Dear Global Community,
I’m thrilled to share that two exceptional leaders have joined the Every Woman team.
Farida Bena, PhD, our new Director of Diplomacy, has deep expertise in human rights, humanitarian aid, migration, and development, with work that spans the globe, from Geneva to Sub-Saharan Africa to South Asia. She has worked with the OECD, Oxfam, and the International Rescue Committee, and has also consulted with the European Commission, UNICEF, Save the Children, and several NGO coalitions in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Gulf States, and South Asia. Farida is a skilled diplomat and policy thinker, as well as a passionate believer in listening to the voices of those affected by policy. With advanced degrees from Yale, Reading, and Milan, Farida leads our diplomatic efforts with rigor, compassion, and a truly global perspective. She is based in Geneva and originally from Italy.
Tanvi Girotra, our new Chief of Coalition, is a Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award recipient, who founded the Becoming I Foundation in India at just 19. She has since served in multiple leadership roles, including Vice President of People Power for GirlTrek, America’s largest health movement for Black women and Founding Chair of the Board of Haiyya, one of India’s foremost capacity-building organizations for community organizers from marginalized backgrounds. Her work has been recognized by the UN, the Global Fund for Children, and the Clinton Foundation. Tanvi is also a passionate educator, teaching regularly at her alma mater, Harvard University, as well as Stanford and Princeton. She has trained numerous gender justice leaders and activists through programs like Women Moving Millions and Vital Voices. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University. Tanvi is based in New York and hails from India.
It has long been our vision to anchor our work in Geneva and New York—two global centers for multilateral engagement—and we’re thrilled to have Farida and Tanvi in these roles. With their leadership, we’re poised to deepen and expand global action to end violence against women and girls.
Please join me in giving them a warm welcome.
In solidarity,
Lisa Shannon
Cofounder & CEO
Every Woman
