Who We Are

The Team

Every Woman is a coalition of 3,000+ women’s rights activists in 147 countries advancing a global treaty in the form of an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) dedicated to ending violence against women and girls.

Manager of Global Operations

Development and Communications Coordinator

Chief Operating Officer

Executive Assistant & Event Manager

MPA, HonPhD, Cofounder and CEO

Intern, Emerging Leaders Council

Writer/Editor

Cofounder, Chief of Coalition and Global Programs

LLM, Chief of Global Diplomatic Campaign

Director of Development

Cofounder and Founding Working Group Member, Indrani Fellowship Manager

Nicolette Gamara

Coalition Coordinator

Every Woman Staff Team

Lisa Shannon

Cofounder & CEO

Patricia Elias

Chief of Global Diplomatic Campaign

Global Working Group

Africa

Gladys Mbuyah Luku, Country Vice President, Federation of Women Lawyers Cameroon, Cameroon Marie Nyombo Zaina, Director, National Network for the Defense of Women’s Rights, DRC Dr. Morissanda Kouyaté, Cofounder, The Inter-African Committee On Traditional Practices, Ethiopia Charity Binka, Executive Director, Women Media and Change, Ghana Ruth Anyango Aura, Chairperson, Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya, Kenya Gaby Razafindrakoto, Coordinator, Federation for the Promotion of Women and Children, Madagascar Obioma Nwaorgu, President, Global Health Awareness Research Foundation, Nigeria
Eleanor Nwadinobi, President, Widows Development Organization, Nigeria Kamilia Kura, Founder/Director, Nuba Women for Education and Development, Sudan Alice Nenneh James, Regional Manager, ActionAid Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Yeabu Tholley, Statistician, Statistics Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Sabrina Mahtani, Executive Director, AdvocAid, Sierra Leone Fartuun Abdisalaan Adan, Founder, Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Somalia Bonita Meyersfeld, Director, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, South Africa Karen Stefiszyn, Program Manager, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa Anyieth D’Awol, Cofounder, Citizens for Peace and Justice, South Sudan Reem Abbas, Researcher and former coordination committee member in the Sudanese Coalition in Civic and Political Groups (MANSAM) Zahra Abdalmien Mohamed, Department Head, Ministry of Social Affairs, Sudan Gcebile Ndlovu, Public Health Practitioner, Swaziland Laura Nyirinkindi, Director, Pro Initiatives Agency, Uganda Anne Gamurorwa, Executive Director, Communication for Development Foundation, Uganda Martha Tholanah, Director, Community Livelihoods and Enterprise Development, Zimbabwe Virginia Muwanigwa, Gender Expert, Zimbabwe Ricky Nathanson, Founder, Trans* Research Education Advocacy and Training, Zimbabwe Talent Jumo, Founder/Director, Katswe Sistahood, Zimbabwe
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Asia

Manizha Naderi, Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women, Afghanistan Azra Jafari, former Mayor, Nili, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Saira Rahman Khan, Associate Professor, School of Law, BRAC University,Charity Binka, Executive Director, Women Media and Change, Ghana Ruth Anyango Aura, Chairperson, Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya, Kenya Gaby Razafindrakoto, Coordinator, Federation for the Promotion of Women and Children, Madagascar Obioma Nwaorgu, President, Global Health Awareness Research Foundation, Nigeria
Eleanor Nwadinobi, President, Widows Development Organization, Nigeria Kamilia Kura, Founder/Director, Nuba Women for Education and Development, Sudan Alice Nenneh James, Regional Manager, ActionAid Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Yeabu Tholley, Statistician, Statistics Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Sabrina Mahtani, Executive Director, AdvocAid, Sierra Leone Fartuun Abdisalaan Adan, Founder, Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Somalia Bonita Meyersfeld, Director, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, South Africa Karen Stefiszyn, Program Manager, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa Anyieth D’Awol, Cofounder, Citizens for Peace and Justice, South Sudan Reem Abbas, Researcher and former coordination committee member in the Sudanese Coalition in Civic and Political Groups (MANSAM) Zahra Abdalmien Mohamed, Department Head, Ministry of Social Affairs, Sudan Gcebile Ndlovu, Public Health Practitioner, Swaziland Laura Nyirinkindi, Director, Pro Initiatives Agency, Uganda Anne Gamurorwa, Executive Director, Communication for Development Foundation, Uganda Martha Tholanah, Director, Community Livelihoods and Enterprise Development, Zimbabwe Virginia Muwanigwa, Gender Expert, Zimbabwe Ricky Nathanson, Founder, Trans* Research Education Advocacy and Training, Zimbabwe Talent Jumo, Founder/Director, Katswe Sistahood, Zimbabwe
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Europe

Albena Koycheva, Coordinator, Womens’ Human Rights Training Institute, Bulgaria Sanja Sarnavka, President, Be Active Be Emancipate, Croatia Martha Jean Baker, former Vice President, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, England Margaret Owen, Founder/Director, Widows for Peace through Democracy, England Carol Mann, President FemAid and Women in War, France Orit Sulitzeanu, Executive Director, Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, Israel Lois Herman, Founder/Coordinator, The Women’s UN Report Network, Italy Medea Khmelidze, Program Manager, Georgian Harm Reduction Network, Lithuania
Ronagh McQuigg, Lecturer, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska, Senior Researcher, Poznan Human Rights Centre, Poland Mo Hume, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow, Scotland Violeta Momcilovic, Gender Expert, Serbia Sandra Johansson, Women’s Rights Coordinator, Alianza por la Solidaridad, Spain Sagrario Monedero, Gender Expert, Spain Angela Hefti, Associate Director, Lucerne Academy for Human Rights Implementation, Switzerland Jackie Jones, President, European Women Lawyers Association, UK
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Latin America and the Caribbean

Viola van Bogaert, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Aruba, Aruba Silvia Vega, Gender Expert, Instituto de Formación Femenina Integral, Bolivia Maria De Lourdes Alcantara, Expert, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Brazil Rodrigo Jimenez, Director, Fundación Justicio y Género, Costa Rica Yasmín Silvia Portales Machado, Activist, Writer, Cuba,
Alina Ramirez, Gender Expert, Dominican Republic Sandra López, Coordinator, Gamma Foundation, Ecuador America Romualdo, Director, Las Dignas, El Salvador Claudia Herrmannsdorfer – Practitioner, El Salvador Jocie Philistin, Executive Director, Kofaviv, Haiti Alejandra Ancheita, Founder/Executive Director, The Project of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Mexico Reyna Rodriguez Palacios, National Coordinator, Network of Women Against Violence, Nicaragua Francisco Rivera, Founding Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Santa Clara Law School, USA/Latin America Jolene Romain, Trinidad and Tobago
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The Middle East and North Africa

Ghada Hammam, Country Program Manager, Diakonia, Egypt Hassan Khani, Founder, International Peace Foundation for Culture Promotion of Human Rights Observance, Iran Asmaa Al Ameen, Iraq Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Chair, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Afaf Jabiri, Founder, Jordanian Women’s Union Aid Centre and Shelter, Jordan Nabila Hamza, President, Foundation for the Future, Jordan Jinan Usta, President, Lebanese Society of Family Medicine, Lebanon Dr. Alaa Murabit, Ashoka Fellow, Founder, Voice of Libyan Women, Libya Stephanie Willman Bordat, Practitioner, Morocco Saida Kouzzi, Founding Partner, Mobilizing for Rights Associates, Morocco Fadoua Bakhadda, Executive Director, The Association Marocaine de Planification Familiale, Morocco,
Fatima Sadiqi, Scholar, Gender Expert, Writer, Morocco Hala Aldosari, Founder/Director, Aminah, Middle East/USA Khedija Arfaoui, Founding Member, Associationdes Femmes Tunisienne, Tunisia
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North America

Vidya Sri, Honorary Chair of the Global Working Group, United States Yolanda Muñoz Gonzalez, Gender and Disabilities Rights Expert, Canada Jo-Anne Dusel, Coordinator, Provincial Association of Transition Houses & Services of Saskatchewan, Canada Laurie Tannous, Attorney and Expert in Human Trafficking, Canada Jeanne Sarson, Founder, Persons Against Non-State Torture, Canada Lise Martin, Director, Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters, Canada Megan Walker, Executive Director, London Abused Women’s Centre, Canada Peg Hacskaylo, Executive Director, District Alliance for Safe Housing, USA Denise Kindschi Gosselin, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, Western New England University, USA Cris Sullivan, Director, Research Consortium on GBV, Michigan State University, USA Lindsay Robertson, Founding Director, International Human Rights Clinic, University of Oklahoma, USA Judy Lear, Former National Chair, Gray Panthers, USA David L. Richards, Cofounder, CIRI Human Rights Data Project, USA Denise Scotto, Founding Chair, New York State Bar Association International Section’s Women’s Rights Committee, USA Ratchneewan Ross,
 Director, International Initiatives, Kent State College of Nursing, USA Conchita Sarnoff, Executive Director, Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking, USA David Wofford, Vice President, Public-Private Partnerships, Meridian, USA Stephanie Kennedy, Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut School of Social Work, USA
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Oceania

Dorinda Cox, Director, Inspire Change, Australia Margie Charlesworth, Board Member, Australian Women Against Violence Alliances, Australia Annie Cossins, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia Amy Barrow, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie Law School, Australia Natalie Wade, Chairperson, Australian Lawyer’s for Human Rights’ Disability Rights Subcommittee, Australia Ruby Awa, Founding Member, Women’s Rights Action Movement, Fiji Vandhna Narayan, Director, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, Fiji Tevita Seruilumi, VAW Expert, Attorney, Fiji Hazel Hape, Indigenous Expert, New Zealand Caroline Herewini, Executive Director, Te Whare Tiaki Wahine Refuge, New Zealand Petra Butler, Associate Professor, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Jackie Blue, Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, New Zealand
Savina Nongebatu, Manager, People with Disabilities Solomon Islands, Solomon Islands Truffy Maginnis, Project Worker, Health and Community Services Commissioner’s Office, Australia
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Expert Committee Members for content Treaty

TYPES OF VIOLENCE: Simi Kamal, Pakistan; Zainab Ali Khan, Pakistan; Ghada Hammam, Egypt; Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska, Poland; Virginia Muwanigwa, Zimbabwe; Tanyi Christian, Cameroon; Cristina Ricci, Australia; Uuree Uuriintsolmon, Mongolia; Sopheap Ros, Cambodia; Sheena Kanwar, Singapore; Adolf Awuku Bekoe, Ghana; Valerie Khan, Pakistan; Pei Yuxin, China; Taskin Fahmina, Bangladesh; Monica McWilliams, Ireland; Jeanne Sarson, Canada; Peg Hacskaylo, USA; Dr. Denise Kindschi Gosselin, USA; Khedija Arfaoui, Tunisia; Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska, Poland; Kelly Jones, Burundi / USA; Angela Hefti, Switzerland; Hauwa Shekarau, Nigeria; Anyieth D’Awol, South Sudan; Manizha Naderi, Afghanistan; Virginia Muwanigwa, Zimbabwe; Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Nigeria; Joanna Smętek, Poland; Gaby Razafindrakoto, Madagascar; Reena
Tandon, Canada; Laurie Tannous, Canada; Tanyi Christian, Cameroon; Jo-Anne Dusel, Canada; Shawn MacDonald, USA; Michal Sela, Israel; Orit Sulitzeanu, Israel; Carolyn Rodehau, USA; David Wofford, USA.d VULNERABLE GROUPS: Violeta Momcilovic, Serbia;  Alice Nenneh James, Sierra Leone; Debbie Gross, Israel; Reem Abbas, Sudan; Stephanie Baric , USA ; Zainab Umu Kamara, Sierra Leone; Sandra Johansson, Spain; Reem Abbas, Sudan; Heidi Guldbaek, Australia; Caroline Herewini, New Zealand; Hazel Hape, New Zealand; Ruth Howlett, New Zealand; Anne Todd, New Zealand; Dorinda Cox, Australia; Kelly Stoner, USA; Kamilia Kura, Sudan; Kabann Kabananukye, Uganda; Yolanda Munoz Gonzalez, Canada; Martha Jean Baker, England; Martha Tholanah, Zimbabwe; Gcebile Ndlovu, Swaziland; Talent Jumo, Zimbabwe; Ricky Nathanson, Zimbabwe; Erika Castellanos, Belize; Miriam Banda/Kateka, Zambia; Truffy Maginnis, Adelaide; Margie Charlesworth, Australia; Savina Nongebatu, Solomon Islands; Yolanda Munoz Gonzalez, Canada; Stephanie Ortoleva, USA; Cristina Ricci, Australia. LIFE STAGES: Obioma Nwaorgu, Nigeria; Azra Abdul Cader, Sri Lanka; Munara Beknazarova, Kyrgyzstan; Fadoua Bakhadda, Morocco; Anu Radha, India; Safeer Ullah Khan, Pakistan; Keerty Nakray, India; Stephanie Kennedy, USA; Margaret Owen, England; Judy Lear, USA; Patricia Brownell, USA; Eleanor Nwadinobi, Nigeria; Helen Hamlin, USA; Meera Khanna, India; Lois Herman, Italy; Asmaa Al Ameen, Iraq; Heather Ibraham-Leathers, USA; Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Nigeria; Aabha Chaudhury, India; Sara Winkowski, USA; Ferdous Ara Begum, Bangladesh. IMPLEMENTATION: Francisco Rivera, USA/Latin America; Ronagh McQuigg, Ireland; Stephanie Willman Bordat, Morocco; Laura Nyirinkindi, Uganda; Gulnara Mammadova, Azerbaijan; Vanessa Bettinson, UK; Shazia Choudhry, UK; Rhona Modesto San Pedro, Philippines; Amy Barrow, Hong Kong; Petra Butler, New Zealand; Tevita Seruilumi, Fiji; Claire Hammerton, Australia; Felicity Gerry, Australia; Karen Willis, Australia; Joyce Hewett, Jamaica; Natalie Wade, Australia; Dinah Adiko, Ghana; David L. Richards, USA; Cristina Ricci, Australia. PREVENTION: Gladys Mbuyah Luku, Cameroon; Medea Khmelidze, Georgia; Margaret Nwagbo, Nigeria; Manisha Desai, USA; Zynab Binta Senesie, Sierra Leone; Lu Pin, China; Vanessa Coria, Mexico; Suntariya Muanpawong, Thailand; Hala Aldosari, Middle East/USA; Susan Harris Rimmer, Australia; Lisa Hoffman, USA; Sisi Liu, Hong Kong; Ann-Marie Loebel, Australia; Heidi Guldbaek, Australia.
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Core Platform Committee

Sara Andrews, USA; Ruth Anyango Aura, Kenya; Stephanie Willman Bordat, Morocco; Susan Burke, USA; Petra Butler, New Zealand; Mari Davtyan, Russia; Angela Hefti,
 Switzerland; Jackie Jones, UK; Saira Rahman Khan, Bangladesh; Morissanda Kouyaté, Ethiopia; Albena Koycheva, Bulgaria; Ronagh McQuigg, Northern Ireland; Stephanie Ortoleva, USA; Francisco Rivera, USA/Latin America and the Caribbean; Anne Scully-Hill, Denmark; Tevita Seruilumi, Fiji.
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Sara Andrews, USA; Ruth Anyango Aura, Kenya; Stephanie Willman Bordat, Morocco; Susan Burke, USA; Petra Butler, New Zealand; Mari Davtyan, Russia; Angela Hefti, Switzerland; Jackie Jones, UK; Saira Rahman Khan, Bangladesh; Morissanda Kouyaté, Ethiopia; Albena Koycheva, Bulgaria; Ronagh McQuigg, Northern Ireland; Stephanie Ortoleva, USA; Francisco Rivera, USA/Latin America and the Caribbean; Anne Scully-Hill, Denmark; Tevita Seruilumi, Fiji.

Volunteer Research & Admin Team

Abir Ahmed, India; Lindsay Apperson, USA; Carla Benton, USA; Karolina Deuth, USA; Taylor Dutch, USA; Veronique Fourment, USA; Arianna Frontera, Italy; Maria Gargano, USA; Sasha Grossman, USA; Meredith Gusky, USA; Yogitra Jothi, UK; Anna Nikoltchev, France; Maria Pachon, USA; Arianna Stefencavage, USA; Caitlin Stone, Australia; Maddalena Zarcone, USA; Virginia Slutu, USA/France; Kennedy Avery, USA; Katerina Hazimihalis, USA; Tatyana Roberts, USA; Iris Kuqi, Albania; Tatyana Roberts, USA; Amy Brittan, USA; Margarita Belozerova, USA/Russia.

Abir Ahmed, India; Lindsay Apperson, USA; Carla Benton, USA; Karolina Deuth, USA; Taylor Dutch, USA; Veronique Fourment, USA; Arianna Frontera, Italy; Maria Gargano, USA; Sasha Grossman, USA; Meredith Gusky, USA; Yogitra Jothi, UK; Anna Nikoltchev, France; Maria Pachon, USA; Arianna Stefencavage, USA; Caitlin Stone, Australia; Maddalena Zarcone, USA;
  Virginia Slutu, USA/France; Kennedy Avery, USA; Katerina Hazimihalis, USA; Tatyana Roberts, USA; Iris Kuqi, Albania; Tatyana Roberts, USA; Amy Brittan, USA; Margarita Belozerova, USA/Russia.
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