Friends of Pastoral Women’s Council (FoPWC) brings together leaders in Tanzania and the United States who share a commitment to advancing the rights, leadership and opportunities of Indigenous pastoralist women and girls.
Working in close partnership with Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) Tanzania, Friends of PWC helps build awareness, relationships and philanthropic support for locally led change.
PWC is led by experienced Indigenous Tanzanian women who have dedicated their lives to advancing the rights, leadership, opportunities and well-being of pastoralist women and girls.
Maanda Ngoitiko is a Maasai woman from northern Tanzania and Co-founder and Executive Director of Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC). For more than 29 years, she has worked alongside pastoralist communities to advance women’s rights, girls’ education, economic opportunity, land rights and community-led development.
Maanda studied Environmental Studies at Kenyatta University in Kenya and has served on the boards of schools, hospitals and community organizations in her home region. She is an internationally recognized advocate for Indigenous women and girls and has received the Paul K. Feyerabend Award and the Segal Family Foundation Grassroots Champion Award, among other honors.
Maanda also lectures and collaborates with universities on pastoralist livelihoods and land use, women’s rights, girls’ education, international collaboration and grassroots development. She is a member of the Global Reciprocity Network and has served on the African Feminist Climate Justice Movement Committee, helping elevate African women’s leadership in the global climate justice movement.
Ruth Kihiu is a Pan-African feminist and sustainable development leader with more than 18 years of experience advancing women’s and girls’ rights, feminist movement building and gender equity.
At PWC, Ruth helps lead programs and operations across areas including organizational development, climate justice and locally led adaptation, policy advocacy, community organizing, women’s economic empowerment and inclusive development.
Ruth holds a Master of Science in International Trade Law and Trade Policy from Lund University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of South Africa.
Friends of PWC is a network of allies in the United States who stand with Pastoral Women’s Council to advance the rights, leadership and opportunities of Indigenous pastoralist women and girls.
Jennifer Meyer is a Seattle-based pediatrician committed to health equity, women’s and children’s rights and climate justice. She has deep personal and professional ties to East Africa and has worked as a pediatrician in both Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Jenn has been a close friend and supporter of PWC for more than 20 years and speaks Kiswahili. She currently works with students and educators in Seattle Public Schools.
Ren Dietel is a philanthropic advisor and Senior Partner at Dietel Pickering & Partners. Her work helps individuals and families connect their values with thoughtful, equitable and effective philanthropy and build relationships with community leaders and changemakers.
Ren brings more than 20 years of experience as an educator, administrator and investor. She has led innovative programs in public and independent schools and previously worked with Capital Group in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.
She is a graduate of Stanford University and has long-standing interests in environmental justice, education and community-led change.
Marissa Vahlsing is a human rights lawyer and U.S. Legal Director at EarthRights International. She develops and leads legal strategies supporting frontline communities affected by fossil fuel extraction, mining, land dispossession and human rights abuses involving corporations, governments and financial institutions.
Her work has included landmark human rights and environmental justice cases involving communities in Latin America and Indigenous peoples affected by extractive industries.
Marissa is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Swarthmore College and is based in Washington, D.C.
Terry Odendahl is a philanthropist, scholar and longtime leader in the movement for social and environmental justice. She is the former President and CEO of Global Greengrants Fund, where she helped advance community-led environmental action and grassroots philanthropy around the world.
An anthropologist by training, Terry has held faculty positions at Georgetown University, the University of California, San Diego, and Yale University and is the author or editor of four books on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector.
She co-founded the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Institute for Collaborative Change and has held leadership roles across progressive philanthropy. Terry currently serves on the boards of 350.org and Friends of Pastoral Women’s Council.
