News Leading the Rise: Women for Rights and Democracy – A Global Action Summit

Alyse Nelson is a cofounder, president, and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. Under her leadership, Vital Voices has expanded its reach to serve over 20,000 women leaders across 184 countries and territories. Previously, she served as deputy director of the State Department’s Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative and worked with the President’s Interagency Council on Women at the White House. Nelson is a regular speaker on leadership and global women’s issues. She has spoken before the United Nations General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative, Fortune Most Powerful Women, Oxford Student Union, Women in the World, among others.

Alida Adelina Arana Vicente is an activist, human rights defender, and indigenous authority figure in Palín, Escuintla, Guatemala with the Poqomam Maya Nation. She has a PhD in Constitutional Law from the University of San Carlos De Guatemala (USAC) and a Masters in Human Rights from the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. Currently, she is a lawyer in cases of violence against women and criminalization of indigenous leaders. As an indigenous authority figure, she was at the forefront of the 2023 nationwide effort to successfully support the democratic transition of power in Guatemala.

Anat Thon-Ashkenazy is the director of the Center for Values and Democratic Institutions at the Israel Democracy Institute, the country’s premier think-and-do tank. The Center is dedicated to fortifying the democratic values and institutions of the State of Israel by strengthening the commitment of policymakers and opinion shapers to the fundamental tenets of democracy. This includes efforts to complete a constitutional process, strengthen the rule of law, and defend civil rights, with a special focus on gender equality. Prior to joining IDI, Anat served as the Executive Director of an association for the advancement of women’s rights, “Itach-Maaki, Women Lawyers for Social Justice.” In this capacity, she spearheaded national programs that embed gender equality at the national and municipal levels, inspired by United Nation Security Council resolution 1325.

Arwa Damon is a former CNN Senior International Correspondent currently working on independent documentaries and other forms of storytelling through her company Scrappy Goat Media. Damon has over a decade of experience in war zones across the MENA region and has often focused her work on humanitarian stories. Damon has received extensive recognition for her work including TV and News Emmys, Peabodys, the Investigative Reporters and Editors award, and the International Women’s Media Foundation “Courage in Journalism” award. She founded the NGO INARA after she bore witness to the suffering of children in warzones for over a decade and a half.

In previous postings at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Barbara Nowacka worked as first secretary and later as counsellor at the Polish Embassy in Berlin and Deputy Director of the European Policy Department for Institutional Affairs and Northern Europe. She has also served as Director of the European Policy Department and Undersecretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs, European Policy and Human Rights. She twice chaired the Citizens’ Committee of the “Let’s Save Women” Legislative Initiative, liberalizing the anti-abortion law. She was awarded a PhD in international law at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Law and Administration (2007). She is a law and classical philology graduate from the University of Silesia in Katowice.

Dipti Singhi is the incoming Programme Director for Civic Futures, the flagship initiative of The Funders Initiative for Civil Society’s (FICS). FICS’ vision is of a world where people and movements can access their rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and association without stigma or fear – so that they can disrupt corrupt systems, re-imagine the world, and create social change. She has over two decades of experience in both the profit and nonprofit sectors. This includes managing large portfolios in India’s banking sector and leading global grant-making and strategy for gender equity and democratic governance at a private philanthropic organization. She has also spearheaded efforts to scale Teach For India’s Fellowship program, mobilizing young leaders towards education equity. Dipti is an Indian national and is based in the Netherlands.

Emilie Palamy Pradichit is a woman human rights defender, intersectional feminist and an international human rights lawyer. Born into a refugee family from Laos, she founded the Manushya Foundation in 2017, working at the intersection of digital rights, climate justice, protection of defenders, transnational repression, and access to justice. Through her Foundation, she reinforces the power of women and youth advocating for democracy, social justice and equality, while also defending indigenous, forest dependent, LGBTIQ+ and marginalized communities across Southeast Asia. In recognition of her impactful work, Emilie was honored with the “Leader by Head and Heart Award” in 2022 by the Asian Network and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. Pradichit holds degrees in Public International Law and a Postgraduate Law Degree in International Administration and Human Rights, both from the Sorbonne Law School, at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Halyna Luhova gained international recognition for her service as the Mayor of Kherson after the 2022 Russian invasion, serving as the only female mayor of a major city in Ukraine. Kherson, a port city on the Dnipro River, has been on the frontlines of the war, initially captured by Russian forces and later liberated by Ukrainian forces. Luhova served as mayor after Russian forces kidnapped the prior mayor, formally serving as the head of Kherson’s military administration until March 2023. She is widely credited for her leadership in maintaining services and resistance to the Russian invasion, despite enormous challenges.  She is currently supporting the Ukrainian Paliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

Hanin Ahmed initiated the Old Omdurman Emergency Response Room, which helps Sudanese with food supplies, medication, GBV, and evacuation centers. Additionally, she founded a youth network in Sudan to serve civilians’ various needs and is a member of Peace for Sudan, a women’s group advocating for peace. She has served as General Secretary for the African Union Youth Assembly. She is a member of Engaging Women in Post-Conflict Economic and Political Decision-Making by UNDP and the North African youth group for peace and security by the African Union. She also belongs to Women Advance Security in Sudan (WASS) and presented research on women and youth political participation in Sudan at Oxford University in 2019.

Huda Abuarqoob has an accomplished background in conflict transformation, peace studies, and social change education and feminist inclusive political activism. She is the Palestine Country Director at Search for Common Ground. SFCG works to transform the way people deal with conflict, building healthy, safe, and just societies around the world through building trust and creating collaboration opportunities for adversaries, ultimately leading to breakthroughs for peace in 35 countries. She recently served as the first on-the-ground regional director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). Her remarkable dedication to justice and peacebuilding earned her the prestigious Laudato Si’ Prize in December 2017, a testament to her unwavering commitment to fostering understanding and reconciliation in a region marked by conflict.

Kah Walla is the founder and CEO of the 29-year old consulting firm, STRATEGIES! and the current president of the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP). In 2011, she was the first woman to ever run for President of the Republic of Cameroon. As a strong advocate for women’s rights, she builds women’s leadership in politics, civic engagement, public management and entrepreneurship through her daily work. An executive consultant with over 30 years-experience, she has been recognized with several awards: The Vital Voices Global Leadership Award in public Life (2012), the DVF Award (2014), and the Vital Voices Vanguard Award (2015).

In addition to her work on the 2023 Polish election, Katarzyna Rozenfeld is an experienced leader and mentor with over 25 years of business practice at the management and supervisory board level. Katarzyna spent most of her professional life in the energy sector. In addition, she runs her own business supporting people and organizations in development, change management, as well as the creation and implementation of strategies. She has been a member of the LiderShe Association for many years, a founder and member of the Management Board of the Effectus Papilionis Foundation, and the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the Mindset Institute Foundation.

Dr. Kateryna Levchenko serves as the Ukrainian Government Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy and is a member of the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Commission. She has more than 30 years of experience in protecting women’s and human rights. She was the founder and the first President of the NGO “La Strada-Ukraine,” served in the Ukrainian Parliament and as a member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Kholood Khair is the founder and director of Confluence Advisory, a ‘think and do tank’ formerly based in Khartoum that works on three priority policy areas: peace and security, economy, and governance. Khair also hosted and co-produced Spotlight 249, Sudan’s first English language political discussion and debate show aimed at young Sudanese. Khair has a career spanning the fields of research, aid programming and policy in Sudan and across the Horn of Africa. She has written research and analysis pieces for several international publications and has provided analyses for research and policy institutions worldwide. She has and MSC in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS, University of London and an MSC in African Studies form the University of Oxford.

As the first woman President in the history of the Croatian state, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović held office from February 15, 2015 to February 18, 2020. She has served in numerous senior leadership roles, including Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the United States and NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Public Diplomacy. She was the first woman Assistant Secretary-General ever in the history of NATO and the highest-ranking woman in NATO. In March 2019, she was elected Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. She is married and mother of two. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese and has some command of Italian, French and German.

Dr. Larissa Kojoué is a Cameroonian feminist scholar and social justice activist. A graduate from the University of Yaoundé II and the Institute of Political Studies in Bordeaux, she is passionate about black resistance movements and African literature.  

Her experience includes conducting academic and community-based research projects, teaching in universities and activist work with women, gender and sexual minorities in West and Central Africa. Larissa is currently a researcher with Human Rights Watch. 

Laura Alonso is a politician and institutional consultant. She was twice elected national deputy and directed the Anti-Corruption Office of Argentina. She co-chaired the G20 Anti-Corruption Group in 2018 and was a mission chief to the OECD Anti-Bribery Group. In 2023, she participated in Patricia Bullrich’s presidential campaign committee. She currently advises the mayor of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, teaches at UNICABA and is founder and CEO of the consulting firm Línea Final, specializing in strategy and communication for the development of political and corporate leadership. She is a member of the National Council of the PRO party

In 2019, Liudmyla Huseinova was arrested by Russian Authorities for her pro-Ukrainian position and spent more than three years in captivity. In 2021, while in prison, she was awarded the National Award for personal contribution to the protection of human rights and the human rights movement in Ukraine. In the framework of a major exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, she was released on October 17, 2022. Today, she is engaged in the movement of the protection and support of Ukrainian survivors of CRSV and women who are still suffering in Russian captivity.

Melanne Verveer previously served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly 60 countries. She worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the Administration’s development of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. President Obama also appointed her to serve as the U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. From 2000-2008, she was the Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. Verveer has a B.S. and M.S. from Georgetown University and holds several honorary degrees.

Mohammed Al-Maskati is the Digital Security Helpline Director at Access Now. He was shortlisted in Index on Censorship’s, Freedom of Expression Awards 2019 and Security Serious’, Unsung Heroes Awards 2020. Al-Maskati has been widely recognized for his work with human rights defenders, journalists and organizations to protect against and counter digital threats.

Nagwa Musa Konda is a Sudanese humanitarian leader known for her work in advocating for the rights of women and children in conflict zones. She began her career with the Nuba Women’s Association in 2005 and later worked with UNICEF, providing education for displaced children in South Kordofan. Musa Konda rose to become the executive director of the Nuba Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NRRDO), where she warned of the impending conflict in the Nuba Mountains. She played a significant role in peace talks between the SPLM-N and the Sudanese government and worked on a UN action plan to end child soldier recruitment. She continues to be a leading voice on humanitarian issues, including maternal health, domestic violence, and child protection in conflict-affected areas.

Nika Kovač is the founding director of The Research Institute of 8th March, a movement-building organization that uses storytelling and advocacy to confront gender and economic inequalities across Slovenia. Kovač and her team initiated the Slovenian #metoo campaign (#jaztudi) and have gone beyond raising awareness by articulating positive demands for concrete change.  Under her leadership, the Institute’s advocacy successfully initiated the legal redefinition of rape and sexual violence in Slovenia, enforcing a new legal definition in line with the affirmative consent model, “Yes means yes.”  Kovač coordinated two winning national referendum campaigns: one against the privatization of water in 2021 and the other against political influence on public media in 2022. She also led the most extensive “Get-Out-The-Vote” campaign in Slovenian history ahead of the 2022 Parliamentary election, which contributed to a 71 percent voter turnout. She is currently coordinating the “My Voice, My Choice” campaign across Europe.

Nyaguthii Kioi is a loud and proud feminist activist and human rights practitioner in Nairobi Kenya, and is firmly rooted in the belief that all human rights and social justice efforts need to be built on intersectional feminism and pan-Africanism. She has been a gender practitioner for the last 10 years working across different levels, both community and institutional and currently works as the Programs Coordinator at Teenseed, a feminist-led community organization protecting the rights of women and girls. As a survivor rights advocate, she has actively worked to increase quality of services and support accorded to survivors of sexual violence. She is strongly committed to building a generation of feminist leaders within different communities.  With a strong passion for feminist solidarity and movement building, community building and strengthening, she is currently coordinating the WILD Feminists Network, a network of feminist community organizers and leaders addressing different social just issues in the informal settlements in Kenya.

Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili is the President of Human Capital Africa and Senior Economic Adviser at Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI). She is the Founder and Chairperson of SPPG (School of Politics, Policy and Governance) established by the #FixPoliticsInitiative which she also co-chairs. Ezekwesili is the former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Region. She was the Minister of Education and also of Mineral Resources of Nigeria. Ezekwesili is Co-Convener of #BringBackOurGirls Campaign. She was a Presidential Candidate in the 2019 election in Nigeria. Dr. Ezekwesili was a Senior Fellow at Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, USA and was also a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin Germany. Dr. Ezekwesili is currently the Board Chair of Women Political Leaders (WPL) Brussels.

Ruchira Gupta is an Emmy winning journalist and founder of the anti sex trafficking NGO Apne Aap, that empowers women and girls to exit systems of prostitution. I Kick and I Fly is her debut fiction novel. She has been awarded the French Ordre National du Mérite, the Clinton Global Citizen Award, and the UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction, among other honors, for her contribution to the establishment of the UN Trafficking Fund for Survivors, the passage of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act and her grassroots activism with Apne Aap. She also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Smith College. She has co-written a book with Gloria Steinem, “As if Women Matter” and edited two anthologies, “River of Flesh” and “Renu’s letters to Birju Babu.” Gupta divides her time between New York and Forbesganj, her childhood home in the foothills of the Himalayas, where she furthers the work of Apne Aap and paints her mother’s garden.

Sarah Jacob is the lead on the Emergency Response team at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), where she has worked since 2020. Sarah oversees a global emergency and protection portfolio across activists and democracy advocates to ensure careful planning, provide the supportive infrastructure, and deploy the expertise to respond to emergencies with respect for the dignity and lives of NED’s partners and staff. Sarah has traveled globally monitoring and supporting partners working in the democracy space facing diverse and challenging operating environments as well as engaging with communities of protection and civil society experts. Sarah earned her Bachelors in Science in International Studies with a focus on International Security, Norms, and Cooperation and Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from University of Michigan. 

Saskia Brechenmacher is a PhD candidate and Gates Cambridge scholar at the University of Cambridge and a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where her research focuses on gender, civil society, and democratic governance. Prior to joining Carnegie, Brechenmacher worked as a graduate researcher at the World Peace Foundation in Boston and co-led a research project on corruption and state legitimacy in Uganda for the Henry J. Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security at Tufts University. She has advised major governmental and private funders on strategies to advance women’s political participation and defend civic space in countries experiencing democratic backsliding. Her writing has been published in Foreign Policy, Just Security, National Interest, the Hill, World Politics Review, Open Democracy, and elsewhere.

Seyi Akiwowo (pronounced Shay-Yee Aki-Wo-wo) is the multi award-winning founder and CEO of Glitch, the charity dedicated to ending online abuse. She is an expert on tech accountability, Black women’s safety online and digital citizenship, and the author of How to Stay Safe Online, a digital self-care toolkit for developing digital citizenship. Seyi sits on the Guardian Council of Yoti, TikTok’s Trust and Safety Council, is a Gates Foundation Global Goalkeeper, and on the Board of Multitudes Foundation. In 2020, she was appointed a Knight Fellow of the Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics at George Washington University. 

Before becoming a therapist, Shereen El Gazzar was a political and financial journalist. She wrote for the Wall Street Journal in the Middle East. She also covered the Arab Spring and the war in Iraq. El Gazzar is a graduate of Northwestern University and is specialized in running resilience and trauma support groups for aid workers in war zones. Among her many professional experiences, she has led trauma support groups with Burmese refugees, worked with activists in Lebanon and most recently is supporting Sudanese refugees. She offers therapy sessions in Arabic and English. 

Tatyana Margolin is a co-founding partner of STROIKA, Inc., whose mission is to reverse the tide of rising authoritarianism by building, resourcing, and connecting resistance movements around the globe. Margolin has testified, spoken and published widely on a variety of issues, including resistance tactics against authoritarianism. Prior to founding STROIKA, Inc., she spent over a decade at the Open Society Foundations, in part leading OSF’s Eurasia Program, where she supported grassroots activists in perilous locations where civil society was under threat. Originally from Belarus, Margolin’s early experiences lay the foundation for her far-reaching activism and understanding of the global authoritarian landscape. She’s an expert protester and bullhorn chanter, seamlessly bridging street protests with sophisticated movement strategies. She holds a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an LL.M. in Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham, UK.

Tomasz Bujak has over 30 years of experience in management in state and local government administration, enterprises and commercial law companies. He held the position of vice president for programs of the State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, a member of the board of the Social Insurance Institution, president of the board of several publishing companies of the PWN group and president of companies of the PGNiG capital group. His professional activity has focused on social issues, in particular on issues concerning people with special needs. He is a graduate of the Jagiellonian University. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw and at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Cardinal Wyszyński University in Warsaw. He is a doctor by profession. In addition to his professional duties, he is a history lover and observer of geopolitical phenomena.

Vjosa Osmani Sadriu is the sixth President of the Republic of Kosovo. President Osmani was elected on April 4, 2021, having previously served as the Speaker of Parliament and after being elected as a Member of Parliament in five consecutive mandates. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Pristina and received her Masters and Doctorate degrees in international law from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, United States.

Zoe Marks is a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, researching conflict, peacebuilding, gender, and African politics. Her first book, Anatomy of an African Rebellion, examines how rebel groups sustain threats to states without widespread support, focusing on Sierra Leone. Her second book, Bread and Roses: Women at the Frontlines of Revolution, co-authored with Erica Chenoweth, documents women’s historic roles in global mass movements since 1945, showing that gender-inclusive movements are more likely to succeed. She also studies peacebuilding and community reintegration after war in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.