Caroline Kouassiaman
Ivorian-American queer feminist and funder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caroline Kouassiaman (also known as B. Caroline Kouassiaman) is a feminist activist and grantmaker of Ivorian and African-American heritage.[1] She directs the Initiative Sankofa d'Afrique de l'Ouest (ISDAO), an organisation that funds feminist, LGBTQI, and social justice movements in francophone and anglophone West Africa.[1][2][3]
Caroline Kouassiaman | |
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| Other name | B. Caroline Kouassiaman |
| Education | |
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Education
Kouassiaman holds a B.A. in Economics and Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College, and master's degrees in Public Administration and International Relations from Syracuse University.[1][4]
Career
Kouassiaman served as Programme Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Global Fund for Women, coordinating grantmaking to women's rights organisations across the region.[5][6] She worked at the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) as Senior Programme Officer for Sexual Health and Rights[7] Kouassiaman currently serves as Initiative Sankofa d'Afrique de l'Ouest's (ISDAO) executive director.[8][9] In 2025, Leading Ladies Africa listed Kouassiaman as one of "19 Influential African Women in International Development", alongside Jessica Horn, Hafsat Abiola, and Tsitsi Masiyiwa.[10]
Publications
- Kouassiaman, B. Caroline (2022). "Aujourd'hui, c'est aujourd'hui: Navigating power and speaking up as a West African activist-led fund". In Speaking Back, Speaking Black.
- Okanlawon, Kehinde; Oguaghamba, Akudo; Kouassiaman, Caroline; and Armisen, Mariam (2012). Struggling Alone: The Lived Realities of Women who have Sex with Women in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria. Queer African Youth Networking Center (QAYN).