Meet Maryam Majidova, Co-founder and Executive Director of Gender HUB Azerbaijan. She is an international youth policy expert and a passionate gender feminist/activist who founded our Gender Hub as a social platform in 2020. With a focus on promoting gender equality and human rights education, Maryam has been selected as a member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe since 2022. Her extensive professional involvement includes collaborations with various national and international organizations, such as AIESEC, WoWoman, Council of Europe, UNFPA, European Youth Forum and ECYC.

Maryam is an alumna of the Council of Europe's Training Course on Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education and a proud graduate of ADA University. Prior to her role as Co-founder and Executive Director, she served as the chairwoman of NAYORA (National Youth Council of Azerbaijan) from 2018 to 2020, making history as the first-ever woman chairperson elected to this position.

Because of her passionate personality, empowering songs are her favorite. She has always been a fan of Imagine Dragons, and she is more empowered by the song “Beliver”.

With her vision and commitment to gender equality, Maryam plays a crucial role in empowering marginalized communities through our platform.

Meet Roman Gojayev, an international facilitator, youth worker, gender activist, and multidisciplinary. Empowered by human rights education (HRE), he designs and delivers rights-based educational programs focused on gender equality, active citizenship, and youth participation.

Roman is one of the appointed 35 leaders of the 2023 Obama Leaders programme under the Obama Foundation; He is a proud Board Member of the Generation Connect Visionaries at the International Telecommunication Union of the UN. Roman possesses extensive experience working with NGOs/CSOs and national and international movements and institutions in multicultural environments.  He has 6 years of experience working with national and European NGOs in coordinating and providing capacity-building training in the youth work sector. He has worked with different UN specialized agencies such as UNDP, UNFPA, and OHCHR including with several Embassies. Previously, he was a member of the Expert Group on Youth Rights at the European Youth Forum.

Although being in love with the motivating songs of Lady Gaga, we can't track his taste in music. Now, he is obsessed with the Renaissance Album of Beyonce, and singing “Alian Superstar” every day.

With his creativity and leadership for positive change, in search of uniqueness, Roman fights for equality by ensuring quality of deliverables at Gender Hub.

When we first checked out our new headphones, we noticed the box said 'improved bass by cool. We had to wonder, is this marketing jargon, or the real thing? But it only took a moment to realize that bass was not kidding.

Meet Gunay Adigozalova, Communication and Partnership Officer at Gender HUB Azerbaijan. As a dedicated project manager, Gunay is deeply committed to lifelong learning, innovative problem-solving, and promoting sustainable management practices.
As a passionate person striving for youth development, she has organized numerous forums under the Human Development Center since 2022, each attracting over 850 participants. Being a feminist, Gunay continues her activity at Gender Hub Azerbaijan, managing impactful initiatives like Woman Bazaar and various activities within the BREN project.

Gunay's academic journey is rooted in good governance, with a clear vision focused on development studies. Her commitment to sustainability extends beyond her professional life—she has embraced vegetarianism for the past seven years as part of her dedication to a sustainable future.

In addition to her professional and academic pursuits, Gunay is an enthusiastic learner of languages and cultures. She has expanded her global perspective by participating in international projects, including those by DAAD, Erasmus+, and the School for Young Leaders.

Meet Rashad Huseynov, Communication Coordinator of Gender Hub Azerbaijan. He is a passionate gender activist who joined us from our "Gender Equality" Internship Programme.

Rashad is a senior-year student at AUL, studying English Philology and Literature. In his spare time he loves to learn about art, watch Tarkovsky movies and listen to experimental 90s german rock. Because he gets energy from art to design content.

With his vision in content making Rashad plays a crucial role in our social media advocacy.

Meet Leyla Alizada, a lawyer, human rights specialist, and intersectional feminist/activist who has been working with social media platform Gender Hub since 2021, providing legal assistance to victims of domestic and gender-based violence.
After graduating from university in 2018, she began an ardent and passionate fight for women's rights in Azerbaijan, also focusing on the issue of gender inequality in her country. As a true pacifist, she does not accept violence. Every year, she improves her knowledge and professional skills by participating in various international trainings. She is a graduate of the Council of Europe training courses on democratic citizenship and human rights education.
Leyla has always seen her mission as changing the world, starting with improving the status of women. Her career has become journey inearch of justice and harmony, particularly in her work with victims of domestic and gender-based violence.
Working in Azerbaijan, Leyla faces unique challenges tied to cultural nuances and social stereotypes. Fearlessly, she confronts these challenges, integrating the principles of intersectional feminism into every decision and battle.
Her work in aiding victims of domestic and gender-based violence has become a defining aspect of her professional life. Leyla Alizada provides not only legal protection but also emotional support to those facing difficult situations.
She is being a person who is uncontrollably in love with life, she tries to see love and goodness in each of us. Working with people, she tries to be not only a lawyer, but also a person to whom victims of domestic violence can entrust theirundefined fears and assure them that tomorrow will come, and it will be a bright and beautiful day. If you ask her about her favorite song or movie, she can never name just one because she finds beauty in everything. She enthusiastically watches comedies that make her happy, and she also enthusiastically watches songs from the 2000s.
As a lawyer, Leyla plays a significant role in ensuring the success of our initiatives. With her legal knowledge, communication skills and dedication, she plays an important role in advancing our mission to empower marginalized communities and promote sustainable practices.
She believes that true change begins with respecting the rights of every individual, especially women.