Soon-Young Yoon holds a PhD in anthropology. She has worked with UNICEF in Southeast Asia and the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia in Delhi. She is a board member of the Global Advisory Council at the Harvard AIDS Initiative and of the International Foundation for Ewha Woman’s University. She currently works as a consultant for the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative. She is ex-chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York
Abby Hasselbrink is a Bay Area native and student at Denison University in Granville, OH with majors in Psychology and French. She completed a summer research internship in 2023 with Soon-Young Yoon and Jessica Pierson for the Cities for CEDAW History and Futures Project. During that time, she created an interactive map and timeline of the Cities for CEDAW movement in the United States. She attended the 2023 UN High-Level Political Forum in New York City as a representative of the IAW.
Jessica Pierson holds an M.A. in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Her graduate thesis research explored abortion as a human right in the United States and the role of CEDAW cities in challenging the Hyde Amendment. As a graduate student, Jessica was as a Research Assistant at the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Columbia Law School where she worked on initiating local advocacy campaigns to combat religious healthcare refusals. She currently works as the Program Administrator of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.
Jill Follows holds a JD (law) and MSN (Master of Science in Nursing). She has worked as a civil trial attorney and represented clients with medical malpractice claims and vaccine injury claims. She served as an UN Observer for the League of Women Voters of the United States and as the co-chair of Action and Advocacy for the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area, Virginia. She convened and spearheaded the Fairfax Working Group for CEDAW, an initiative that led to the County’s adoption of a Resolution in Support of CEDAW. Jill is a founding director of the Human Rights Special Interest Group.
Dr. Uzma Gul is a human rights defender, global advocate for SDGs, poetess, story teller, an empath, speaker, young world leader and a healthcare professional – previously attached with World Economic Forum, WHO, ILO, The Commonwealth Youth Council and currently working with United Nations as a Youth Representative – is also a board member at International Alliance for Women.
HR (Human Rights)
Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand is a Swiss lawyer. She studied in Geneva and Basel (Switzerland) and received her PhD in Law (Dr. iur.) from the University of Basel. She is a proven expert on voting right and has a long experience as a lecturer. She is especially interested in women’s political participation. In 2016 she was the president of the 50 Years of Women’s Suffrage in the Canton of Basel City anniversary committee (Switzerland). She is a former member of the Jury of the «Emilie Louise Frey Award» for young female scientists. In 2020 she was appointed as financial internal auditor by the United Nations NGO Committee on the Status of Women in Geneva. She is committed to improving the position of women and girls in society and works to enhance the visibility of women’s societal involvement.
Derya Akinci Briand is a lecturer teaching law and business management in a private university in Zurich, Switzerland. She is from Turkey and has been living in Switzerland since 2008. After her law studies in Northern Cyprus, she followed her career with an LL.M degree in International Business Law and European Law and a Master Degree at International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Lausanne, in Switzerland. She is still doing her PhD. She is a multicultural person and speaks several languages such as Turkish, English, French. Besides her moderate capacity in Italian and German, she is also learning Russian and Chinese. She has working experience previously in the United Nations as UNEP and ILO, where she learned well the UN system. She believes women’s rights are very important, she thinks women face difficulties worldwide.
Dr. Laoura Alipranti-Maratou has a PhD in Sociology (University of Paris X -Nanterre). She is an Emeritus Research Director of the “National Centre for Social Research”/EKKE and is actually collaborating as an expert at EKKE’s “Gender Issues Research Laboratory”. She is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Psychology at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens teaching the lesson “Gender relations in contemporary society”. She has also been a Member of “EIGE-European Institute for Gender Equality” Expert Forum designated by the European Parliament (2012-2015). Laoura is Vice-President of the Board of “Greek League of Women’s Rights”.
After she moved from Lithuania to Switzerland, she completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in law at the University of Basel. There she also obtained the Diploma of Advanced Studies in European Integration. In Lithuania she completed a Bachelor’s degree in law. Agne is also a certified court interpreter. In her spare time, she is active in volunteer work.
Agne is convinced that women’s rights need more attention and wants to contribute to their implementation.
Ursula Nakamura-Stoecklin is a registered nurse and has received further education in health and administration. She has long experience in specialized health care. She was a general director of a residential home for the elderly.
She is advocating for human rights and was Co-President of the Swiss Association for Women’s Rights ADF-SVF Suisse. She is member of the IAW Commission on Health.
Erica van Engel is the founder of Belief in Business, a boutique agency that helps female executives and entrepreneurs to build a conscious (personal) brand while growing their social impact, income, and influence. Erica is a champion for female social entrepreneurs and she loves to discuss how they are making a powerful contribution to sustainable development. She’s an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in general and female leadership in particular. She encourages women to strive for leading positions because society will only thrive to the fullest when women have a seat at the table where decisions and policies are made. To empower other women as conscious leaders, she draws on her extensive entrepreneurial and leadership background. Erica was a board member of the Chamber of Commerce in her region for 10 years. She holds several supervisory and advisory board positions.
French Vice President of Association des femmes de l’Europe Méridionale, member of the French Coordination of the European Women’s Lobby and ‘Dialogue between Cultures’ among other Committees.
Danielle Levy is a teacher by education and has served as the translator for IAW of documents from English into French for the past two triennia.
Renée Gérard worked for the United Nations on long-term assignments in different countries of Africa and Asia and on short consultancies for UNFPA and the World Bank in Rwanda Congo. Having been granted a Fulbright scholarship she studied at Columbia University, New York. Life shaped her as a citizen of the world. As a member of multidisciplinary teams (dominantly male), she became a specialist in education and community development. Her advocacy for gender-sensitive measures called attention to the need for specific programmes for women in development. Upon retirement she got involved as an activist in different women’s associations: in the French association as the coordinator for international relations, the French Coordination for the European Women’s Lobby, in the European Women’s Lobby as an administrator in close cooperation with IAW branch in France, until she finally joined IAW as a member. In recognition of her achievements for women’s rights the French Government decorated her with Légion d’honneur and the University Women of Europe gave her the Jans Gremmée Award. She is also a defender of environment, adept at sustainable development and belongs to Platform launched by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Women’s associations to advise on gender and climate change.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
Valeria Mangani is a recipient of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
Valeria is accredited as Main Represantative of IAW to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), to the CSM-Civil Society Mechanism Forum, and the CFS-Committee on Food Security, and participates in meetings of international NGO groups.
Valeria is among the FAO WORLD FOOD HEROES 2023 for her commitment in fighting plastic pollution due to fast fashion’s microplastics dumping in oceans, hence attacking marine life and human food chain and health.
Professionally, Valeria has dedicated herself to sustainable fashion, founding and managing various companies with great success.
Valeria is President of Sustainable Fashion Innovation Society, the first Italian NGO dedicated to the eco-sustainable transition of the fashion and design sector, with more than 2,000 international companies registered. The Sustainable Fashion Innovation Society is a center for the production of knowledge on issues related to sustainability, proposing itself as a privileged interlocutor of the Public Administration, national and European institutions and the various actors operating on the reference market.
She was appointed “Expert” by the Italian Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy and sits in the “Table for Fashion” of the Ministry of Economic Development, representing the Italian sustainable fashion sector.
Valeria was Director of External Relations for the Mayor of Rome for several years.
Successful author in the field of ecology and nutrition, she has published ten bestsellers over the course of twenty years, launching the “Nature & Health” series.
Valeria was included in the list of the 50 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN 2023 by Fortune Italy magazine.
Delfina Panfili is a dynamic and results-oriented professional currently pursuing a BSc in Digital Culture at King’s College London. With a keen interest in the intersection of technology and society, Delfina has delved into modules covering digital economy, social media management, and marketing strategy.
Her educational journey includes a Certificate Course at the London School of Economics, focusing on corporate and financial sustainability, as well as exploring the intricate relationship between economic growth and sustainability.
Building on her passion for sustainability, Delfina has taken on the role of a Digital Marketing Specialist Intern at the Sustainable Fashion Innovation Society. Here, she leads an international team of interns. As part of this role, she has played a pivotal role in developing marketing and communication projects aimed at empowering women.
Delfina is fluent in English, Italian and Spanish. With a blend of academic excellence, hands-on experience, and a passion for making a positive impact, Delfina Panfili is poised to contribute significantly to the evolving landscape of digital culture and sustainable practices.
Charmaine Hidayatullah was a banker by profession and is a zealous social worker, she has done master’s in law and have been a practicing lawyer for even number of years. Additionally, she has served two terms as a member of National Commission on the Status of Women. She also has an honor of being the Honorary Consul of Monaco since 2004. At present Ms. Charmaine is working as President of APWA (All Pakistan Women’s Association), her association with APWA has been over 30 years, and she has been a mission driven leader for the socio-economic development of women, she has also worked as an advocate for the destitute women by handling indigent cases on humanitarian basis.