AMPLIFY Girls Appoints Zack Fowler and Lucy Minayo as New Co-CEOs

AMPLIFY Girls announces and celebrates the appointment of Lucy Minayo and Zack Fowler as the organization’s new Co-CEOs. This move marks the end of Margaret Butler’s historic tenure as founding Head of AMPLIFY Girls. After co-founding AMPLIFY Girls and dedicating years to the organization, Margaret has joined our board of directors and will remain a dedicated member of our broader team. This change is part of a planned, collaborative vision for new leadership at AMPLIFY Girls, and we cannot thank Margaret enough for her contributions in preparing for this moment.

With Zack and Lucy’s appointment, AMPLIFY Girls is embracing a collaborative leadership approach as part of our strategic growth plan. This leadership transition brings together two visionary leaders with a shared passion for driving positive change and amplifying the voices of community-driven organizations investing in adolescent girls.

Our new Co-CEOs bring a wealth of expertise with more than three combined decades leading in the development space. Their complementary skills and perspectives will enable AMPLIFY Girls to tackle complex challenges, explore new opportunities, and deepen our impact while working closely with proximate local leaders.

Zack, who has been serving as Head of Strategic Partnerships at AMPLIFY Girls for two years, is a nonprofit professional with substantial on-the-ground experience, focusing on gender, health, and education initiatives across four different continents. He is the former Executive Director of WISER International, an organization that Zack worked with for over 10 cumulative years, supporting its efforts in girls' health and education in Kenya.

Lucy is a human rights lawyer with over twenty years of experience in the development sector. Before joining AMPLIFY Girls, she was the Executive Director of NurtureFirst, a global funder and capacity-builder focused on building systems that support home-based childcare providers.Throughout her career, Lucy has built vast networks and managed coalitions that have been instrumental in her work with international, regional, and national organizations.

“I am humbled and excited to begin this co-CEO journey with Lucy and to work as her partner as we enter an exciting new era for AMPLIFY Girls. When I stepped in as Acting CEO six weeks ago, I promised our team transparency, respect, and gratitude and I promise those same values to my co-CEO and to everyone in our network,” said Zack. “AMPLIFY Girls has always been collaborative in nature, and I'm delighted that now have that collaborative ethos in our leadership structure as well.”

"I am thrilled to join AMPLIFY Girls at this critical time. Developments around anti-colonialism and localization call for funding approaches centered on communities and proximate leaders. I couldn’t be prouder of AMPLIFY Girls' ambition,” Lucy said. “As development practitioners grapple with their work's impact amid pushback against rights and empowerment, I am excited to join an organization that has developed a tool to support organizations in measuring girls’ agency. I look forward to working closely with my Co-CEO, our team, the board, and partners to ensure CDOs are respected and girls' agency is realized.”

We wish Zack and Lucy great success in their new roles!

About AMPLIFY Girls

AMPLIFY Girls is a network of 40 community-driven organizations across five countries in East and Southern Africa. Our Mission is to amplify their voices, work, and impact as they build adolescent girls' agency. We do this by supporting the growth of organizations through intentional collaboration and learning; advocating for the inclusion of CDOs in global decisionmaking spaces; and developing cutting-edge research that enables us to understand, measure, and maximize girls’ agency. For more information, visit www.amplifygirls.org.

For media inquiries and questions, please contact:

Salim Segawa
Communications Manager
AMPLIFY Girls
Email: salim@amplifygirls.org