Our Associates

Ilana is a labour and human rights lawyer, and a passionate advocate for the rights of women and girls. She is the host of the Podcast: Wisdom at Work: Older Women, Elderwomen and Grandmothers on the Move (formerly: Grandmothers on the Move). Ilana spent ten years at the United Nations, eight of them with the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), where she worked as the Agency’s inaugural CEDAW Advisor, contributed to the founding of the Trust Fund on Ending Violence against Women, and co-founded UNGLOBE (a group advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ U.N. employees), becoming its first President. In 2003, Ilana co-founded the Stephen Lewis Foundation, to work with mutuality and solidarity with African community-based organizations working to turn the tide of AIDS at the epicenter of the response to the pandemic. Under Ilana’s leadership as its E.D from 2003-2019, the Foundation moved from her kitchen table to become a $10 million a year fund, supporting over 1800 initiatives with over 300 organizations in the 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa hardest hit by HIV and AIDS. Among her innovations was the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, which launched a vibrant worldwide network of activist older women, working to support African grandmothers, the children in their care, and their communities. Ilana has been deeply honoured and grateful to learn from indomitable grandmothers and older women activists the world over.