Katie Carlson-Akuno (She / Her)

Katie Carlson-Akuno an international gender and inclusion specialist, deeply committed to designing and delivering strategies and programs that transform systems of gender inequality in a sustainable and measurable way. Her expertise lies in gender transformative program design, implementation and evaluation, where she had developed bespoke initiatives focused on women’s and girls’ agency, leadership, economic empowerment, education, SRHR, GBV prevention, engaging men and boys and long-term behaviour change for gender equality. Central to her approach is engaging men and boys as allies to shift and reimagine entrenched gender norms, ensuring more sustainable outcomes. She is highly skilled at taking abstract concepts around gender equality and making them concrete and relatable to diverse teams, inspiring action for results across sectors like agriculture, climate, livelihoods development, youth engagement and GBV prevention. Her work has focused on integrating gender transformative thinking and practice into program frameworks, strategies, and policies for a variety of stakeholders, including international and local NGOs, governments, UN agencies, and grassroots organizations. She has also designed and facilitated capacity-building programs to strengthen understanding and application of gender transformative principles among diverse audiences. These programs have equipped communities, institutions and individuals with the tools to sustainably transform systems of gender inequality and foster social change. Grounded in extensive hands-on field experience, she brings a unique ability to design programs that are innovative, practical and deeply responsive to community realities. She has worked with groups such as farmer cooperatives, households, community leaders, schools and youth clubs to co-create solutions, using participatory tools, peer-to-peer learning and coaching to empower local actors. This grassroots perspective informs her strategic leadership in program design, enabling her to create evidence-based, scalable approaches that drive meaningful and enduring impact.