Mary Deng was born in South Sudan and grew up in the East Africa region, where she pursued her early education and later moved to Australia to continue her studies and achieved a Diploma in laboratory technology and a degree in Medical Science at the Queensland University of Technology. She settled back in South Sudan after her studies, where she works for world health organization (WHO) as a consultant/technical officer. She later become the founder and the executive director of Hope Beyond Adversity (HBA). She has years of experience in humanitarian settings and in the private sector. She’s a member of many associations who are working for the interest of women. She also works as a facilitator and a trainer as part of her consultancy works; she recently facilitated lobby and advocacy training for women parliamentarians in South Sudan. Her previous work experiences enable her to effectively use her professional skills in her current position as the executive director of hope beyond adversity. In this position, her role is to oversee the administration, programme and strategic plan of the organisation, resource mobilisation, and to organise community outreach programmes especially for women. Mary is an activist and a peacebuilder and is passionate about women peace and security as well as women empowerment. 

Participant in: February/March 2021 Fellowship: Peacebuilding and Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peacebuilding Processes