Chantelle Cummings

Gender equity and social justice; inclusive governance; gender, biodiversity and conservation; climate change adaptation and resilience; gender and economic empowerment; peacebuilding; youth engagement and participation; access to health and education.

Prior to working for IIED Chantelle worked for organisations including the Commonwealth Secretariat, Conciliation Resources, University of Bath, Institute of Physics and several NGOs. She has led on the practical integration of gender mainstreaming into organisational policies, programmes, systems and processes and created enabling environments for gender equality and social inclusion initiatives (GESI).

As global gender adviser for a locally-led conservation NGO she supported teams across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean to integrate GESI considerations into their work on fisheries and marine management for more sustainable conservation.

While working as senior adviser, gender and peacebuilding for conciliation resources, she led on the co-creation of participatory research with a global network of women mediators to connect community and global voices and managed the finalisation of a consortium project which advocated for the integration of gender-sensitive conflict analysis into EU early warning systems.

At the Commonwealth Secretariat, Chantelle worked closely with member countries, governments, international agencies and regional bodies to provide technical gender advice and support on the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action. This included conducting research and advocacy on women’s political and corporate leadership and initiatives to support women’s economic empowerment including entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and greater board diversity. She also advised teams on the integration of gender into thematic areas including climate finance.

Her work in education involved mentoring schools on whole school equality initiatives and the piloting of a gender equality charter to support the increased uptake of girls in STEM. As research and development officer in higher education, she supported a widening participation evaluation network to create evidence-based practical solutions on decolonisation and reducing educational inequalities. 

Chantelle is an experienced trainer and facilitator who has developed gender trainings in a wide range of contexts alongside the creation of communities of practice for shared learning and knowledge exchange.

Education

• MA, gender analysis in development, University of East Anglia, UK
• BA (hons), literary studies, religious studies and comparative religion, University of Manchester, UK

Provides technical support and guidance on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) for LIFE-AR (LDC Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience).