Executive Committee

MNA Mehnaz Akber Aziz - Pakistan

MNA Mehnaz Akber Aziz is one of eight women out of a total of 342 members directly elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in the Elections of 2018. Since joining Parliament, she has been vocal in the House on the challenges faced in achieving universal primary education.

As a member of the National Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs she is also taking forward the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 in the context of education.

Mehnaz Akber Aziz has dedicated over two decades to developing and implementing education sector reforms in Pakistan, through the organization she founded, ‘Children’s Global Network Pakistan’. Through her organization she is supporting the government in universalising primary education in Pakistan by bringing in out of school children for school enrolment in seventy districts of the country. As a senior educationist and reformist, she has conceived and implemented national and provincial educational programs and capacity building initiatives tailored to cater to the diversity and needs of provincial and district realities.

She is also credited with creation of a National Center of Excellence on ECCE called ‘Parwaan Pakistan’ in collaboration with the Ministry for Federal Education and Professional Training for institutionalization of ECCE in Pakistan.

Mehnaz was appointed to IPNEd’s first Global Executive as Regional Representative for Asia in December 2020, and subsequently elected as Global Co-Chair in December 2021.

Vicky Ford MP - United Kingdom

Vicky was first elected to parliament as the Conservative MP for Chelmsford in 2017. Prior to entering the UK parliament had served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2017 and was ranked in the top 10 most influential MEPs by Politico magazine.

Prior to her election as a MEP, Vicky was a local councillor in South Cambridgeshire, leading for finance and community development.

She has served as Minister for Children and Families in the Department for Education and as a Minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office with responsibility for Africa and then as Minister of State for Development. Whilst Minister for Development she served as the UK’s Governor on the World Bank.

She is currently the Co-Chair of the UK parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education.

Neema Lugangira MP - Tanzania

Hon. Neema Lugangira is a Member of the Parliament of Tanzania, having been elected in 2020.

Ms. Lugangira is the Member of Parliament representing NGOs in Tanzania. She is also the founder of the Agri Thamani Foundation, which seeks to end malnutrition through education, championing school meals, promotion of traditional foods (farm to fork), nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions and nutrition advocacy across multi-sectors and multi-stakeholders.

She has significant experience in leading national and international development projects, including overseeing the administration of agricultural and social-economic programmes and initiatives across Tanzania.

In Parliament, her Parliamentary Committee roles include Membership of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Services and Community Development and Cross-Cutting Parliamentary Committee on HIV, TB, Drug Abuse and Non-Communicable Diseases.

She is also an Education Champion with Haki Elimu, the National Education Coalition in Tanzania, a National Food Systems Champion for the Ministry of Agriculture, and a National Non-Communicable Diseases Champion for the Ministry of Health.

Neema became part of IPNEd's Global Executive as Regional Representative for Africa in October 2022.

Aroma Dutta MP - Bangladesh

Aroma Dutta MP is a member of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh and the first woman from civil society to serve in the country’s parliament. She is currently Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights and a member of the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous People and Minorities.

As a human rights, women rights and civil rights activist she is recognised for her contribution towards the upliftment and empowerment of women in rural Bangladesh, particularly in promoting female involvement in the decision making process. She also had a strong academic career and taught in the University of Dhaka in the Department of Sociology.

She has greatly contributed in developing issue based strategic networks in the sector of NGOs countrywide and capacitized a large number of NGOs at national and local levels towards developing a robust NGO sector. She is the founder of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) in Bangladesh and a Development Practitioner, with over 40 years of experience in the sector.

Aroma has represented Bangladesh in many national and international forums and networks, particularly with UN Agencies and UNESCO, including the UN High Commission for Human Rights and Commonwealth Foundation. She has served on the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh and received the highest National Award for Women Empowerment and Development, ‘ROKEYA PADAK’, from the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 2016, for her contribution to women empowerment.

Aroma was elected to IPNEd's Global Executive as Regional Representative for Asia in December 2021.

CURRENTLY VACANT

Gudrun Brunegård MP - Sweden

Gudrun Brunegård was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Swedish Riksdag in April 2019. After two year as a member of the Committee on Education, she is now on the Committee on Foreign Affairs as spokesperson for the Christian Democrats on International Development and Aid.

She has been involved in politics since 1998, serving in the municipality of Vimmerby, the home town of the child author Astrid Lindgren, dealing with community development and educational issues, and in Kalmar County on health issues. For twelve years she was also worked at the national level for the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities where she was part of the steering group of the project A Strategy for Health, that stated that the most important protector against exclusion is good basic education, giving the child opportunities for further education or vocational training and participation in society.

By profession Gudrun is a Registered Nurse and a Public Health Nurse, and has worked in Sweden as a School Nurse and in Tanzania with Nurse Training, Hospital Administration and Community Health Education. She is dedicated to the principle of human dignity and equity, and our duty as fellow human beings to support others to independence and self-reliance.

She is married to Anders and they have three adult children, and five grandchildren.

Gudrun was elected to IPNEd's Global Executive as Regional Representative for Europe in December 2021.

Dr. Johana Guicel Bermúdez Lacayo - Honduras

Dr. Johana Guicel Bermúdez Lacayo, was elected as a member of the National Congress of Honduras in November 2017, where she received the highest number of votes out of any female candidate. She is the first Afroh Woman Deputy to be elected in Honduras, and since 2018 has been the female parliamentarian with the highest legislative production.

Originally from the Garífuna community, the poorest Afrod community in Honduras, she was born in Santa Rosa de Aguan, Colon Department. Growing up in poverty, Dra. Bermúdez learnt from an early age the importance of education and in the National Congress has promoted inviaties that contribute to the development of a more inclusive education system where all children have access to a quality education.

Despite facing racism, poverty and discrimination throughout her life, she has acheived a range of distinguished personal, academic, professional and political achievements. She is a Specialist in Internal Medicine and Clinical Dermatology, and has a Masters Degree in Public Health alongside Diplomas in Political Communication and Political Marketing. Dra Bermúdez has also held the position of Director of the National Diabetic Institute, and Teaching and Research Manager of the Honduran Social Security Institute.

In the National Congress of Honduras she currently serves as President of the Commission for Modernization and Institutional Communication of the Executive Power. She is also a member of the Commission for Liaison with Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Peoples, and a member of the Health Commission.

Johana was elected to IPNEd's Global Executive as Regional Representative for Latin America in December 2021.

Hon. Mike Lake MP - Canada

Mike is the Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Wetaskiwin, and was first elected in 2006. After his re-election in October, 2008, Mike was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, a position to which he was re-appointed after the May 2011 election. He is currently Shadow Minister for Mental Health.

On September 13, 2012 Mike was sworn into the Queen’s Privy Council, after being asked by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to serve on the Priorities and Planning Cabinet Sub-Committee on Government Administration. On September 20, 2021, he was re-elected to a sixth term.

In his 16 years as a Canadian Member of Parliament, he has been a passionate advocate for international development, and for the critical role inclusive and equal education play in changing the lives of the most vulnerable around the world.

Prior to entering federal politics, Mike worked for 10 years with the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club where he served as National Accounts Manager, Director of Ticket Sales and Group Sales Manager. Mike holds a Bachelor of Commerce (with distinction) from the University of Alberta.

Mike has two children, a son Jaden, 25, and daughter Jenae, 22. The Lakes have been active supporters of autism organizations, families and individuals across the country, and around the world, while sharing their story of life with Jaden, who has autism.

Mike was appointed to IPNEd’s first Global Executive in December 2020, and subsequently re-elected as Regional Representative for North America in December 2021.