Zara Mahdi is a Project Administrator in the Equity and Social Policy programme and provides general support contributing to the overall coordination of the programme. She works closely with the management team and operates the day-to-day procedures of project and programme management including financial and administrative support.

Zara Mahdi is an international development professional with over 12 years experience of managing and coordinating technical projects with a focus on sexual and reproductive health, leadership development, participatory research and mentoring African girls and young women left behind through multiple forms of gender violence and traumas in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa.

Zara has experience with gender and evaluation in fragile states, particularly in West Africa. She has extensive knowledge in impact evaluation methodologies including research and interventions on traditional practices and issues affecting African girls and women, such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Obstetric Fistula and Child Marriage. Her passion for women and girls’ issues - which is echoed in her Master’s thesis on FGM in communities - connected her with indigenous grassroots communities and inter-governmental organisations to act as an advocate to impact change within local and international organisations, as well as empowering those often marginalised and trapped in the cycle of poverty.

She holds a MSc in Development Studies and a BSc in Mass Communication and Cultural Studies.