Director of Partnerships and Communications
Baya Jansen-Sharkaeva has been working for Mama Cash since 2017, first as Senior Officer for Philanthropic Partnerships and, since May 2022, as Deputy Director of Partnerships and Communications.
Prior to Mama Cash, Baya was an international development consultant. She brings over 10 years of experience in the corporate sector (worked for Ecorys Netherlands and Zernike Group). She specialised in acquisition and management of large technical assistance projects funded by bilateral and multilateral donors – such as the European Commission, World Bank, EBRD, Asian Development Bank, KfW, Danida, GIZ. During her time at Ecorys Netherlands, she was a countries coordinator for Central Asia as well as a member of Ecorys International’s working group on women’s rights and gender equality.
Why do you like working for Mama Cash?
“Despite significant gains for gender justice and women’s rights over the past decades, our work remains relevant and urgent. Mama Cash supports groups that are on the cutting-edge of social change, yet remain dramatically under-funded. We passionately support this work because we know that feminist activism works”.
What makes Mama Cash stand out?
“Mama Cash has supported and resourced feminist groups and movements for forty years. We are clear about how our partners make change happen, and clear about the contribution we make to seeding and supporting that change. Feminist activists’ achievements show that our funding model makes a difference”.
What is the point on the horizon you’re working towards?
“Inspiring more people through evidence and powerful storytelling to join us and to support us, as together, we create a more just and equal world for women, girls, trans people and intersex people”.