Joyce Dzide-Tei

Joyce Dzide-Tei is an education, gender, and development practitioner with over a decade of diverse experience across the education and development sectors. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Nottingham, and is an alumnus of Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom at the Graduate School of Education.

Joyce has extensive experience in teaching and pastoral care in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. At SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College, a pan-African school in Ghana, she introduced Social and Cultural Anthropology to promote intercultural awareness and human diversity, coordinated international student exchanges, and facilitated student research and interdisciplinary learning.

Joyce is known for inspiring her students to become knowledgeable problem-solvers and consistently did so throughout her years as an educator. She has also worked in education regulation at the National Schools Inspectorate Authority under Ghana’s Ministry of Education and as an associate consultant for Oxfam Ghana.

A firm believer in women and girls’ empowerment as a catalyst for Africa’s development, Joyce has led various gender and social development programmes focusing on women and girls’ transformational leadership and empowerment. She has been volunteering with Zonta International, a global gender advocacy NGO, since 2016 and co-founded the Zonta e-Club of West Africa in 2018, a young professionals’ club dedicated to empowering women and girls through service and advocacy. As the club’s founding president, she led its flagship campaign in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic to end child marriage, while also providing scholarship opportunities for at-risk inner-city schoolgirls.

Currently completing an MPhil in Development Studies at the Oxford Department of International Development, Joyce’s research focuses on NGOs, climate change education, and youth climate activism in Ghana. She is a graduate of the Oxford Climate Society’s School of Climate Change and an ODID-DAC Scholar at St Antony’s College, where she has served as Environmental and Sustainability Officer and Vice President (Welfare) for the Graduate Common Room. She has also served as a Senior Welfare Officer at the Oxford Union.

Joyce is passionate about changing narratives around African youth and gender justice and continues to advocate for intersectional and community-driven approaches to development. She is committed to building equitable futures across Africa—contributing to development policy and practice and designing innovative solutions to education inequality and social injustice. Joyce is in charge of Marketing and Promotion at this year’s Oxford Africa Conference. She will be moderating the Climate Change, Environment, and Sustainability workshop at the conference.