Fanny Fanou-Ako is an accomplished social entrepreneur and strategic leader with over 15 years of experience across the business, finance, and international development sectors. She is the President and Founder of Women Empowered and the Founder and President of the Benin Association of Graduate Women (BAGW), an affiliate of Graduate Women International (GWI).

Under her leadership at Women Empowered, Ms. Fanou-Ako has spearheaded a dynamic International Movement of Volunteers dedicated to young people across the African continent. This initiative empowers the next generation of African leaders through cross-border engagement, community resilience projects, and a deep commitment to advancing gender equality.

Ms. Fanou-Ako brings a unique blend of high-level operational expertise and global strategic vision to the IAVE Board. Her professional foundation includes a distinguished career in the United States, where she held senior-level and leadership roles in the Federal government, alongside serving as a disaster response volunteer with the American Red Cross. These experiences refined her expertise in complex organizational governance, emergency management, and high-stakes operational oversight.

A specialized expert in gender mainstreaming, Ms. Fanou-Ako is a Certified Facilitator in the ILO Methodology for Participatory Gender Audit (PGA). This technical certification allows her to lead institutional social audits that evaluate and promote gender equality within organizational structures and field programs. Furthermore, she serves as an Ambassador for Technovation Filles-Benin, fostering the next generation of female leaders in STEM.

As the IAVE Regional Board Representative for Africa, she is committed to the professionalization of the volunteering sector and ensuring that African organizations have a unified, influential voice on the global stage. Ms. Fanou-Ako holds an MBA in Project Management and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the United States, a Master’s in Business Law from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin, and a Graduate Certificate in the Law and Regulation of Inclusive Finance from the University of Luxembourg.