Officers
Rosa Lizarde
Co-Chair
Noble Delta Women for Peace and Development International
Rosa Lizarde is a Mexican-American feminist advocate for women’s economic, environmental, gender and racial justice. She currently serves as the Global Director of the Feminist Task Force (FTF), a global 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 over two decades at the UN. She is an international board member of Noble Delta Women for Peace and Development International, as well as the co-founder and current 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 joined the board of NGO CSW NY in 2019. Nationally, Rosa is involved in migrant justice actions at the US/Mexico border and 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 & the Caribbean.
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.
Marline McLean
Secretary
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.
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
Emily Van Vleck
Member-at-Large
Business and Professional Women International
Emily VanVleck is a UN Representative for the International Federation of Business and Professional Women and the Vice President of Advocacy for BPW-USA. She champions causes including migrant rights, menstrual equity, and youth inclusion, and has represented BPW on the NGO Committee on Migration and the UN Civil Society Youth Representative Steering Committee. Emily holds a BA in International Affairs, with minors in Public Policy and Human Rights, from The City College of New York.
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.
Amy Banker
Member-at-Large
Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association International
Amy Banker has been the Representative to the United Nations (UN) of Pan Pacific and SouthEast Asia Women’s Association International (PPSEAWA) since 2016. Presently, she serves as the Treasurer of the Working Group on Girls (WGG), having been past treasurer from 2019 – 2023. Amy is also on the Core Leadership Group of NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons (CSTIP). Amy is a dedicated volunteer in addressing one of today’s greatest challenges, sustaining the environment. In 2017 she received the Certificate of Recognition from the Mayor of New York City for her work in sustainability, working with NYC’s “Grow NYC,” Recycle, Greenmarket and Stop “N” Swap, which focus on teaching the public about sustainable environment. In addition, Amy has worked with other UN NGO’s including Friends of the United Nations (FOUN) as a special advisor to assist FOUN to bring cultural and educational groups from China to the UN to present their programs. She has also participated in the Peacemaker Corps and their Peace in the Street Global Film Festival as a special administrative assistant for the organization’s annual Awards Gala at the UN.
Dr. Quisia Gonzalez
Member-at-Large
International Union for Land Value Taxation
Dr. Quisia Gonzalez is an activist for economic justice and human rights, serving as the UN NGO representative for the International Union for Land Value Taxation, an international organization founded in 1926 for land value tax reforms that promotes public finance policy through land value taxation and free trade principles. After training as a medical doctor at the Universidade de Pernambuco in Brazil, Dr. Gonzalez returned to her native Honduras, where she practiced medicine for three years until she moved to the United States in 1989. She has worked extensively in the field of education, including adult basic education and literacy, as well as parenting and HIV counseling. In addition, she has been active in the Proyecto de los Trabajadores Latinoamericanos/Project for Latin American Workers, advocating for fair wages and immigration reform. Dr. Gonzalez taught at the Henry George School in New York for twelve years and served on the school’s board for five years.
Staff
Mads Menoher
Program Coordinator
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.
B. Yolande Atwater
Bookkeeper and Financial Coordinator
Yolande has over 25 years of experience working with non-profit organizations and has been an essential team member of NGO CSW NY since 2011. With expertise in nonprofit accounting, grant compliance, reporting and audit readiness, she helps maximize resources for the programs and ensures transparency and accountability. She has played a key role in the financial management of UN-funded projects, as well as programs funded by private foundations and foreign governments. Yolande started her journey with women’s rights organizations as an intern at the NGO Forum on Women in Beijing in 1995. Later, she joined the IWTC (International Women’s Tribune Center) team in New York until 2010. Passionate about gender equality and peace, she believes that strong financial stewardship is a cornerstone of effective advocacy. Yolande is an active supporter of initiatives that empower women, children and marginalized communities. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accountancy from Baruch College and is also fluent in French.
Past Chair
Ivy Koek
Past Co-Chair, Ex Officio
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.