Patricia Essel

Patricia Isabella Essel is the Senior Advisor for Programs at WomenStrong International. She provides strategic guidance and technical expertise to support WomenStrong International’s flagship Capacity Strengthening and Learning Lab programs and works closely with WomenStrong’s Director of Strategy and Organizational Strengthening and Director of Learning and Partnerships in support of grantees program and capacity strengthening. Patricia also leads the integration of gender-transformative approaches as a cross-cutting theme throughout the Learning Lab and manages co-created capacity strengthening plans for all grantee partners and help identify potential sources of capacity strengthening support among others.

Patricia is a highly motivated person with practical experience in Project and Grant Management, coordination, and implementation of International Advocacy Campaigns, as well as Regional, District, and Community based programs.

Prior to joining WomenStrong, Patricia was the Project Lead at Plan International Ghana, in charge of the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) Ghana, a flagship project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) that provided unrestricted funding and capacity support to over 98 women’s rights organisations across Ghana.

Patricia has 20 years’ experience working with Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana), a Women’s Right Network where she managed multiple projects, including Access to Justice and Preventing Violence against Women and Girls, and a Safe Space Girl Empowerment Project in junior high schools. She holds a Master of Business Administration Degree in Project Management, a postgraduate Certificate in Public Administration, and a Certificate in Women’s Leadership for Community Change and Facilitation Skills from COADY Institute in Canada. Patricia enjoys using adult learning methodologies for community engagement.