Board – The Woman Boss

MENGGEH LOWE

Menggeh Lowe currently serves as the Enterprise Development Support Manager for the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA), and a member of the first ever Woman-led Executive of the IT Association of the Gambia (ITAG) as Secretary. She has a strong passion for advocacy.

Menggeh is a tech enthusiast, with vast experience in The Gambia’s tech and business ecosystem. She also offers Consultancy Services to the International Trade Centre under project Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) Tech, providing support to tech startups in the Gambia. With more than six years’ experience in the private sector business space specifically in the technology field, Menggeh has worked with IT service providers both in The Gambia and Internationally; servicing the digital transformation needs of the government, private companies, SMEs, and startups. She sits as a core team member of both YEP’s Business and IT Core teams, respectively, and continues to serve and represent the needs of the business community in different stakeholder associations. Menggeh holds a BSc degree in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of The Gambia.

ANTA TAAL

Anta Taal is from The Gambia with over 10 years professional history working for both the Trade and Finance Ministries in the Gambia. She was the 2016 IFC-Milken’s fellow for Developing Local Capital Markets and the 2019 Mo Ibrahim fellow in ITC working as one of the advisors in the Cabinet of the Executive Director.

During her time in ITC, she worked closely with the Office for Africa and supported other teams such as the She Trades, Youth and Trade as well as Communications and Events In her previous roles, she worked on investments and public/private partnerships, Trade and SME development and Capital Markets Development mainly in Africa. She also worked as an Investment Analyst for a venture capital firm in Washington DC. Anta holds a Graduate diploma in Capital markets development from the George Washington University in DC, Masters in International Development (Trade, Industry and Development) from the University of Manchester, and a BA in Banking with Economics and Law from London Metropolitan University.

NDEY-ISATOU NJIE

Ndey-Isatou Njie is an international development practitioner with 40 years of experience in capacity development, environment and sustainable development. She has held a number of positions in different international and national organizations which include the Chief of the Water Energy and Capacity Development Branch in the UN Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), supporting countries prepare national strategies for the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

She has also served as the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Africa Regional Coordinator for Capacity 2015, supporting African countries to strengthen capacities to implement national sustainable development strategies. She worked with The World Conservation Union (IUCN) as strategic planning adviser for Africa under the Strategies for Sustainability Programme. Ndey set up and became the first Executive Director for The Gambia National Environment Agency (NEA). She has served in a number of international advisory positions which include; the Chair of the Policy Consultative Group for natural resources management in Africa, for the World Resources Institute (WRI) ; member of the Board of Directors for Lead International, on leadership and environmental management: Member of the Board of Directors of the Network of for Environment and Sustainable Development in Africa, (NESDA) and member of the African Advisory Group for SEMCIT ( Sustainability, Education, and the Management of Change in the Tropics). Ndey has a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science and Technology.

LUCY M. FYE-JAGNE

CEO & SENIOR ADVISOR AT FYEN CONSULTING SERVICES. Lucy is an economist with more than 30 years of extensive experience managing large-scale projects within the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, UNDP in New York and the Jawara Administration. Throughout her career, Lucy has held leadership and liaison positions engaging governments and organizations to provide strategic direction to emerging agencies/companies and new business initiatives.

She is a subject matter expert in private sector development; particularly in public private partnerships in infrastructure, privatization, regulation, competitive industries, industry cluster interventions, export competitiveness and diversification, trade and trade logistics, investment climate and promotion and entrepreneurship development. Lucy is a two-time graduate of Harvard University (Law School and Kennedy School of Government) and Uppsala University in Sweden and speaks five languages including Swahili and Swedish. Lucy Fye-Jagne is the first female Chairperson of the Board of Directors of one of the most prestigious government institutions, The Gambia Revenue Authority. She is a Board Member of the Mhina Tumaini Foundation which was founded with her daughters in honor of her late father Ambassador John Edward Mhina of Tanzania. She sits in two other professional Boards namely; Gambia Women Chambers of Commerce and Africa Infrastructure Fund Gambia Ltd. Lucy Fye-Jagne is an author together with her daughters have published 5 books which are available at Amazon.com and FyeNetwork.com. As founder of Fyen Consulting Services, Lucy hopes to use her diverse experience to assist in the promotion of new opportunities, partnerships and programs that will foster and usher in a new, and improved development and investment climate within the Gambia. Lucy enjoys lecturing as a way of sharing knowledge. She therefore started a Women Executive Leadership Training Program in partnership with Bridging Gaps Advisory Services and Masters Associates. In addition, Lucy is a wife, mother of six and grandmother of 9.

SADAF KNIGHT

Sadaf Knight serves as chief executive officer of the Florida Policy Institute. She has over 15 years of experience in public policy research, advocacy and nonprofit management. Her areas of expertise include revenue and economic and community development policy.

Prior to joining FPI, Sadaf was the vice president, policy and research at Carolina Small Business Development Fund. Her previous experience also includes serving as a policy analyst and community leadership fellow at MassBudget and as a program manager at New York Jobs with Justice (now called Align NY). Sadaf holds certificates in non-profit management and community development finance. She received a Bachelor of Science in conservation & resource studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University.

NAYA F. POWELL

Naya Fela Powell is a #1 Bestselling Author, 3rd generation entrepreneur, CEO/founder of Spa Utopia which delivers luxe spa and virtual wellness experiences on-demand, and the Utopia Living Brand.

Naya Fela is a highly regarded thought leader in the world of wellness and innovative self-care. As a Wholistic Lifestyle Strategist and Executive Coach, she offers ten (10) plus years of expertise providing wellness solutions for individuals, top brands, and Fortune 500 companies. Naya and her companies client lists include the 2020 Olympic Trials, NFL - Super Bowl , The Ritz Carlton, Google, Martha Stewart, Sean Combs, Angela Bassett, and others. Powell’s educational background includes a B.A. Degree in Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University, Certification in Massage Therapy from Rising Spirit Institute of Natural Health, and post-graduate studies at the College of Executive Coaching (accredited by the International Coaching Federation). Powell promotes Utopian Lifestyle Strategies as a global: speaker, executive coach, mindfulness facilitator, and lifestyle retreat curator. Naya Fela believes Utopia Living is giving. She serves on the Board of the Daniel Center of Math and Science, speaks at various colleges and universities; and is a global mentor to The Woman Boss in The Gambia - West Africa. Naya Fela's mission is to spread life-giving services to the world and empower others to live their most passionate lives on purpose...*wholistically!

MALIK KHAN

MALIK KHAN, FOUNDER + CEO – POINTCLICK TECHNOLOGIES, THE DISRUPTIVE LAB. Malik Khan is the Founder and CEO of PointClick Technologies, LLC., an IT cloud hosting and dedicated managed services company, operating in 4 continents. He founded PointClick in 2007, to focus on end-to-end cloud hosting services that span beyond Infrastructure Management.

The company offers cloud hosting and web application management services with a focus on Cyber Security, High Availability, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. He has over 20 years of experience in the Managed IT Services, Cloud Hosting, and IT Consulting Industry, having worked for various companies heading their digital infrastructure. Malik is a sought-after speaker at industry trade shows and conferences such as Microsoft Inspire, Microsoft Hosting Summit, Ingram Micro CloudSummit, UNCTAD eCommerce Week and more. Additionally, he is a serial entrepreneur with investments in Real Estate, Early-Stage Startups, and acts as an Angel Investor in tech companies. When he is not busy with business dealings, Malik is a Philanthropist; he spends his time giving back to his community. He is the Co-Founder of Innovate Gambia; initiatives created to foster economic development in The Gambia, and the Founder of The Disruptive Lab, the Gambia’s first Innovation and Tech hub. His goal is to boost human capital, digital literacy, and entrepreneurship in Africa.