Team & Board

Anika knows that individuals and organizations can inspire movements that benefit both people and the planet by advancing human rights for all, promoting a just society, and prompting climate action. She has dedicated her life to championing reproductive rights, gender justice, sustainable global development, and fighting racism in all its forms.

Throughout her career, with leadership positions at the Center for Reproductive Rights, USA for UNFPA, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Rainforest Alliance, and NRDC, Anika has been a voice—and a catalyst—for change. Her commitment to advancing equality is also reflected in her management consulting practice for progressive nonprofits.

MADRE and Anna were born in the same place, Nicaragua, during the US-sponsored Contra War. The hospital she was born in received its first ambulance because of MADRE, the same year she was born. Orphaned, Anna was adopted and moved to New York, where my parents were friends of MADRE. She grew up in NYC and then went to George Washington University, where Anna studied International Affairs.

After college, she worked for four years at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as a criminal justice officer, focusing on human trafficking. While there, Anna co-organized a UN mission to Gulu, Uganda, where they conducted art therapy with former child soldiers and then held a successful UN benefit featuring that art. Her work was instrumental in establishing a UN trust fund for victims of human trafficking. Since leaving the UN, Anna’s focus has been on her art and, most importantly, raising her daughter.

Anne is proud to be a founding board member of MADRE. Over the past 40 years, she has worked together with incredible staff and board members to make sure that the organization is on solid footing and expanding the work of amazing partners in strategic places. MADRE’s vision for a world that honors and respects women and girls’ rights is as vibrant as ever.

Blaine is a human rights advocate. As Legal Director at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, she advances protections for asylum seekers. She has served as counsel in cutting-edge litigation expanding protections for women fleeing gender-based violence and challenging draconian policies that restrict access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition, she teaches courses in human rights as an adjunct professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Blaine proudly hails from Iowa, the Midwest, which welcomed her grandparents fleeing religious persecution.

Carla is a partner in the Trial and Global Disputes practice in the Los Angeles Office of King & Spalding. Her practice focuses on high-stakes litigation and trials. Carla is also active in the Los Angeles community serving on both for profit and nonprofit boards. She was previously the co-owner of the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks.

Eunique is a cultural architect, brand builder, and social activist whose revolutionary campaigns have created global movements. In 2013, she launched Because of Them, We Can®, an award-winning campaign that has now evolved into a worldwide media platform for Black Excellence. She is also the creator of the hit game #CultureTags®, which encapsulates the nostalgia of the Black experience and Black culture. Eunique serves as the CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the innovative agency Culture Brands, as well as the CEO of The Happy Hues Company, an inclusive baby essentials company focused on nurturing happy and healthy babies. Collectively, Eunique’s portfolio highlights her commitment to representation and the celebration of culture & community.

A Bowie State University graduate and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Eunique has also received recognition for her work, such as the White House Champion for Change and Ebony Power100. She resides in Maryland with her husband, Chris, and their three children, Chase, Amari, and Sage.

Dr. Ramatu Bangura is leading the design and inception of the Children’s Rights Innovation Fund (CRIF).  Prior to CRIF, Ramatu previously served as a Program Officer for the NoVo Foundation’s Advancing Adolescent Girls’ Rights Initiative, where she funded work to advance the rights, leadership, and safety of adolescent girls in the United States and in the Global South. Ramatu has spent the last 25 years engaging in organizing, advocacy, and research on a host of issues impacting transnational girls, including early and forced marriage, sexual violence, trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and educational access for English Language Learners; in the United States and Central America. Ramatu earned both a Masters of Education (EdM) and Doctorate of Education (EdD) from Teachers College, Columbia University.