Nkoyo Toyo is a lawyer and was an active member of Women in Nigeria (WIN) in the 1980s and ’90s. In 1994, she became the executive director of Gender and Development Action (GADA), addressing women’s rights abuses and exclusions. She was appointed as Nigeria’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union in 2003 and was elected to the Nigerian House of Assembly from 2011 to 2015. She is now on the board of several national and international development organisations.