Dr. Joannie Marlene Bewa is a multi-award-winning physician from Benin Republic and a public health research associate at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. She founded the Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA) which reached over 10 000 youth on reproductive health, gender and leadership and was awarded the very competitive First lady Michelle Obama Young African Women Leaders Grant. She is a globally well-known advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and her SDG advocacy focuses on health, education and gender equality. She has been appointed as a United Nations Young Leader for Sustainable Development Goals by the UN Secretary General Envoy on Youth, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers and serves as a Board Member for Merck for Mothers. She is the Chair of the Young Women Caucus of the continental African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), a founding member of the PMNCH Adolescent and Youth Constituency.

Dr Bewa was featured by Melinda Gates’ on her list of six influential women on the topic of global access to contraception in 2016, recognized for the “ONE Campaign” Women of the Year Award and supported global advocacy alongside governments including with Canada Prime Minister Trudeau on International Women’s Day for a commitment of 650 million dollars for women’s health globally. She has an M.D from Faculte des Sciences de la Sante, Universite d’Abomey Calavi (Benin), a Master’s in public health from the University of South Florida (USA) where she is pursuing a PhD in public health focused on maternal and child health.