Stephen Chukwumah is a Policy Advocate with the Council for Global Equality, where he joined the team in 2022. A Nigerian-born advocate and strategist, Stephen has extensive knowledge and expertise in movement building, policy, and fundraising. He has previously worked as a youth advisor to the United Nations Population Fund and founded the first youth-led organization in Eastern Nigeria to address discrimination and abuse targeting sexual minority youths and other public health issues including HIV. Before joining the Council, Stephen was a lead coordinator in the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund, where he received several recognitions and, in coordination with economists and research assistants, was in charge of the Fund’s regional economic outlook report and events for South Asia. He has raised money to support queer youth organizing in Africa through his work as a co-founder and chief strategist with the African Queer Youth Initiative. In addition, Stephen is regularly consulted by the State Department and IREX to review and recommend fellows for the prestigious Fulbright and Mandela Washington fellowships. He is also recognized as a leader for a changing world by DyNamc and has appeared on the magazine’s front page. A former fellow of the law faculty at the University of York England, Stephen has an MA in Global Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a certificate in organizational leadership from Harvard.