Maria Mache Malomalo is a Pan-African feminist and passionate advocate for participatory action research and the decolonisation of knowledge production, translation, and
dissemination. She currently serves as the Senior International Research Manager at Restless Development, where she champions youth-led research and leadership, working to shift power away from traditional knowledge centres towards young people and historically excluded communities.
In her role, Maria has led and supported a wide range of research initiatives across multiple countries and thematic areas, including climate justice, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), feminist foreign policy, official development assistance (ODA), democracy, education, and livelihoods. Maria is also the founder of Mwana Pwo, Angola’s first NGO entirely dedicated to adolescent and youth SRHR and continues to play a vital role in regional and global feminist movements. She serves as a volunteer adviser to the Urgent Action Fund- Africa, is a member of FEMNET (the African Women’s Development and Communication Network), and is the chairperson of the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) in Zimbabwe. She is also a 2018 alumna of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
