Who We Are

WEDO owes its successful global activism to its dynamic Board of Directors and Staff, a diverse group of experts and activists.

Board of Directors

Monique Essed Fernandes
Monique Essed Fernandes (Suriname), Chair, has been active in social development and politics for the past twenty years. She is the founder of the Women’s Parliament Forum, an organization to foster women’s political participation, as well as Projekta, an NGO focusing on women and development. Ms. Essed Fernandes is also the founder of a political party in Suriname and was the first woman to run for President of the country. She recently served as a policy advisor on planning and development cooperation and governance issues in Suriname, the region and worldwide. While continuing her international work, she is presently focusing on educational, environmental and governance priorities in her own country. Ms. Essed-Fernandes has been on the WEDO Board for several years, serving in the capacity of both Vice-Chair and Chair, prior to stepping back in late 2009 to act temporarily as Interim Executive Director during a transition period for the organization.

Lorena Aguilar
Lorena Aguilar (Costa Rica) was born in San Josè, Costa Rica, and is the Senior Gender Advisor of IUCN, (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,) where she is the first Latin American woman ever to be appointed such an esteemed global position. She earned a Master’s degree in Anthropology with a major in Cultural Ecology, and her efforts towards sustainable and equitable human development include more than two decades of practical experience in projects and initiatives involving public policy development and design and the incorporation of social and gender issues into the use and conservation of natural resources. Ms. Aguilar has provided technical assistance to international organizations, governments and universities, in areas such as water, environmental health, gender and community participation. She has written 30 books and other publications on gender and environment, environmental health and public policies involving gender equality. Many of her books have been translated into English and French and are widely used in many projects around the world. Through her efforts and firm determination regarding the development of technical skills, more than 10,000 people have been trained using the methodologies developed by her team over the last 10 years. Thanks to her efforts, major environmental institutions have developed gender plans of action. Examples of this are UNEP and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Susan M. Ifill
Susan M. Ifill (United States) is a career-long financial services executive, experienced in and comfortable with all aspects of running a large, multifaceted organization. From early in her career, she has been recognized as a leader and chosen to lead complex organization-wide programs, turnarounds, and entrepreneurial initiatives. Past employers include Bank of America, FleetBoston Financial, and, most recently, Carver Federal Savings Bank. A committed advocate for girls and young women, Susan has served as a mentor, volunteer, board member, and fund-raiser for over 15 community organizations in the Boston and New York metropolitan areas. Susan is the recipient of many professional and civic awards and has a Masters in Management from Cambridge College in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a specialization in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Susan is also a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Finance Committee. From 2009-2010, Susan acted as the Interim Finance Director at WEDO. Susan resides in West Orange, New Jersey. She has two adult daughters, Nicole and Monique.

Katherine McDonald
Katherine McDonald (Canada), LL.B., LL.M., is the first Executive Director of Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD), which was formed in 1997. She has a long history as a human rights activist, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has substantial knowledge of international law as it relates to sexual and reproductive rights, and a deep understanding of the United Nations system and international human rights mechanisms. She actively participated at the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, its reviews, as well as the reviews of the International Conference on Population and Development, High Level Meetings on HIV/AIDS, and at the Human Rights Council and its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights. Before joining ACPD, Katherine McDonald practiced law for ten years, and was the Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Public Legal Education Society, and President of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She is a Past President of Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, and a former member of the regional and international governing bodies of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Feng Min Kan
Dr. Feng Min Kan (China) has been the Senior Coordinator for the Advocacy and Outreach Coordination Unit within the ISDR secretariat in Geneva since September 2005. In this position, Feng Min has promoted a gender-sensitive approach to climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) to ensure sustainable development. Prior to the current post in Geneva, she was the Senior Regional Officer for Africa of the ISDR secretariat since August 2002. She set up the ISDR Africa office in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2002. Feng Min has worked for many international organizations in different capacities, but with progressive responsibilities for programme management within the UN system, including OCHA, UNOPS, UNDP, UNCHR and IOM. She has accumulated rich working experience in programme planning, management, monitoring, evaluation; fund-raising, and liaison with donors, UN agencies, Governments and NGOs. Before Feng Min joined the ISDR secretariat she represented OCHA as the first Regional Disaster Response Advisor in Asia based in Kobe, Japan, where she set up the OCHA’s regional office and advanced OCHA’s partnership and networks with national governments, regional organizations and Asian NGOs in Asia. Before joining the UN, Feng Min worked in the Government of China, and she holds a PhD in social science and education from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, with a master degree in women and development studies, and additional studies on international law, social justice and human rights.

Shanthi Anusha Sachithanandam
An activist since the 1980s, Shanthi Sachithanandam (Sri Lanka), has straddled the two worlds of donor agencies and grass roots communities for almost two decades. She has been working for international agencies such as Australian OXFAM and Christian Aid (UK), in addition to functioning as a freelance consultant to bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and the UN organizations. Her work experiences range from conducting evaluations of projects and institutions, training, as well as designing guidelines and frameworks for integrated area development programs. Shanthi was also a working member for five years of the international steering group of the civil society at the UN formed with the purpose of intervening in the process towards the Johannesburg Earth Summit II held in 2002. Currently, she is the founding chairperson of “Viluthu”, an organization committed to work for Good Governance in Sri Lanka. Although her professional experience mainly focused on gender and development issues, she has contributed to peace building in her personal capacity and through her work within Viluthu.

Nafis Sadik
Nafis Sadik (Pakistan) is the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. As former head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Dr. Sadik became one of the highest ranking women in the UN system and the first woman, in the history of the United Nations, to lead one of its major voluntarily funded programmes. Educated at Loreto College (Calcutta) she received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Dow Medical College (Karachi). She was Pakistan’s Director-General of the Central Family Planning Council responsible for developing, preparing and evaluating the country’s health and family planning programme as part of the nation’s development plan. Dr. Sadik is well-known for her dynamism and guiding force in the field of international maternal and child health, reproductive and sexual health, including family planning.

Marcela Tovar-Restrepo
Marcela Tovar-Restrepo (Colombia and Spain) is Director of the Latin American and Latino Studies Program and teaches in the Anthropology Department at Queens College (CUNY). She obtained her PhD in Anthropology at the New School for Social Research (N.Y.) and her Master on Urban Development Planning at University College of London. Marcela has worked close to WEDO, previously as Coordinator of the Sustainable Development Program and more recently in the GEAR Campaign. She has served as an international consultant mainstreaming cultural and gender rights into policy-making processes at different UN instances like the Commission of Sustainable Development (CSD) – DESA, UNDEF, IPU and the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues. She has also served as technical advisor and researcher for International cooperation agencies (GTZ, AECID), governments, social movements and NGOs in areas such as gender and ethnic diversity, environment and human rights and conflict. She conducts research on ethnicity, gender and development in Latin America and has taught in Colombia, Chile and U.S.A. Marcela serves as a member of Advisory Council for the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding – Queens College- City University of New York.

Sayida Vanenburg
Sayida Vanenburg (Netherlands) received her master’s degree in International Management from the Radboud University. During her studies she was the Dutch Youth Delegate to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. She started her career in the field of corporate social responsibility/ sustainability namely at Dutch multinationals. She contributed to the development and implementation of sustainability strategies and programs on all three P’s (planet, people and profit). She consciously expanded her horizon to Operational Excellence as these fields of expertise can strengthen each other. Sayida is active on the grassroots and strategic level. She is passionate about continuous learning and developing and therefore actively involved in capacity building from youngsters in the Netherlands to (young) men and women in South Africa. She is a member of the Worldconnectors, an international think tank whose aim is working towards a just, sustainable, inclusive and peaceful world.

Soon-Young Yoon
Soon-Young Yoon (United States) received her A.B. in French literature and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan. She was a Social Development officer for UNICEF in the Southeast Asia office as well as the Social Scientist at WHO/SEARO in New Delhi. A former columnist for the EarthTimes newspaper, she is a UN representative for the International Alliance of Women and Vice-chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY. She serves as a board member of the Global Advisory Council at the Harvard AIDS Initiative and International Foundation for Ewha Womans University. She works as a consultant for the World Health Organization Tobacco Free Initiative and is co-editor with Dr Jonathan Samet of the WHO monograph, “Women and the Tobacco Epidemic.”

Staff

Cate Owren, Executive Director
Cate has been with WEDO since 2007, when she joined the organization to develop the gender and climate change national mobilization project with governments and civil society partners. Serving as Sustainable Development Coordinator and then Program Director, she has had the opportunity to work across various aspects of the organization. Prior to coming to WEDO, Cate worked for various NGOs – both grassroots and international – on gender equality issues such as reproductive health and AIDS education, microfinance in Dominican-Haitian communities, and fair trade. She has work experience in West Africa and the Caribbean. A lifelong activist on women’s rights and environmental issues, 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 a founding member of a NYC-based theater company, with whom she wrote, performed and produced for 10 years.

Ugoagha Jessica Awa, Finance Manager
Originally from Nigeria, Ugoagha holds an Undergraduate degree in Accounting from Madonna University, Nigeria and an MBA in Global Business Administration (concentration: Finance) from Kean University, New Jersey. Prior to coming to WEDO she worked for TD bank in New Jersey where she was responsible for performing various financial transactions and customer service.

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 graduated from Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Climate and Society. In graduate school, she primarily focused on climate change and climate variability impacts on health locally, domestically and internationally. Prior to coming to WEDO, she worked with environmental organizations including the World Resources Institute, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, and the Environmental Law Institute. Rachel was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has lived in New York City for about eight years.

Sandra Freitas, Global Advocacy Associate
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

Elizabeth Kester, Social Media and Communications Fellow Born and raised in New York, NY, Elizabeth is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, where she received her BA in English. An avid traveler, she comes to WEDO after spending the last year living and working in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her prior work experience includes interning in Public Programs at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and writing for various cultural websites. A voracious reader and consumer of news, she is interested in the varied ways in which people connect and will be focusing on communications and social media at WEDO.

Laura Kroh, Program Fellow Originally from Florida, Laura holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and a Masters degree in International Relations from Suffolk University in Boston, where she focused on women’s human rights and empowerment through socio-economic development. Laura spent the last year interning at Oxfam America, where she worked on the Poverty Footprint Study which documented Coca Cola’s effect on local poverty in El Salvador and Zambia and set up a weather-based micro-insurance program for farmers in Ethiopia. Prior to graduate school, Laura worked as an intern at Three Rivers Legal Services, a non-profit law firm servicing under-privileged women. Laura’s other experiences include working as a human rights officer, CPR/First Aid instructor and studying music in Salzburg, Austria. Laura holds a Bachelor degree in History and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Florida. At WEDO, she is providing program and administrative support across the program areas. Laura is focusing her research on women’s participation and leadership.

Ronit Leib, Women’s Leadership/ Rio+20 Fellow
Ronit Leib is pursuing a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University. Last summer, Ronit interned at the Population Reference Bureau, where she conducted a demographic study of scientists and engineers in the United States and wrote an article on unemployment trends and the inclusion of women and minorities. Ronit is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, where she is assisting Professor Hal Salzman on creating a model to measure the sustainability of rural-subsistence communities in the Arctic. Ronit holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics from Rutgers University and she worked as an actuary for four years prior to pursuing a Master’s Degree. Her academic interests include community-based planning, women’s rights, labor, food policy, geographic information systems (GIS), political ecology, and animal geography. At WEDO, Ronit is researching women’s leadership and providing program support for Rio+20 and various projects.

Samantha Wilson, Social Media and Communications Fellow Samantha holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from Northeastern University, based in Boston, MA. In the spring of 2010, she spent her last semester studying abroad at The American University in Cairo learning Arabic. After graduation Samantha continued her studies while working as an executive assistant at Abercrombie & Kent Egypt, an internationally acclaimed luxury travel company. Upon her return from Cairo in February 2011 Samantha joined the International Coalition of Online Activists as Editor in Chief, an online portal connecting activists from around the globe. Samantha’s current interests include human rights law, climate change, refugee studies and women’s rights; with a particular focus on gender dynamics and their impact on society’s social, economic and political structures.