Professor of Feminist and Security Studies at SOAS, University of London and founding director of the Feminist Centre for Racial Justice

Dr. Awino Okech is a Professor of Feminist and Security Studies at SOAS, University of London. Professor Okech is also the founding director of the Feminist Centre for Racial Justice which focuses on the majority world as geographies from which to build feminist imaginaries of “race”. The centre brings together fields of inquiry that have developed in parallel: feminist theories on power, protests and change, studies of diasporas, critical race theories and migration studies. also serves as Associate Director Equity and Accountability providing leadership on the university’s racial justice work.

Professor Okech received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Nairobi, Kenya (2002) and her MA (2007) and PhD (2012) in Gender Studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Professor Okech is a feminist scholar activist whose teaching and research interests lie in the nexus between gender, sexuality, security, and nation-state making projects as they occur in conflict and post-conflict societies. Her work is grounded in African feminist, queer, and Black internationalist thought as central frameworks for thinking about power and justice.

Professor Okech is a member of the Human Sciences Research Council editorial board, the Board of Trustees of SOAS University of London, chair of the Just Associates Board and adjunct faculty with the African Leadership Centre at King’s College, London.