Theo Sowa is Chief Executive Officer of the African Women’s Development Fund based in Ghana. She has extensive experience as an independent advisor on a wide range of international and social development issues. Her work on women’s rights has a special focus on their promotion and protection in armed conflict situations, the strengthening of women-focused development programmes in Africa, and advocacy related to women and HIV and AIDS issues. She is a member of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s African Advisory Board and the board of the Graça Machel Trust. She also serves on the board of the Museum of AIDS in Africa; is a Trustee of the UK’s Comic Relief and the Chair of its International Grant Committee; and is an Advisory Group member of the ‘Every Child a Reader’ literacy initiative. She holds a public appointment as a board member of the Charity Commission for England and Wales and was named as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010.