Statement in Solidarity with Nobel Women’s Initiative Outgoing Staff
We, the undersigned, are former employees, consultants, and interns of the Nobel Women’s Initiative serving the organization between 2007–2020.
We are troubled that the lack of organizational reforms needed within the Nobel Women’s Initiative has led to seven staff and consultants collectively resigning, including all the women of colour. We stand in solidarity with them.
Each one of us felt privileged to work with the Nobel Women’s Initiative, supporting its mission of peace, justice, and equality. However, these same values were not always directed inwards towards staff, interns, consultants, and volunteers.
Over the years, many of us expressed concerns about our well-being or the well-being of our colleagues, in different ways and through different forums. Many of us felt we lacked a safe space or mechanism to fully share the issues we faced or witnessed. Some that did, faced repercussions. While at the time some action was taken to address the concerns we shared, what was required was reform within Nobel Women’s Initiative to address systemic issues within the organization’s culture and structure.
We regret that we did not speak out more and demand transformative change, as this brave group of individuals did before and after their resignations at the Nobel Women’s Initiative. We stand with them and echo their call for deep organizational transformation at the Nobel Women’s Initiative.
We hope that this will be a moment of growth for the organization so that it can fully support women’s rights activists, both globally, as well as here at home.
This is our truth. We will not be taking media inquiries at this time.
—
Aissa Boodhoo
Ashley Armstrong
Aysha Ali
Claire Gummo
Diana Sarosi
Ellie Goldney
Elly Adeland
Emma Morris
Fernanda de Castro Boria
Dr. Kirsten Van Houten
Maggi Quadrini
Mariam Sabbah
Megan Daigle
Natalie Claireaux
Neha Sree Tadepalli
Paula Popescu
Rosella Chibambo
Sarah Hedges-Chou
Saralyn McIver, PhD
Sara Walde
Tori Roberts
Vanessa Baker-Murray
Vi Bui
Yasmine Abu-Ayyash
Zuzia Danielski
Added on August 6, 2020:
Alex Lomax
Courtney Young
Helen Zhou
Rachel Urban Shipley
Sheena McDonald
Stephanie Li
Yee Mon Htun
Added on August 7, 2020:
Augie Van Biljouw
Lesley Hoyles
—
Email: collectivecareteam@gmail.com
