Valerie is the founder and executive director of Niyel, one of the first and only advocacy and campaign firms in Africa. Niyel, which means lightning, was born in 2008 to strengthen the power of people and organisations to inspire, enable and create change. Valerie is a human rights advocate and social justice campaigner inspiring a generation of change-makers. She is an exceptional storyteller, an astute policy analyst and strategist, and passionate about how change happens and why people make the choices they do. She supports people, organisations, and governments to influence public policy and practice so everyone can live a dignified life.