Nguyan Shaku Feese is a teacher, teacher educator, development consultant, and an advocate for the empowerment of women and youth. With a career in development spanning over 30 years, Nguyan has provided leadership in the design and implementation of donor-funded programmes in Nigeria, especially in the education sector. She is currently the National Team Lead for the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) programme, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), implemented by DAI in three states and at the federal level. PLANE is an education governance programme providing technical assistance to strengthen state and non-state education providers’ systems for effective service delivery.

Before joining PLANE, Nguyan led the DAI team to implement the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Limited’s Education Intervention for the Vulnerable Households in Borno State. Using a Whole School Approach, the project improved school infrastructure, strengthened leadership and management capacity, built capacity of teachers, and provided teaching and learning materials. The project increased access to foundational skills for vulnerable population.

Nguyan also provided leadership for the Teacher Education Programme (TDP) funded by Department for International Development (DFID) and the Teacher Recruitment, Deployment and Management Programme funded by UNICEF. Both programmes provided technical assistance to government in improving the delivery of pre-service and in-service teacher training, enhancing teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitude enhancing their classroom practices. Nguyan has worked extensively with both state and non-state education providers to design and implement education policy reforms, expanding access to good quality inclusive education for all children, especially girls and children with disability.

Beyond her role as a team leader for numerous donor-funded development programmes, Nguyan served as the Technical Lead for Institutional Development Component of the DFID-funded Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) which was a flagship education programme in Nigeria supporting schools, communities and government systems.  Nguyan also served as a Technical Adviser to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals (OSSAP-MDGs), playing a critical role in the design and execution of pro-poor programmes aimed at poverty alleviation. Nguyan has contributed significantly to enhancing the capacity of state governments in Nigeria to develop strategic plans for accessing grants from the Debt Relief Gains, enabling more effective allocation of resources towards education and poverty reduction efforts. Additionally, her efforts in enhancing states’ capacity to monitor the implementation of MDG programmes at the sub-national level improved accountability and transparency in resource utilisation for human capital development.

Nguyan served as the Coordinator of the UKaid Commonwealth Education Fund in Nigeria, bolstering the institutional capabilities of civil society organisations to collaborate with the government in formulating education plans for achieving Education for All (EFA). She sits on the board of many charitable organisations and is a consultant to many international organisations including World Bank, Cambridge Education and UNICEF. Nguyan contributed to the design of the World Bank-supported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in 17 Nigerian states, furthering her commitment to promoting gender equity and social inclusion in service delivery.