Balkissa has a M.S. from Ecole des Hautes Commerciales (HEC) Montreal, in International Management, and a B.A in Business Administration. In 2020, she graduated from the International Graduate Institute of Geneva with a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Gender and Development.

Balkissa was one of 27 prize winners of the 2017 session of The Sahel Leadership Program, led by the Oasis Initiative from the Berkeley University, a program with the goal of “building a critical mass of emerging leaders who work in family planning, education, and empowerment”.

Passionate about gender equality and social justice issues globally, Balkissa has more than 11 years  experience in technical advisory services for development projects and programs.

Most recently, from 2016 to 2019, Balkissa successfully coordinated the “Sarraounia” Project, supported by the Belgian Development Agency. Sarrounia was a girl’s education’s project aiming to change social norms, reduce child marriage, and promote girls’ educational success.

Since 2019 Balkissa is the Program Advisor for Niger of the “Girls First Fund”, which is a new international initiative focused on supporting Community Based Organizations to prevent child marriage. This position gives her the great opportunity to contribute directly to the tremendous challenge of CBOs to deliver locally relevant, girl-centered gender transformative strategies in her country.