Meet the Board

AdvocAid is an organisation for women, led by women. Founded in 2006, it grew out of the work of the ‘Pademba Road Monitoring Group’, made up of four women involved in human rights and justice sector reform in Sierra Leone. Today, AdvocAid is governed by the following Board of Directors.

Josephine Dauda

Board Chair and Treasurer

Josephine B. Dauda is a Chartered Management Accountant, living and working in Sierra Leone. She provides accounting consulting services with specialism in software implementation and Accounting function process and procedure redesign. Josephine joined the AdvocAid team in 2020 and is passionate about supporting the fight for access to justice for women and girls.

Simitie Lavaly

Board Member

Simitie Lavaly joined the Board in 2018, after serving as the Executive Director of AdvocAid from 2014-2017. Simitie is a qualified Lawyer and Women’s Rights specialist, and her belief in women’s rights and fair legal representation drew her to work for AdvocAid in 2009 firstly as a paralegal and later as Legal Officer, where she successfully represented the country’s longest standing death row inmate. In 2019, Simitie was appointed as Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission in Sierra Leone.

Kudzayi Ngwerume

Board Member

Kudzayi Ngwerume has over a decade in cultural and social justice work, and currently works for the Urban Movement Innovation Fund (UMI Fund) as Communications & Engagement Manager. Prior to this Kudzayi was part of the Global Story and Communications team at Greenpeace International. She joined AdvocAid’s Board in 2021 and is excited to put her skills towards justice for women and girls.

Joy Henderson

Board Treasurer

Joy Henderson joined the AdvocAid Board in 2019. Joy is a chartered accountant who specialises in the financial and regulatory audits of large, private companies and law firms in the UK. In 2017, Joy spent a month working with the AdvocAid finance team and is delighted to serve AdvocAid’s work as Board Treasurer.

Joanna Howarth

Board Member

Jo Howarth joined the AdvocAid Board in 2019. Jo specialises in fundraising and storytelling and is completing a Masters in Business and Development. She has been an international development consultant since 2014, supporting organisations to generate funds and design integrated programmes that focus on women’s economic empowerment, women’s rights, and financial inclusion. She is delighted to support AdvocAid in achieving its mission.

Sabrina Mahtani

AdvocAid's Co-Founder

Sabrina Mahtani Co-founded AdvocAid in 2006 and served as Executive Director until July 2014 when she became the Board Chair until stepping down in 2023. Sabrina is a British-Zambian lawyer specialising in criminal justice and women’s rights and has worked on human rights projects in Sierra Leone since 2005. She previously managed Amnesty International’s research and advocacy work across Anglophone West Africa and led The Elders’ access to justice programme.