Jessica Horn currently works as the Director of Programmes for African Women’s Development Fund and acts as the AWDF liaison with the AFF Working Group. She is a writer, women’s rights activist and founder of Akiiki Consulting (www.akiiki-consulting.org). As a consultant and activist She has worked for over 15 years with NGOs, progressive donors, the UN and community-based initiatives around women’s rights, bodily autonomy and freedom from violence, and in advancing social justice philanthropy.advancing sexual rights, ending violence against women, supporting women living with HIV and ensuring women’s rights in post-conflict reconstruction and peace building. Prior to founding Akiiki Consulting, Jessica managed funding for women’s rights and minority rights at the Sigrid Rausing Trust, one the largest private human rights funders is Europe. She is also the former coordinator of Amanitare – the African Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Jessica is a founder member of the African Feminist Forum Working Group.
As a writer, Jessica engages issues of women’s bodily integrity and autonomy and feminist approaches to human rights in African contexts. Jessica is co-editor of Voice, Power and Soul: Portraits of African Feminists, which profiles 79 African feminist leaders. She is also a published poet.
Jessica holds an MSc (Distinction) in Gender and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA (Magna Cum Laude) in Anthropology from Smith College.