Dr. Margo Thomas
Founder and CEO
Graciela Hijar Santibanez
Board Secretary
Vonn Ricks
Information Technology
Dooter Malu
General Counsel
Victor Gadabor
Website Manager
Anugraha Hadke
Communications Lead
Focused on driving transformational initiatives to support concrete and sustainable progress for women as economic actors.
As Founder and CEO of the Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), Dr. Margo Thomas serves as a catalyst for initiatives aimed at increasing opportunities for the economic empowerment of disadvantaged and under-represented groups around the globe.
Throughout her career spanning more than two decades as a senior official at the World Bank Group, Dr. Thomas has provided policy advice to over fifty national and sub-national governments.
Dr. Thomas successfully completed her appointment as the Chief of Secretariat for the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in 2017. Under the Argentinian Presidency of the G20, she was appointed as Co-Chair of the 2018 Think 20 Task Force on Gender Economic Equity. Dr. Thomas was invited by the Japanese Presidency to continue her work and serve as Co-Chair of the 2019 Think 20 Task Force on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Under the 2020 Saudi Arabian Presidency of the G20, Dr. Thomas is a member of the COVID-19 Response Task Force and the Social Cohesion Task Force. Dr. Thomas has been appointed as an inaugural Global Solutions Fellow.
Graciela Hijar Santibañez is a human rights lawyer and advocate for women’s rights. In addition, she is a certified Project Manager with over 5 years of experience in sustainable development and international affairs and she holds a Joint Master in Public Administration and International Relations. Graciela has worked with a wide array of stakeholders, ranging from the United Nations to national and sub-national governments, civil society and academia.
Throughout her career, she worked on and managed projects aimed at strengthening institutional frameworks and evidence-based public policy, empowering women in non-traditional areas, tackling rural poverty and promoting sustainable management of natural resources. Graciela has a proven experience in innovation, project management and fostering partnerships for development.
Vonn comes to the organization with 20+ years of IT experience working with and supporting small businesses, universities and multiple global organizations. His background is in systems design, configuration and support for networks environments of 20 to over 8 thousand users. His mission is to continuously use technology to enhance and support the collaborative work efforts in an ever-changing world.
Vonn’s superior qualities include his attention to detail, relentless troubleshooting and resolution planning skills, and excellent professionalism. Vonn studied and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowie State University and is a Microsoft Certified Professional. Vonn has a signature saying to describe his passion for the IT field, “I turned my hobby into a career and that has been the best decision of my life. I get to help people and play with technology all day. Work doesn’t get much better than that!”
Dooter Malu is an attorney with years of experience in law reform, financial institutions, human rights and international humanitarian and criminal law. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he previously worked with the office of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.
Mr. Malu also worked as a Principal Legal Officer with the Human Rights Commission in Nigeria. He previously served as an in-house counsel for Keystone Bank in Lagos and is currently a Senior Manager with Kings & Goodman where he leads its strategic engagement in North America.
Victor Gadabor is an accomplished website developer and manager, graphic designer, and digital and brand communications expert. He has proven, professional experience over the past 10 years. He has worked on and led significant projects for leading organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Selective examples of the extensive range of his projects and clientele include: Wateraid Ghana social media branding project; EMY Africa website design and management; Huawei Ghana campaign design; UE Beverages visual identity design; Ghana Business Awards; Ghana CEO Awards; Ghana Shippers Awards; and The Education Collaborative at Ashesi.
Victor is a vibrant individual who values learning and thinks it is each person’s job to reach their potential. Victor is married with two lovely children and also plays the bass guitar.
Janiece Welcome has worked for several years in the fields of management, administration and education. She has developed her management and administration experience in a number of different large corporations, including Starbucks Coffee Company. In addition, she has worked with AmeriCorps Project Change and the Montgomery County Public Schools.
Her commitment to incorporating diversity into her project management work contributed to her successful completion of projects and increased the impact of her efforts in effecting progressive change within her community.
Janiece is a leader, whose outstanding customer service and drive shines through her work. She has extensive operational and technical skills.
Janiece attended Arizona State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. She has completed a training program at the Project Management Institute and is currently pursuing her certification in Project Management.
