Dr. Ramatu Bangura has served as the executive director of the Children’s Rights Innovation Fund since its inception in 2020. A highly collaborative leader, she oversees all aspects of the fund’s design, global strategy, and growth. As the inaugural executive director, Ramatu is building a community of advisors, partners, and allies to collectively realize CRIF’s promise to shift lasting power and resources to children and youth activists around the world.

Ramatu is a lifelong advocate for justice, bringing 25 years of experience working with and on behalf of adolescent girls and youth in New York City, Washington DC, and as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Costa Rica. Most recently, she served as a Program Officer for the NoVo Foundation’s Advancing Adolescent Girls’ Rights initiative, where she co-led strategy development and grantmaking to advance the largest portfolio in philanthropy dedicated to the rights, leadership, and well-being of adolescent girls in the United States and in the Global South. Across her career, she has engaged 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.

Ramatu earned both a Masters of Education (EdM) and Doctorate of Education (EdD) in International & Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is deeply committed to decolonizing philanthropic practices to ensure that those most impacted by structural violence and oppression are afforded the tools to create a world where all are safe, seen, and celebrated.