Building back better through civil society

Catherine Cheney is a Senior Reporter for Devex. She covers the West Coast of the U.S., focusing on the role of technology, innovation, and philanthropy in achieving the SDGs. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, worked as a web producer for POLITICO and reporter for World Politics Review, and helped to launch NationSwell. Catherine has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post.

Chung-Wha Hong is the Executive Director of Grassroots International. As a global justice advocacy and grant-making organization, Grassroots International connects progressive donors in the U.S. to high-impact social movements in the global South. For over 25 years, Chung-Wha has worked on a range of social justice issues locally and internationally, through organizing, policy advocacy, coalition building, and philanthropy. Named by the New York Magazine as one of the most Influential People in Politics, Chung-Wha helped to build the political clout of New York State’s immigrant communities through a comprehensive civic engagement program, and helped to win numerous legal, social and economic rights and benefits for those communities.

Cornelieke Keizer is a Senior Policy Adviser at the Taskforce Women’s Rights & Gender Equality at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. She focuses on multilateral processes and diplomacy, direct financing of women’s rights organizations particularly in the global South, and Beijing+25. Prior to this she was the political coordinator of WO=MEN, the Dutch gender platform and the director of the Women’s Leadership for Peace and Security at the Catholic Organisation for Relief & Development Aid. Cornelieke was the director of Equalinrights, integrating gender equality and ESC-rights into development practices.

Dana Hovig is the Director of the Global Development and Population program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a team responsible for grant-making to expand women’s reproductive and economic choices, amplify citizen participation to improve governance and accountability, and improve policymaking through evidence. Previously, Dana worked at
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he co-created and led the Integrated Delivery Team.

Hamzat Lawal is an activist who has successfully led grassroots campaigns in over 40 African countries with over nine years experience in the nonprofit sector. He is also the founder of Follow The Money, a pan-African grassroots data-driven movement and leads a team of technology- and innovation-driven campaigners to amplify the voices of marginalized communities in promoting accountability. He is currently the Chief Executive of Connected Development, or CODE, a local NGO he founded in 2012 dedicated to helping the continent achieve the SDGs.