Kambou, Thompson named Top 100 gender policy influencers in 2019

Today, ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou and Director of Policy and Advocacy Lyric Thompson were, for the second year in a row, named among the honorees of apolitical‘s top 100 most influential people in gender policy, as part of The Most Influential People in Global Policy. Sarah and Lyric join a deep list of influential policy leaders from government, advocacy, academia, philanthropy, NGOs and youth that include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, transgender rights activist and national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign Sarah McBride, founder of Global Girls Alliance Michelle Obama, U.N. Women’s executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Melinda Gates, CEO and founder of Safe Hands for Girls Jaha Dukureh and founder of the #MeToo movement Tarana Burke.

ICRW is proud to have Sarah and Lyric among the honorees for the category of International and Non-Governmental Organizations. The wider list includes a number of other members of the ICRW family, including Board emerita Wanjiku Kabira (Director, African Women’s Studies Centre), former ICRW president and current executive director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women, Geeta Rao Gupta, the World Bank’s Caren Grown, Promundo’s Gary Barker and Board member Naila Kabeer (feminist economist/academic at the London School of Economics).

“ICRW is grateful to apolitical,” says Sarah Kambou, “for continuing this new tradition of honoring inspiring champions of gender equality. We have significant challenges on the path to gender equity, but I’m confident that trailblazers like these will help us keep marching towards success, bringing others along the way.”

Apolitical, a “global network for government, helping public servants find the ideas, people and partners they need to solve the hardest challenges facing our societies,” created the list of public servants who work globally across a range of sectors to recognize their achievements and inspire the sharing of “good ideas.”

Following the honor, Lyric Thompson said, “I’m incredibly honored to be included in this inspiring list of Gender Equality Top 100. The honorees are setting the tone and raising the standards for gender equality as we head into important anniversaries for women’s rights and contend with the challenge of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – where every voice must count and everyone should be represented at the table.”