Board of Directors
Virisila Buadromo
Virisila Buadromo is a Fijian feminist and was recently appointed one of two co-leads of the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights Asia and Pacific. Her new role is focused on strategic partnerships and resource mobilization. Prior to joining UAF AP, Virisila freelanced as a feminist facilitator, trainer and gender advisor in the Pacific and Asia focusing on organizational strengthening and supporting feminist coalitions and movements in the two regions. Virisila’s feminist beginnings were nurtured at the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, a cutting-edge feminist organization that she led for more than 13 years.
Bettina Baldeshi
Bettina has over 20 years’ experience in social change and international development, with a particular focus on advancing women’s rights and gender equality. Bettina has worked in large and smaller institutions from UNHCR and Oxfam Great Britain to spending over a decade in leadership roles at the International Women’s Development Agency, one of the largest feminist organisations in Asia and the Pacific, including as its Chief Executive Officer. She brings experience in feminist leadership, strategy, communications and resource mobilisation, culture transformation, governance, and mentorship.
Brenda Campos
Brenda Beatriz Campos is a feminist and political activist with more than a decade of experience coordinating and managing projects/programs that promote the transformation of discriminatory social norms and power structures, sustainable
livelihoods, social and gender justice, political participation and citizen engagement.
Over the last eight years, alongside overseeing national initiatives such as the Decolonial Feminist School for young girls, a series of reflections on Extractivism and Feminist Alternatives, the introduction of feminist perspectives in trade unions, the series of publications “Feminist Dialogues” and “Feminist Reflections”, which address contemporary African issues from a feminist perspective, she is also responsible for coordinating the Feminist Ideas Lab’s, a space for academics, social activists and progressive women in trade unions and the political arena in different regions of the African continent to rethink and reflect on contemporary challenges and collectively forge alternatives.
Currently, she is the Coordinator of the Gender, Feminism and Transformation Competence Center for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. She has a background in environmental management and community development and considerable experiences working with communities, young women and adolescents, providing training and Mentorship based on participatory methodologies, inspired by feminist popular education methods. She is an independent consultant and a member of various organizations and social movements in Mozambique.
Fiona Mackay
Professor Fiona Mackay is a Scottish feminist political scientist whose work examines the ways in which gender inequality is reinforced through political, legal and social institutions. She is interested in the extent to which institutions may be designed or reformed to promote gender justice, inclusion and women’s human rights.
She founded and co-directs the Feminism and Institutionalism International Network (FIIN), an international collaboration which is developing a distinctive approach to the study of gender and politics. She is Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh and directs the University’s new genderED interdisciplinary initiative. She was recently Dean and Head of the School of Social and Political Science (one of the largest in the UK) (2014-2017). Previously, she served as Director of its Graduate School (2009-12). Fiona was a member of the UK ESRC Virtual Research College (2003-2008), Case Studentship Panel (2005-07), and inaugural board of the pan-Scottish ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (2011-12).
She serves on the editorial boards of Policy and Politics, Politics, Groups and Identities, and the European Journal of Politics and Gender, and co-edits the FIIN series Feminist Institutionalist Perspectives (Rowman Littlefield International). She curates the Twitter feeds of @genderpol @femfiin.
Kathy Durand
With over 15 years of managing global virtual teams and organisations, Kathy is a strong believer in inclusive and open management and emphasises communication as a key component of organisational and partnership success. She has worked across a number of sectors, including girls’ education, water and sanitation, local governance, and youth entrepreneurship. Over the past 25 years, Kathy has worked in partnership with NGOs, national and local governments in a number of African countries, and the Government of Canada and its multilateral partners. She is currently the Director of Strategy and Operations at the Prevention Collaborative which is a global, virtual organization that aims to prevent violence against women and their children by connecting research and practice.
Kathy is currently based in Ottawa, Canada. When she’s not working, Kathy is an avid reader and is happy to share or receive recommendations on what to read next.
