Board of Directors

Esther S. Davis Yango is the Executive Director of the Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) and an award-winning Human Rights Defender with over a decade of experience advancing women’s rights, gender equality, and inclusive governance in Liberia. She is a results-driven leader with strong expertise in gender analysis, strategic planning, networking, and project design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and coordination.

Ms. Yango has extensive experience delivering and coordinating capacity-building and institutional-strengthening initiatives, with a primary focus on women’s rights, psychosocial counseling, advocacy, community mobilization, and citizen participation. She is part of a dynamic group of women leaders advocating for reforms in laws, policies, and practices that affect women and girls, particularly in post-conflict and fragile settings. 

She has played a significant role in ensuring that women’s voices are heard and their capacities strengthened to meaningfully address post-conflict recovery, with special attention to women survivors of violence. Her work centers on promoting women’s effective participation in decision-making processes at local, national, and international levels. Through sustained engagement, she has supported women’s positioning for advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement across Liberia’s counties. 

During the 2023 General and Presidential Elections, Ms. Yango, with support from development partners, worked alongside women leaders to strengthen the capacity of female political candidates and provided logistical and technical support to more than 20 women candidates nationwide. She is currently engaged in national-level advocacy to promote women’s appointments within the executive branch of government and broader public leadership. 

As Executive Director of WONGOSOL, she coordinates the programs and administrative activities of women-led civil society organizations across Liberia, strengthening collective action and movement-building. She has over ten (10) years of experience coordinating women’s initiatives and managing projects in gender analysis, psychosocial counselling, mentoring, women and youth development, and leadership training. 

Ms. Yango serves on several national and sectorial boards and committees, including the Elections Coordinating Committee, the Rural Renewable Energy Agency, the Liberia Women Empowerment Forum, and the Female Journalists Association of Liberia. She is a member of the Fiscal Transparency Advisory Group and the Steering Committee for the implementation of Liberia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. She has also served as Co-Chairperson of the National Elections Response Group. 

At the regional and global levels, Ms. Yango is a member of the Global Network of Women Peace-builders (GNWP) and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR). She previously served as Cluster Lead for the Anglophone Cluster of SOAWR, providing strategic coordination and advocacy leadership to advance women’s rights frameworks and  

In addition, she is a member of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) – Liberia Chapter, the Liberia Feminist Forum, the Rule of Law Reference Group, and the Women Human Rights Defenders Network of Liberia, and serves as Assistant Secretary-General of the Network of Peace and Security Women in ECOWAS Countries (NOPSWECO). 

In recognition of her leadership and impact, Ms. Yango was profiled in 2023 by Democracy International, UN Women Liberia, and the Elections Coordinating Committee for her tremendous contributions to advancing women’s political participation and leadership in Liberia. 

She has represented Liberian women at national, regional, and international platforms. In 2025, she briefed the United Nations Peace-building Commission and represented Liberia at the African Union’s 25th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325, where she advocated for sustainable peace through gender equality and women’s meaningful participation in peace-building and governance. 

Ms. Yango holds a Bachelor’s degree and is a Master’s degree candidate. She has obtained numerous certificates from national and international training programs, further strengthening her expertise in gender advocacy, leadership, governance, and social justice.