Meet Our Board
Meg Porfido,
Chair - Girl Rising
Meg Porfido was Chair of Global Education Fund for ~10 years which joined forces with Girl Rising to launch GR-GEF, a four-year venture philanthropy fund. She currently serves on the board of Kaiser, a large nonprofit health plan and health care delivery system, after careers in law (in private practice in DC and Denver), government (on the Hill in DC and as COS and general counsel to Governor Romer in CO) and telecom (as part of a startup that built the initial fiber network for the Internet). She believes in the power of education and girls to change the world.
Abigail Eyo
Abigail Eyo is a law student, child rights advocate, public speaker, and writer committed to using law, leadership, and storytelling to drive social change. With a strong passion for child rights law, she is actively developing the skills to influence policies that protect and empower children worldwide. As a Girls Advisory Council member at Girl Rising and an active volunteer with Girls in Power and the CYPF Girls Movement in Nigeria, Abigail contributes to global and local initiatives advancing gender equality, education, and child protection.
Divya Mani
Secretary - Girl Rising
Divya is passionate about equity, education, and storytelling. She is a Partner at Transcend, a US nonprofit that supports communities to reimagine school so all young people can thrive in and transform the world, where she leads development and communications. Before that, Divya worked in human-centered strategy, marketing, capability-building, innovation, and talent development at Monitor Deloitte, Procter and Gamble, and Liberty Mutual. She lives in Boston and loves to read, bake, sing, and explore with her husband and two children.
Harish Nataraj
Harish Nataraj is Interim Chief Executive Officer at the Cennox Group. Harish has been working within the leadership team at Cennox for the past 4 years, supporting them in building the industry-leading services and product portfolios relied on by our customers worldwide and across sectors. Harish has also been instrumental in facilitating additional growth and business expansion through the strategic acquisitions completed throughout that time.
Nabila Aguele
Vice Chair - Girl Rising
Nabila Aguele is a lawyer and public policy advisor, with an interest in sustainable development work at the intersection of human capital development and public financial management. She currently serves as a Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, and supports on international development cooperation; and performance monitoring and evaluation for data-driven policy formulation and implementation. A strong advocate for women’s rights and gender equality, Nabila is supporting the Ministry and its Agencies on interventions to make public financial management systems more gender responsive.
Tara Abrahams
Tara Abrahams is Head of Impact at The Meteor, a media collective that uses the power of storytelling to advance gender equality. Prior to joining The Meteor, Tara served as a managing director at Arabella Advisors, as an interim managing director of VOW for Girls, an initiative working to end child marriage worldwide, and as executive director of The Girl Project at Glamour. She is the board chair of ICRW Americas and a trustee of the Brearley School. And she began her work in girls’ education and women’s empowerment as the president and deputy director of Girl Rising!
Dana Bober
Treasurer - Girl Rising
Dana is a partner in the Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) practice at EY and leader of the Americas FAAS practice. In her role as Americas FAAS lead, she guides teams to build relationships with current and future finance and sustainability leaders to serve as trusted business advisors. Dana is a passionate advocate for women and involves herself in organizations dedicated to providing exposure and leadership opportunities to women in business at all levels. She led EY’s Financial Services Professional Women’s Network, served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bond Club, a New York professional organization for women in financial services, and is a member of C200, an organization of professional women driven by the mission to inspire, support, and advance future generations of women business leaders around the world.
Allison Choong
Allison Choong is a dedicated girls’ rights advocate from Penang, Malaysia, passionate about empowering young voices. She is the illustrator and co-author of Safiya Speaks Up, a children’s book available in four languages with an accompanying mentor’s guide that educates on sexual violence and trauma. She created this project while in the first cohort of She’s the First’s Girl Activist Fellowship program. Recognised as an honoree at the Women of the Future Southeast Asia and a 2025 Canon Young Champion, Allison has shared her insights as a youth activist at global forums, championing rights and resilience for young girls.
Ezzine Okoro
Ezinne Okoro is a seasoned executive leader and strategist known for navigating complexity and driving meaningful change. With experience across global organizations and industries, she helps leaders shape people-centered business strategies that translate vision into sustained impact. Now serving as Global Chief Inclusion & Culture Strategy Officer at VML, she is shaping employee culture and guiding clients on multicultural brand strategies. As an immigrant from Nigeria who moved to New York City, Ezinne forged an unconventional path up to the highest corporate ranks.
Mary Murigi
Mary Murigi is the Grants and Operations Manager at Co-Impact, based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has over 17 years of experience building and leading world-class finance and grant-making systems for global foundations. She uses robust financial oversight and operational excellence to make the entire grant lifecycle more efficient, impactful, and grantee-centred. She has a proven history of leading significant initiatives, including large-scale system implementations and the management of organisational budgets exceeding $200M, consistently delivering results in complex, multinational environments.
Shabnam Mogharabi
Shabnam is an entertainment executive, producer, author, and speaker. She is co-founder and past CEO of SoulPancake, an inspiring entertainment studio that amassed 1B+ video views online and produced dozens of award-winning television, documentary, and branded series. SoulPancake was acquired by film studio Participant, where Shabnam served as an EVP. Shabnam is currently a consultant for media and entertainment startups and is independently producing a number of documentary and narrative film projects. In her early career, Shabnam was an award-winning journalist and is also a New York Times bestselling author. She is a frequent keynote speaker on the importance of joy, positive psychology, and the power of hope.
