Officers
Ivy Koek
Co-Chair
Soka Gakkai International
Ivy Koek is a Representative to the UN for Soka Gakkai International (SGI) based in New York and Focal Point for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Engaged in SGI’s work in gender justice, sustainability and climate change, peace, disarmament, and human rights mainly through its nonformal education approach since joining in 2013. She is currently the Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York (NGO CSW/NY) and has served on the Executive Committee since 2014 serving various roles including the Co-chair of the Young Professionals Subcommittee. Ivy’s prior work has taken her from her home in the U.S. to Venezuela and Japan in the fields of education, study abroad, editing and translation. Some of her past projects included issues such as women peacebuilders as well as child labor. Ivy is passionate about young women’s leadership, building the culture of peace, bridging divides, creating inclusive civil society spaces and interfaith collaboration.
Pamela Morgan
Co-Chair
Zonta International
Pamela Morgan, chair of Zonta International’s United Nations Committee leads teams in NY, Bangkok, Geneva, Paris, and Vienna. A tireless worker, she is an activist dedicated to uplifting the status of women. Pamela serves on the Executive Committees of NGOCSW/NY and the NGO Committee on Migration. A retired instructional technologist, Pamela is also the founder and Executive Director of Woman in Media-Newark, a not-for-profit organization that educates the public about global issues facing women using film, video and new media as its platform.
Rosa Lizarde
Vice Chair
Servicios Ecumenicos para la Reconciliacion y Reconstruccion
Rosa Lizarde is a Mexican-American feminist advocating for economic, environmental, gender and racial justice. She currently serves as the Global Director of the Feminist Task Force (FTF), a global women’s rights coalition calling for gender equality to end poverty, founded under the auspices of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in 2005. Her advocacy, policy and campaigning experience has been honed at the UN and through global processes focusing on women’s economic justice, poverty eradication and women’s rights. She is a founding member and the current Co-Convener of the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (FfD), a network which advocates for financing for gender equality, systemic reform and global governance. Rosa began her international development work in Central America where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and trainer in the late 1980’s. She later worked at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) with the feminist movement leader, Bella Abzug, and other members of the board, including Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai. She was the Global Networking Coordinator, fostering global relations with women’s organizations and monitoring of UN conferences and other global forums in the late ‘90s. Nationally, Rosa is involved in social justice actions at the US/Mexico border and supporting many LGBTQI causes. Rosa is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs where she specialized in international human rights and Latin America. She lives with her partner, their teenage twins, their dog and cats in a rural community north of New York City.
Gillian D’Souza Nazareth
Treasurer
Red Dot Foundation
Gillian D’Souza Nazareth is an Economics and Sociology graduate, with a Masters in Marketing. In 2015 she transitioned from a career in commercial airline management to Social protection and Development. She is the current Director of Global Partnerships and Principal Representative to the United Nations for the Red Dot Foundation(https://www.safecity.in/). As the current vice-chairperson of the NGO Committee on Social Development, she works on expanding advocacy in the virtual space, as a way to educate and energize people to rally the cause of social protections. In addition, Gillian is currently pursuing dual certification in Sustainable Development and Mindfulness. She is an amateur gardener and a trained classical Indian (Bharatnatyam) dancer, last but not the least, Gillian also volunteers at her local church and is PGC (Protecting Gods Children) compliant. Gillian's preferred pronouns are she/her/hers.
Members-at-Large
Rosemary Barberet
Member-at-Large
International Sociological Association
Rosemary Barberet is UN Representative for the International Sociological Association and Criminologists without Borders. She is professor of sociology and international criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, USA. She has been attending the CSW since 2006 and organizes NGO CSW/NY parallel events on women and girls as victim/survivors, criminal justice professionals, and on women in conflict with the law. She is the author of the award-winning book, Women, Crime and Criminal Justice: A Global Enquiry (Routledge, 2014) and was editor in chief of the journal, Feminist Criminology from 2014-2018. She has co-edited special issues of academic journals with presentations from the past three NGO CSW fora. She is committed to bringing relevant research to the fore in UN and civil society venues, and is also dedicated to educating her colleagues and students about the work of the United Nations and NGO CSW. Dr. Barberet is also a frequent attendee of the sessions of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Fluent in English, Spanish and French, and a national of the USA and Spain, she is keen to use her language and cultural skills to enhance the visibility of NGO CSW/NY.
Liliane Nkunzimana
Member-at-Large
Baha'i International Community
Liliane Nkunzimana is a Representative of the Baha'i International Community’s UN Office in New York. Her areas of work include gender equality and peace. Liliane has a background researching and writing issues related to diversity and inclusion. Most recently, she was serving as Secretary of the NGO Committee on Social Development. Prior to that, Liliane served as a community organizer engaging youth and their families in educational programs designed to build their capacity to contribute to the well-being of their societies. She has worked on government-funded development projects as well as public affairs in the private sector. Liliane holds a Masters in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Social Science specializing in African Studies and Political Science.
Foteini Papagioti
Member-at-Large
International Center for Research on Women
Foteini Papagioti is the Deputy Director of Policy & Advocacy with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and is based in New York. She provides evidence-based strategic guidance to governments, international organizations, and ICRW's policy and advocacy team on improving commitments and strengthening accountability for gender equality, including through feminist approaches to foreign policy and within multilateral institutions. She has developed the reminist Foreign Policy Index, has evaluated gender-sensitive Official Development Assistance trom countries with a feminist foreign and/or development policy, and has researched FFP as an instrument for women's equal representation in leadership and decision-making. Foteini serves as the North America Organizing Partner for the Women's Major Group; co-leads the research and learning working group of the Global Partner Network for feminist foreign policy; is a W7 Advisor and is co-facilitating the gender equality working group of the C20 for this year's Brazil G20 presidency.
Marline McLean
Member-at-Large
Soroptimist International
Marline McLean has been a member of Soroptimist International of NYC since 2004, after being introduced to it by her sister. The past six years, she served as President after the pandemic forced the then President to return home to Australia. Marline’s background is in IT, as a Clinical Systems Analyst, working for NYC Health and Hospitals and then for NSLIJ (Northshore -Long Island Jewish) Network before retiring. Since she retired, Marline has been able to give more time to SINYC. Serving as the recording secretary, a director, the treasurer and the President at various times. In January, she became a UN Rep designee and has since been “promoted” to a full UN Rep. One of her tasks is to be a liaison with NGO CSW/NY. When she is not learning all of the UN acronyms, she reads, swims and knits. As the mother of a son and an aunt to eight nieces, she would like to make this world a better a place for all of them.
Michelle Peedin
Member-at-Large
AHAM Education
Michelle Peedin graduated with a BA in Global Studies from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with a concentration in Social and Economic Justice. Michelle worked as the Program Coordinator on the Eco-Justice Connection and Health & Wholeness teams at the NC Council of Churches. In the wake of 2020, she felt called to the intersection of healing justice and ecological justice, which led to her Masters in Social Work at Columbia University. Michelle served as the chair of Lila Latinx LGBTQ+ Initiative, the Multiracial Caucus at Columbia’s School of Social Work, and the Environmental Justice Initiative at the CSSW Action Lab. In January 2024, Michelle began working with AHAM Education, dedicated to mindfulness, embodiment, and contemplative practices, as a Youth Representative to the United Nations. AHAM advocates for and offers mindfulness, mind-body resiliency, and healing-centered solutions to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Michelle finds joy in friendship, food, dancing, nature, spirituality, and being a sister, daughter, prima, niece, Tía, partner, and intentional global community member.
Staff
Rachel Guerreiro
Program Coordinator
Rachel is currently a Master’s student in Political Science with a concentration in United Nations and Global Policy Studies at Rutgers University. She holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science with a minor in International and Global Studies and has developed a passion for understanding ways to promote human rights. Throughout her academic career, she has maintained an interest in a wide range of issues, including the impacts of climate change on migration, maternal justice in the United States, and the intersections of digital technology and human rights. She also enjoys studying languages, including Spanish, French, and Portuguese. In her graduate studies, she is pursuing a concentration in human rights, gender equality, and international law. Rachel is excited to support the NGO CSW/NY team in its mission to promote the rights of women and girls while developing a deeper understanding of civil society's role in the United Nations system. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys meditation, cooking, and thrifting.
Tanitra Partivit
Web Producer
Tanitra has ten years of experience working with various non-profits, implementing online marketing campaigns, as well as managing social media and website content. Her professional experience includes working with various non-profits including Friends of UNFPA, Advancing Human Rights, and HIAS. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations with a concentration in Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Security of East Asia. She is a native Queens New Yorker with a lot of pride in her community. She still lives on the same block she grew up on. Additionally, Tanitra is a classically trained chef and a graduate of the International Culinary Institute.
Interns
Bec Ritchie (she/her)
Advocacy & Administrative Intern
bec is a poet, writer, graduate student, and research assistant from Glasgow, Scotland, passionate about social justice and working to help improve the lives of women and girls. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Glasgow and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School, where she has returned and is currently completing an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Gender & Sexuality Studies. bec is a Lab Lead at Palah Light Lab, a creative and critical space that fosters poetry, participation, and pedagogy through technology and equity through a queer and feminist lens, where she has been involved in the organisation of a variety of intersectional literary arts events. She is currently working on her first book, a memoir exploring the relationships between three related women of three distinctly different generations and cultural experiences. bec is very excited and grateful to be joining NGO CSW/NY as an Advocacy & Administrative intern and supporting them in their mission to promote the rights of women and girls globally.
Mads Menoher (they/them)
Advocacy & Administrative Intern
Mads is a recent graduate of Florida State University, where they studied Psychology and Women's Studies. They have a strong passion for working with LGBTQ+ youth and women's rights, and are currently pursuing a higher education in Political Science. Mads is an advocate for feminist inclusion and equal rights, working to spread awareness about the impacts of climate change on marginalized communities.
Angela Sabblah (she/her)
Social Media & Communications Intern
Angela is a social media strategist with experience in nonprofit communications, digital marketing, and event coordination. Passionate about creating engaging content, she has worked with both local and international organizations to raise awareness on key issues and build stronger online communities.
Past Chair
Houry Geudelekian
Past Chair
Unchained At Last
Houry Geudelekian is a global leader in intersectional feminist network organizing, spearheading collaborative movements to achieve transformational change in gender equality in the UN space. Currently, she is the UN Coordinator of Unchained At Last, an ECOSOC-accredited organization fighting to stop early marriage in the USA, and Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York.
Geudelekian has skillfully led campaigns, forums, and coalitions for global policy change. As Chair of NGO CSW/NY, she spearheaded the Beijing+25 campaign as well as convened a global Civil Society Advisory Group to support UN Women’s Generation Equality Forums (GEF). She leads high-level engagement with UN Agencies, civil society networks, Member States, and other actors to advance policy efforts on care-work, child marriage, gender-based violence, SRHR, and other important topics. Geudelekian organized numerous multilateral forums which generated over 25,000 participants and $40 billion committed towards gender equality. She brings dedication, passion and humor to a challenging field, and has been seen making the UN Secretary General laugh on gender-equality panels at UNHQ.
Across numerous non-profits and academic institutions, Geudelekian is an effective force for enacting change at the local, national, and global levels. Prior to being elected as Chair of NGO CSW/NY, Geudelekian served as the committee’s Advisor, Executive Committee Member, Communication Secretary and Program Manager. She also served as Co-Chair of the Working Group on Girls, Co-Chair of NYC4CEDAW, UN Coordinator of the Armenian Relief Society.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Armenian family, Geudelekian moved to New York City in the late ‘70s, started a business that grew to over 30 team members and 2,000 constituents. This business continues to flourish, although she has transitioned to full time work in the human-rights field. Houry is fluent in Armenian and English as well as spoken Arabic and French. She survives by meditating and practicing yoga.