The Cova Project and Partners
MEET THE TEAM
The Cova Project team is made up of a dynamic group of people from all over the world, who are unified by one goal:
To provide access to safe sanitary supplies for women in developing communities
Meet Our Partners
Irise Institute East Africa (IIEA) is our proud Ugandan partner. IIEA has successfully distributed 5,000 menstrual cups and was asked by local government to provide vital support to the Jinja community during Uganda's lockdown. The Cova Project supported this by funding essential PPE for the team and 1,000 bars of soap for the community. . The Cova Project and IIEA's partnership has extended past project work and into advocacy, with the organisations collaborating to change the menstrual health landscape across East Africa. This is just the beginning...
We Empower Her is a refugee run organisation in Nakivale refugee settlement, started by Cova Project advisor, Gabriella Amini. We Empower Her is a wonderful organisation that empowers and encourages women to understand their bodies and their potential. We Empower Her has distributed 500 cups and with the mentorship of Irise East Africa, has moved towards formalising their organisation. This is an exciting step forward for this community based organisation with the potential to have a massive impact.
We Empower Her | Uganda
CARVE Africa aims to enhance informed decision-making ability for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) using a gender and age-inclusive community-powered approach.
We have been working with Betti Nlhane, her daughter, Eluby Shaba and Casey English since 2019. Betti is a known matriarch of the community and for years has hosted women’s groups in her living room, where women can freely speak about their challenges.
Casey was working as a nurse lecturer at Mzuzu University in 2019 when we began work in Malawi. She is a trusted global health professional and contributes essential medical knowledge to the project.
Educate West Point (EWP) is a well respected NGO in Liberia's largest slum, West Point. Started by changemaker, Musa Sheriff, Educate West Point was created to provide a safe space for young West Pointers to gain a pre primary education and to fund educational pathways for primary and high school students. Keeping students in school goes hand in hand with menstrual cups. Our longest partnership, EWP has newly assigned passionate and knowledge hungry trainers, Karolyn, Euodia and Genevieve, to manage TCP Liberia. These young women are the future of Liberia….
Yebetumi is a feminist nonprofit organization working to advance the rights and development of women and girls of all diversities, empowering them with knowledge and skills, and creating spaces for them to action their rights. The word “Yebetumi” is an Akan word that means “We Can”. At the core of their work is intersectionality, solidarity, diversity and inclusion as it pertains to Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Sex and Sexuality positivity, Gender Based Violence, Education, HIV and AIDS, Leadership and Political Participation and Economic Justice.
Yebetumi | Ghana
After a long awaited delivery, the 80 cups we shared with School For Life in 2020 (before the covid outbreak) finally made it to Uganda! These cups were strategically delivered to the teachers at School For Life as a pilot to see whether the teachers believed they’d be an appropriate solution for the girls. Well, after a training by Janepher and the team, 88% of the teachers are using and loving their cups and 83% said it improved their confidence compared to what they used before. As an important friend in the Australian international development space, we are so excited to have started this partnership with School For Life!
School For Life | Uganda
Past Partnerships
The Kyereh Foundation x Yevu | Ghana
The Cova Project Ghana, Kyereh x Yevu, is our first project partnership pulled together entirely over Zoom and Whatsapp. Due to the pandemic, our Ghanaian project exclusively with Yevu was unable to go ahead, so we brought on a new partner with a track record of successful menstrual cup distributions. Distributing cups since early 2019, The Kyereh Foundation was a natural fit for partnership. Nana Akua leads a team that travels to rural communities on the Ivory Coast border to reach girls most in need of menstrual health solutions.
PHAU x Opportunigee | Uganda
In partnership with Kampala based organisation, Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) is Opportunigee, a refugee run organisation in Nakivale refugee settlement. Opportunigee is a wonderful organisation tackling many issues, one being the empowerment of women. Our efforts are headed up by a team of passionate women, who believe that access to sanitary products should be a human right and good hygiene practices are essential for women living in the settlement.
Star For Life | South Africa
The Cova Project supported Flowcup and Star for Life’s menstrual cup initiative with 2,500 menstrual cups destined for their mobile clinics in South Africa. Mobile clinics are essential for outreach in rural areas to support the most vulnerable girls lacking access to period products due to financial constraints and geographic constraints.
The Cova Project
Meet Our People
Founder/CEO (Australia)
G.D Anderson/Geena Dunne
G.D is an Australian activist and writer. In 2015 she worked for a non profit in Namibia and experienced their unique work providing free healthcare to the marginalised San Bushmen community. That experience inspired G.D to work on solutions to ease the burdens of women living in low income communities. In 2018 she founded The Cova Project.
G.D is also the Founder of Honey Badges NFT, responsible for funding global change-makers. Bridging the worlds of Web3 and philanthropy, Geena has a passion for exploring blockchain technology to create more effective models for the charity world and energise grassroots social impact worldwide. In 2022, Geena and her team created Philanthrop3, a public resource hub for charities and nonprofits to better understand the Web3 space and potential of crypto philanthropy.
Geena is also known for penning the globally recognised feminist quote, "Feminism isn't about making women stronger, women are already strong, it's about changing the way the world perceives that strength", in 2012.
An active community builder with a passion for creating global networks with shared goals, Geena looks to merge technology and impact at every possible opportunity to create a more equal world for all.
To learn more about G.D, click here
To find out about G.D's other work, click here
Board of Directors
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Dr Samantha Malcolm
Non Executive Director
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Louisa Beale
Non Executive Director
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Geena Dunne
Director/CEO
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Nell Anderson
Company Secretary/Governance Advisor
Trusted Advisors
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Diana Lidforsen
Cup supplier (Sweden)
Diana started FlowCup in 2017, hoping to bring the economic and environmentally friendly menstrual cup into the mainstream. Her business philosophy is ‘Impact over Profits‘, which is why Flowcup became the ideal supplier for The Cova Project.
I believe that access to comfortable and safe sanitary protections should be every woman's right, no matter where in the world she lives. Contributing to this has always been obvious to me
To find out about FlowCup, click here
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Gabriella Amini
EX Project Leader & Trainer Nakivale Refugee Settlement
Gabriella is a 27 year old Congolese refugee who lives in Stockholm, Sweden. She is a poet and a writer, and was one of the scholars of the entrepreneurship program run by the organisation Opportunigee. She now mentors women from several different nationalities in reproductive health and women's sexual education. Gabriella is a social changemaker, and founded a collective in Nakivale called We Empower Her, thats mission is empowerment and development for women.
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Abena Benewaa Fosu
EX Project Leader and Trainer Ghana
Abena, affectionately known as ‘The Menstrual Queen’ is a Feminist Activist with particular interest in women's sexual pleasure, bodily rights, queer rights, sexual and reproductive health, economic liberation and political participation. She envisages and works towards a world where women can be anything and everything they want without judgement or discrimination. A world where patriarchy is only a once upon a time in history state of affairs.
Cova Affiliate Team
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Ebony Westman
Ebony is based in the Netherlands, completing her Masters degree in Development Studies, in The Hague. Ebony's research focuses on care-based practices, gender-responsive humanitarian programming, peace and human security. Ebony has her Masters in Gender Studies and through paid and non-paid roles, she has had the opportunity to work alongside feminist organisations to advance gender justice. Ebony is committed to approaching challenging issues of intersectional justice with joy, curiosity and collaboration.
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Alex Kelso
Alex is a Product Manager with full-stack training, he has spent the past eight years building and executing strategies for dozens of global businesses.
Alex has spent the last year developing the Cova Affiliate platform. The platform expedites the onboarding process for 'project implementors' (grassroots organisations in Africa), enabling swift registration, training, and launching of their initiatives in areas impacted by period poverty. Central to the platform's functionality is its role as an integrated hub offering education, resources, training, and support.
Consultants & Volunteers
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Abena Benewaa Fosu
Menstrual Health Consultant - West Africa
Abena Benewaa is a Feminist Activist and Media Development Practitioner with over 10yrs of experience working in social justice for women and girls, specifically women and girl's sexual and reproductive health and rights and socio-economic and political meaningful inclusion. Achieving a world where women and girls live in dignity and are able to realise their full potential without any gender based discriminations or hindrances has been her personal goal. She is an active member of Ghana's online feminist community, using her voice and platforms to advocate and help normalise otherwise taboo conversations especially around women's sexual and reproductive health. Abena also initiated a project called Yebetumi, through which she implemented interventions aimed at improving the lives of rural women and girls. Pursuant to her passion, she has over the years worked with Curious Minds; a women and youth focused advocacy NGO, African Women's Development Fund, a women led and focused philanthropic NGO, FemInStyle Africa; a PAN African women focused digital magazine, DW Akademie, a German media development organisation, and collaborated with other local and international women focused organisations in different capacities.
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Kimberley Price
Australian PR
Kimberley is a journalist with the ABC and based in central Victoria. After growing up around regional Victoria, Kimberley trekked to the big smoke to complete a Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) at RMIT. Since finishing her degree, she has worked in print journalism and has a passion for writing stories to provoke understanding, change and resilience. When Kimberley first heard about The Cova Project she knew it was a charity she had to be involved in because she believes in equality for all.
"All my life, I've believed in change through words. The words we say to loved ones, new people and the wider world can really affect how people see us and how we see the world. I believe through writing and sharing The Cova Project's story, we can really change the world we live in."
Kimberley became involved with The Cova Project in 2019. Since then, the collaborative efforts have led to some awesome social media campaigns, stories by 9Honey and The Drum, the development of Cova Conversations and the Monthly Matters program on IGTV.
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Charlotte Goutallier
Volunteer
As a junior doctor, Charlotte's enthusiasm for medical education infuses her efforts with an educational slant, aiming not only to treat but also to teach, thereby amplifying the impact of the Cova Project's mission. Driven by a belief in the transformative power of knowledge, Charlotte is keen to contribute to the fundraising, development and delivery of medical education programs within the project. She views the distribution of menstrual cups not merely as a provision of essential items but as part of a larger narrative of education, independence, and dignity for womxn. Charlotte's expertise extends to physical wellbeing through her work as a Pilates instructor, providing her with an understanding of the physical aspects of womxn's health, particularly during the pivotal times of pregnancy and postpartum recovery. As she joins the Cova Project volunteer team, Charlotte is determined to harness her passion for women's health, her educational acumen, and her research capabilities to make a lasting difference. She ardently believes that ensuring womxn have the tools to manage their menstrual health is crucial in maintaining their presence in educational and professional environments, thereby fostering their potential to excel and succeed.