Thelma Ekiyor is an award-winning global leader in women’s economic empowerment, philanthropy, impact investing, and international development. She is currently the Global CEO of Women for Women International - the first African woman to hold the role.

Since 1993, Women for Women International has invested in the power of women in conflict-affected countries, supporting survivors of war to rebuild their lives, find their voice, and drive change in their communities: thus creating a more equal, peaceful, and prosperous world.

And yet, more than three decades on, women remain excluded from peace-keeping frameworks and post-conflict power structures. In today’s volatile geopolitical context, Thelma argues that excluding women from decision-making doesn’t just limit progress, it actively undermines peace, development, and economic growth.

In this conversation, we explore women’s rights, the role of women as agents of change, and why engaging both governments and the private sector is critical to driving true ecosystem change.

As a leader, Thelma underscores the importance of political intelligence alongside emotional intelligence, and the critical need to bring a business mindset to social sector work.

Recorded March 2026.

Groundbreakers: Network for Women CEOs
https://www.charitygroundbreakers.org.uk/ 

Ep 57. Thelma Ekiyor, Global CEO Women for Women International: Investing in the Power of Women

This episode looks at leadership, evidence, and systems change in one of the most complex areas of public policy: the criminal justice system. We are joined by two leaders who work at the heart of this system.

Anne Fox, outgoing Chief Executive of Clinks, the national infrastructure body that supports and represents voluntary organisations working with people in contact with the criminal justice system and their families. Clinks plays a vital role amplifying frontline voices and ensuring lived experience shapes policy and commissioning.

And Dr Ruth Armstrong, Director of Justice Matters. Ruth is a lawyer, academic and criminologist whose work focuses on helping organisations use evidence, and co-production with those who have lived experience, to deliver lasting change.

Together, we explore the current state of criminal justice in the UK. What re-imagining the system might look like, how we need to build community for those coming out of the system, and what we all, as a society, need to do to build a world where we can all be safe.

It's a provocative conversation. Trigger warnings: we discuss criminality, violent offences and suicide.

Recorded February 2026. Episode sponsored by EdenTree Investment Management [https://www.edentreeim.com/]

Secret Life of Prisons podcast: Clinks Conference 2026, Lord James Timpson and Anne Fox [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/live-at-clinks-conference-2026-lord-james-timpson-and/id1481971681?i=1000747623671]

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/live-at-clinks-conference-2026-lord-james-timpson-and/id1481971681?i=1000747623671 

Ep 56. Anne Fox, CEO Clinks, and Ruth Armstrong, Director Justice Matters: Re-imagining Criminal Justice 

In the fight for children’s rights, the Global Fund for Children champions bold ideas that might otherwise go unheard. Global Fund for Children or GFC is a global nonprofit dedicated to discovering, funding, and coaching community-based organisations and individuals, who are driving change at the grass-roots, on issues like gender justice, education, and youth power.

What makes GFC's approach noteworthy is its commitment to shared power.

GFC holds that children and young people already know how to solve problems in their communities. They are innovators, problem solvers, dreamers, and leaders. What they need isn't rescue - it's belief, resources, and the space to lead.

In this episode, Global Co-CEOs of the Global Fund for Children, Hayley Roffey and John Hecklinger, talk about GFC’s model as an intermediary funder providing flexible, trust-based funding and support, sometimes to children as young as 10! And the impact of genuinely putting decision-making power in the hands of children and young people. We discuss the importance of engaging young men and boys, if we are to create a truly gender equitable world. And they share perspectives on co-leadership, and the importance of re-imagining development and philanthropy, and re-building for change.

Recorded December 2025.

Ep 55. Hayley Roffey & John Hecklinger, Co-CEOs Global Fund for Children: Young People as Agents of Change

Sarah Elliott started as the new CEO of the UK charity, Shelter, in September 2025, having previously run the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) for 5 years.

Shelter exists to defend everyone’s right to a safe home. Campaigning for housing justice since 1966, Shelter has fought hard to change the housing system in the UK.

In June 2025, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves, announced a £39 Billion investment, for social and affordable housing. The Renters Rights Act, passed in October, also brings much needed, widespread reform to the UK’s private rental sector.

A second-time guest on the show, in this episode, Sarah reflects on Shelter’s impact, her approach to leadership, and the joy of working in a cause-led organisation. We explore her experience of partnering with government and now seeing the Civil Society Covenant come to life. She discusses Shelter’s hard-hitting report My Colour Speaks Before Me on racism and discrimination in the housing sector, and shares her vision for the charity’s future.

Recorded November 2025.

Ep 54. Sarah Elliott, CEO Shelter: Fighting for home

In August 2021, the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, toppling the then democratic government in a matter of days.

Adela Raz, was serving as Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the U.S., after having been the country’s first female Permanent Representative to the U.N. She suddenly found herself representing a government that no longer existed. Adela refused to recognise the Taliban’s authority and became an outspoken critic of their oppression of women and girls.

As Afghan women were systematically stripped of their rights - banned from school, erased from public life, and essentially silenced - Adela became a fierce advocate against this gender apartheid, demanding action from the international community. Today, she leads Princeton’s Afghanistan Policy Lab, working to keep Afghanistan’s future on the world’s agenda.

This is Adela’s personal story, and of her continued fight to champion the rights of women and girls.

Recorded February 2025.

Ep 53. Adela Raz, Former Ambassador of Afghanistan to the U.S. & U.N. - Keeping hope alive for Afghan women and girls

In the nonprofit world, we often celebrate beginnings—new initiatives, fresh funding, and ambitious strategies. But what happens when a charity needs to close its doors? Does closure mean failure, or can it be part of a responsible, strategic decision?

In this conversation, Kathy Evans of Children England and Rosie Ferguson from House of St Barnabas explore the realities of charity closure: the challenges, the tough choices, and the lessons learned. We discuss how to ensure impact outlasts an organisation, the role of sustainability, and why ending well is just as important as starting and staying strong.

Ep 52. Kathy Evans and Rosie Ferguson, former CEOs of Children England and House of St Barnabas: A conversation on charity closure and lasting impact

“Gender equality is a choice… working for greater gender equality is not a zero sum game, where you’re taking something from one group and giving it to another - it’s helping to level the playing field for everyone.”

Special guest, Eliza Reid, is a bestselling writer, public speaker, gender equality advocate, entrepreneur and former First Lady of Iceland. Iceland has topped the World Economic Forum’s gender equality rankings for 15 years, as the country with the smallest gender gap. In her first book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They are Changing the World, Eliza examines what it is about Iceland and Icelandic society that makes it the most gender-equal country in the world.

We talk about Eliza’s own extraordinary journey from growing up on a farm outside of Ottawa in Canada, to becoming the First Lady of Iceland, and what she has learnt along the way. It is a fascinating account, showcasing Eliza’s determination to go beyond the traditional expectations of her role as First Lady, make the most of unexpected opportunities, and to use her unique voice and privilege to advocate for gender equality and social justice.

Recorded December 2024.

Guest Biography

Eliza Reid is a bestselling writer, public speaker, gender equality advocate, co-founder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat and former First Lady of Iceland. She was born and raised in Canada but has lived in Iceland for over twenty years. Eliza’s first book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, was an instant bestseller in Canada and Iceland, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Pick, and translated into numerous languages. Her first novel, an Iceland-set mystery called Death of a Diplomat (Death on the Island in the U.S.), will be published in spring 2025. From 2016 to 2024, Eliza served in the unofficial role of First Lady, while her husband was President of Iceland, during which time she served as patron of numerous organisations, and was named a United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. Passionate about inclusion, belonging, and equality, she wielded her influence through poignant op-eds, a compelling TEDx talk, and dozens of keynote addresses to audiences around the world, including presidents and royalty. Eliza has degrees from the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and Oxford University (St. Antony’s College). She lives in the outskirts of Reykjavík with her husband and four children.

Links https://elizareid.com/

Ep 51. Eliza Reid, Former First Lady of Iceland and writer: Championing Gender Equality 

"Empowerment is the ability to make choices... and... having economic tools, economic resources is a way of providing the means for those choices."

The world has come a long way since 1974 when women in America could not have their own bank account or checking account without their husband’s signature. The 1st United Nations World Conference on Women in 1975 and the subsequent creation of Women’s World Banking in 1979, have played a massive part in enabling women today to achieve financial independence and be economically empowered.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian has been at the helm of Women’s World Banking for 18 years. She joins us today to talk about how far we have come with respect to women’s financial inclusion, her organisation’s work in this area, particularly in low-income settings, and how far we have yet still to go. 
We talk about her book, ‘There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women’ - a reference to the nearly one billion women who until a couple of years ago, were outside of formal financial systems - and how women’s financial inclusion is not just good for women and their families, but also, good for business, good for the resilience of the global economy, and essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.  Recorded May 2024. 
Guest Biography
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, the global nonprofit devoted to giving low-income women in the developing world access to the financial tools and resources they require to achieve security and prosperity. She joined Women’s World Banking in 2006 and leads the Women’s World Banking global team, based in New York, and also serves as a member of the Investment Committee of its two impact investment funds.

Mary Ellen is a passionate advocate for women’s economic empowerment through greater access to finance. She is a leading voice for the world’s one billion women not actively engaged with the financial sector, urging the banking industry to view this community as a powerful new market of small business owners, heads of households, and consumers of financial products and services.

Prior to Women’s World Banking, Mary Ellen worked for 17 years at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank. She had previously worked for the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Mary Ellen is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a member of the Women’s Forum of New York. She serves as a Director on the Board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

A 2017 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellow, Mary Ellen holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She was recently recognized in the Forbes 50 over 50: Investment list, which highlights female investors and financial leaders. Her first book, There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women, was published by MIT Press in April 2022.

Links
https://www.womensworldbanking.org

Ep 50. Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO Women’s World Banking: There’s nothing micro about a billion women!

With an audacious goal to lift 20m people in Africa out of extreme poverty by 2030, Dianne Calvi, President and CEO of Village Enterprise, joins us to share how they plan to make this happen. 
Centred around their core value of ‘Ubuntu’, a South African term, which means ‘humanity’ or ‘I am because we are’, Village Enterprise seeks to transform lives through entrepreneurship, innovation and collective action. 
By partnering with other nonprofits, governments, agencies, and private sector companies, Village Enterprise equips first-time entrepreneurs in Africa with the resources and skills to start climate-smart businesses and savings groups.
We talk about their Poverty Graduation Model and building up their evidence base, using Randomised Control Trials, which has helped catalyse funding for their exciting new programme: working with USAID, the French and the Rwandan governments to end extreme poverty in Rwanda for good. Dianne also shares her personal family story, revealing what really drives her to do this work, which, as one of their entrepreneurs says, is all about enabling full bellies and big dreams.  Recorded March 2024. 
Note: The title of this episode is a direct quote from an entrepreneur that Village Enterprise supports in Africa, describing the impact of their work. 
Guest Biography
Dianne Calvi has been working to end extreme poverty in rural Africa as Village Enterprise’s President and CEO since 2010. Since joining Village Enterprise, Dianne has increased the breadth and depth of the organization’s impact by focusing on strategic partnerships, innovation and technology, rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and building a highly qualified African team. 

To date, Village Enterprise has trained over 274k people, started over 80k businesses, and lifted over 1.65 million people out of extreme poverty. With Dianne at the helm, Village Enterprise has completed an independent randomized control trial (RCT) and launched the first Development Impact Bond in poverty alleviation.

Prior to joining Village Enterprise, Dianne served as the President of Bring Me A Book Foundation, a literacy nonprofit that she scaled through partnerships in both domestic and international locations. Previously, she worked in the private sector for Microsoft, Xerox, and Montedison in Milan, Italy. 

She has served on several nonprofit boards and was recently appointed to the InterAction board of directors. Dianne received a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Bocconi University (Milan, IT) on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Links
https://villageenterprise.org  

Ep 49. Dianne Calvi, President & CEO Village Enterprise: Full bellies and big dreams!

“There is a problem! Business has a problem, the world has a problem, because we are just not utilising the talents, the ambitions, the drive of half the world’s population (the female half)... Economic gender justice is essential both for women’s freedom and equality, but also for the development of the world.” 
We are honoured to have on the podcast, Cherie Blair CBE KC! 
As the Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Cherie has been a relentless advocate for women's rights, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Our discussion delves into her vision for the Foundation, her journey as a leading barrister and King's Counsel in the male-dominated legal profession, and the gendered challenges women still confront today. 
Cherie is of course, the wife of the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and is an inspiration to women across the world. Recorded January 2024. 
Guest Biography
Cherie Blair CBE, KC is a leading King’s Counsel with over 35 years’ experience. Cherie is a strong advocate for women’s rights and in 2008 she founded the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. The Foundation promotes the financial independence of women in low and middle income countries so that they can be financially independent, have a stronger voice in their societies, and, contribute to their communities. Since its inception, the Foundation has had a significant and measurable impact on the lives of more than 250,000 women entrepreneurs in 105 countries especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Cherie is actively involved in the Foundation, travelling internationally to visit projects and donors and to advocate for women entrepreneurs globally.
Cherie studied law at the London School of Economics (LSE) and is also the Founder and Chair of the pioneering law firm Omnia Strategy where she focuses on cross-border dispute resolution, commercial arbitration, mediation and human rights.

Cherie was awarded a CBE in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List for services to women’s issues and to charities in both the UK and overseas. She is the wife of former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair. They have 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
Links
Www.cherieblairfoundation.org 

Ep 48. Cherie Blair CBE KC, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women: Enabling economic gender justice

Join us for thought-provoking conversations that dive deep into the challenges faced by charity and nonprofit leaders. Hosted by Dhivya O’Connor, a charity CEO herself, each episode brings inspiring CEOs and social sector trailblazers, who share their powerful stories, practical insights, and valuable expertise. Whether you're leading a nonprofit or passionate about making a difference, you'll find fresh perspectives and actionable takeaways to help you navigate the journey and amplify your impact. Tune in for a dose of inspiration, knowledge, and community—all aimed at making the world a better place.

The Charity CEO Podcast is produced and hosted by Dhivya O’Connor.  For more details visit www.thecharityceo.com

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