Franz Okey

National Coordinator

September 2020, Franz joined Speak Up Africa as an advocacy officer on the  »Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative ». Then a year later, in 2021, he became National Coordinator in Benin, with the main mission of engaging government representatives, political decision-makers at national and sub-national level, civil society players, the private sector and the media on issues relating to malaria, neglected tropical diseases and health research and development, not forgetting gender equality.

Franz holds a Master’s degree in International Project Management from the Université Senghor Alexandrie – Cotonou campus, and has over ten years’ practical experience in the design, steering and evaluation of development projects and grant management.

He has worked in non-governmental organizations, companies and even international organizations such as UNDP Benin, RITIS GROUP, WANEP Benin, and has developed an enriching experience in community mobilization, promotion of children’s and women’s rights, monitoring and analysis of public policies, advocacy, mobilization of resources and investments, coordination of partnerships, political commitment, not forgetting monitoring of governance and elections. He has a good knowledge of the procedures of several donors.

Franz received the Best Civic Engagement Award at the Benin Yali Alumni Association (BYAA) Awards in 2020 for his outstanding leadership as a Certified Civic Leadership Alumni of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) program, and for implementing high-impact community projects with direct funding from the U.S. State Government

Franz Okey

National Coordinator

September 2020, Franz joined Speak Up Africa as an advocacy officer on the  »Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative ». Then a year later, in 2021, he became National Coordinator in Benin, with the main mission of engaging government representatives, political decision-makers at national and sub-national level, civil society players, the private sector and the media on issues relating to malaria, neglected tropical diseases and health research and development, not forgetting gender equality.

Franz holds a Master’s degree in International Project Management from the Université Senghor Alexandrie – Cotonou campus, and has over ten years’ practical experience in the design, steering and evaluation of development projects and grant management.

He has worked in non-governmental organizations, companies and even international organizations such as UNDP Benin, RITIS GROUP, WANEP Benin, and has developed an enriching experience in community mobilization, promotion of children’s and women’s rights, monitoring and analysis of public policies, advocacy, mobilization of resources and investments, coordination of partnerships, political commitment, not forgetting monitoring of governance and elections. He has a good knowledge of the procedures of several donors.

Franz received the Best Civic Engagement Award at the Benin Yali Alumni Association (BYAA) Awards in 2020 for his outstanding leadership as a Certified Civic Leadership Alumni of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) program, and for implementing high-impact community projects with direct funding from the U.S. State Government

Discover our team

Yacine Djibo

Founder & Executive Director

Yacine Djibo founded Speak Up Africa in 2011 with one goal in mind: to discover and implement effective, sustainable solutions to the most challenging problems facing the African people. Focusing on strategic communications, policy and advocacy, Speak Up Africa is dedicated to empowering African leaders and citizens to take on issues such as malaria, neglected tropical diseases and sanitation in order to save and improve lives.

Previously, Yacine worked as the Senegal country director for Malaria No More, where she developed and managed several high-profile national programs to promote malaria prevention and treatment. She built and maintained relationships with national and local government officials; designed and oversaw the distribution of lifesaving commodities countrywide; and cultivated partnerships with private-sector companies, media outlets, musicians and celebrities to develop marketing programs that raise awareness about malaria.

Prior to devoting her career to the health and well-being of children and families in Africa, Yacine honed her skills in the areas of business administration, finance and real estate at several private-sector companies, including Intercontinental Life Insurance Company, where she served as managing director; SAGEF Construction and Real Estate Development Company, where she was director of sales; and Fidelity Investments, where she served as a business analyst.

Yacine earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations and her MBA from Boston University.

Firdaoss Oluwa-Toyin Youssoufou

Program Associate

Firdaoss Oluwa-Toyin Youssoufou holds a Master’s degree in Public Health with a specialization in Multipurpose and another Master’s degree in Nutrition and Population Health from the Regional Institute of Public Health (IRSP) in Ouidah with basic training in Food Technology Engineering and Nutrition Science from the Ecole Polytechnique d’Abomey-Calavi (EPAC) of the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin. Since her academic career, she has been passionate about managing projects/programs for the improvement of the well-being of populations and vulnerable groups in particular.

Thus, she was a Volunteer of Professional Expertise in Public Health at the level of the Health Zone Office of Abomey-Calavi/Sô-Ava where she became familiar with the management of health services at the peripheral level of the health pyramid of Benin before joining AFRIC’MUTUALITE, an NGO working in the field of community health, social protection and development of populations. At the level of this NGO, she was most recently in charge of the AFRIC’MUTUALITE program before joining Speak Up Africa in 2022. She has experience in developing social safety net projects in food and nutrition security, community food, health and nutrition, early childhood development, malaria prevention, reproductive health, community tuberculosis and keeping girls in school.

She is also committed to changing dietary behaviors that are harmful to the health of populations, alongside her nutritionist colleagues.

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