WEDO Team
The WEDO team is a dedicated, diverse and dynamic group of activists and advocates committed to realizing the vision of the organization, supported by an extraordinary group of interns, Graduate Fellows and other volunteers, as well as an international Board of Directors.
Cate Owren, Executive Director
A lifelong women’s rights and environmental activist, Cate found a natural home at WEDO six years ago, when she joined the organization to work on its gender and climate change portfolio. Her first major project was research, outreach and consultation with women’s and environmental organizations to help develop a gender and climate change alliance and national mobilization and advocacy projects. She supported numerous additional WEDO efforts, including the 50/50 women’s political participation campaign, as well as the 16 Days of Activism campaign. Serving as Sustainable Development Coordinator, she organized the international team of advocates working to integrate gender equality language into the UNFCCC negotiations and outcomes; then as Program Director, Cate developed and supervised the interlinked programming across Sustainable Development, Women’s Leadership and Global Governance themes. She was appointed Executive Director in February 2011.
Prior to coming to WEDO, Cate worked for various NGOs – from grassroots to international – on gender equality issues such as reproductive health and rights and AIDS education; microfinance; extractive industries and fair trade. She enjoyed living and working in West Africa and the Caribbean before re-settling in the New York City area with her family. Cate has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the New School, where she concentrated in socioeconomic development with a focus on gender and women’s empowerment. She has an undergraduate degree in English Literature and Theater, and she was an early member of a NYC-based theater company, with whom she wrote, performed and produced for 10 years. She officially swapped her hobbies for her career almost a decade ago, but she appreciates the more ‘dramatic’ aspects of global advocacy, too.
Dona Weekes, Finance Manager
Bringing more than twenty years of experience in non-profit accounting and financial management in very diverse settings, Dona Weekes joined WEDO as Finance Manager in January 2013. Thriving on the details and rolling up her sleeves as a team player, Dona’s motto is, ‘Change is good!’ Dona is committed to community volunteer work and counts among her biggest accomplishments taking the lead on a faith-based project called Welfare to Work. Dona has a BS and a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Phoenix.
Eleanor Blomstrom, Program Coordinator
At WEDO, Eleanor coordinates programs on sustainable development and climate change. Her work involves research, training, partner management and development, and global-level advocacy at the UNFCCC and other UN fora. Prior to WEDO, Eleanor worked on climate change projects ranging from green roofs to waste management to adaptation with the Earth Institute, the Clinton Foundation and the World Bank. She has community development experience in the areas of agriculture and women’s empowerment with organizations in Nicaragua and Nigeria. Her current work is informed by a professional background in bilingual elementary education with a focus on race and gender equity in public schools. Eleanor holds a Master of International Affairs in Urban and Environmental Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Sciences.
Rachel Harris, Advocacy Coordinator
Rachel leads the coordination of WEDO’s advocacy and research on gender equality and women’s rights in global governance and sustainable development. Rachel leads a WEDO policy-advocacy team at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and has led women’s caucuses at the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification. Her particular areas of expertise include the UNFCCC negotiations, gender mainstreaming in climate change, gender mainstreaming in sustainable development, and gender equality in UN Reform. Previously Rachel led WEDO’s U.S. Campaign to encourage U.S. based women’s and environmental organizations to demand responsible, gender-sensitive U.S. actions in the international climate change negotiations. During that time Rachel was able to engage with several U.S. organizations that are working on international climate change policies; WEDO still partners with several of these organizations in its current priority areas. Prior to joining WEDO, Rachel worked at environmental organizations including the World Resources Institute, the International Research Institute of Climate and Society and the Environmental Law Institute. Rachel holds a BA in Environmental Science from Barnard College and an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University. She was born and raised in New Orleans, LA and has lived in New York, NY for over 10 years.
Sandra Freitas, Policy Advisor
Based in Togo, West Africa, Sandra began her professional career in 1999 as a Research Assistant for a consultancy bureau in Togo before leaving to pursue an advanced degree in Economics in 2003 at the University of Lome. Upon completing her degree, Sandra joined the “Young Volunteers for the Environment, YVE”, a Togolese NGO which currently has 15 international representations worldwide. As Coordinator for the community and sustainable development programs, Sandra organized a number of national campaigns on climate change throughout Togo in addition to specific capacity building and environment. In January 2009, Sandra was appointed Executive Director of the “Actions en faveur de l’Homme et de la Nature, AFHON”, a new initiative with a deeper focus on the impacts of climate change and other environmental threats on vulnerable populations of both rural and urban areas of the country. Within one year, she had developed an action plan for capacity building on gender and climate change. In parallel, Sandra joined the advocacy team of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) to ensure a gender sensitive post 2012 climate change agreement.
Bridget K. Burns, Project and Communications Coordinator
Bridget has a Master’s Degree in Gender, Development, and Globalisation from the London School of Economics. At WEDO, Bridget’s work focuses on women’s leadership and capacity building in addition to research and coordination support on sustainable development and climate change work. She also spends part of her time on communications: managing the website, listserv, and social media tools as well as drafting newsletters and press releases. Prior to WEDO, she worked at LEAD International in London, a global non-profit dedicated to advancing leadership for sustainable development. There she managed the global LEAD Fellow’s network, coordinated the LEAD Europe program, and supported leadership training in a number of different countries. In 2009 she became certified in training on gender and climate change from the IUCN/GGCA. She is also a certified youth trainer. Bridget is a graduate of Marist College.
Andrea Quesada, Project Coordinator
Based in Costa Rica, Andrea has a background in botany and obtained her Masters degree on Ecology and Evolution from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. Since 2007, she has been involved in numerous pioneer activities to include a gender perspective in climate change negotiations. As part of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA), Andrea produced documents on gender and climate change, participated in the UNFCCC negotiations and organized various workshops and international events on the importance of gender considerations in climate change discussions. She has also worked with the UNDP Mexico office and UN ISDR on the development of guidelines on gender and various issues related to climate change and disaster risk reduction. Recently, her work has focused on the gender implications of a REDD strategy (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) and this is one of the main objectives of her work in WEDO: ensuring that initiatives, proposals and financing mechanisms related to REDD incorporate a gender perspective.
Interns and Fellows
Yufan Elysia Luo, Global Governance Program Intern
Elysia is a young feminist, a global adventurer and a currently, an intern at WEDO focused on global governance issues, particularly around the Post-2015 development agenda. Growing up in China, Elysia arrived in US three and a half years ago and graduated from an inspiring women’s college, Agnes Scott College, in Decatur, GA. During college, she had the opportunity to study abroad in New Zealand and Tanzania, where she particularly enjoyed her time living with her Tanzanian “sisters” and working for groups of local widows at the Women & Children’s Welfare Center. These experiences led her to study intersectional issues in international development and women’s empowerment. Before WEDO, Elysia was an intern with the corporate partnership office of Women for Women International. At WEDO, Elysia is learning about the process of advocating for women’s rights and social advancement within the international policy arena. Her tasks focus on Post-2015 outreach and communications on behalf of WEDO and the newly forming Post-2015 Women’s Coalition. She is enjoying learning from the amazing women she works with and their enthusiasm and passion for their work.
Mina Lee, Program and Administration Intern
Mina studied at EWHA Women’s University in South Korea and majored in Economics & International Studies. She is currently a participant of the Korea WEST program, an elite professional development program providing top South Korean university students and young professionals the opportunity to work, complete an intensive English study program, and explore the life and culture of the United States through immersion and independent travel. As part of this program, Mina was granted the opportunity to intern with a US based organization that matched her interests and passion. With a background in International Studies and a lifelong goal of enhancing sustainable development in her own country of South Korea as well as working towards the advancement and unification of the two Koreas, Mina sought out an internship which would immerse her in the field of international development and human rights. At WEDO, Mina will support program staff with research and administrative support across all areas of WEDO’s work. Through this internship she hopes to gain a wider understanding of current sustainable development and women’s rights issues.
