since she joined the Accelerator in October 2019, Saida has been leading a multi-faceted, sustained, flexible approach to strengthening advocacy capacity, one that is responsive to the needs of advocates and grounded in their (issue-specific) interests and experiences. A Senior Fellow and Board member at the Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Saida is also an Alumni of the Archbishop Tutu Fellowship at the African Leadership Institute. She has served as a board member of the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID); co-founded the Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI); worked as Executive Director of the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW); and worked on international policy at the International Women’s Health Coalition. Saida supports the work of the Zanele Mbeki Development Trust (ZMDT), in mobilising African women across different Eastern African countries to participate in the African Women in Dialogue (AfWID) Platform.