Meet the people behind the Women Peacemakers Program!
The overall management of the Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) falls under the responsibility of the WPP Dutch Board. Daily management takes place by the WPP staff based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The WPP staff is regularly assisted by interns and volunteers. In support of the coordination of WPP’s regional network in Asia, WPP cooperates with the WPP Asia Board, which was established during 2011.
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For an overview of the WPP Community Members, click here
Following its independence in 2012, WPP reviewed its organizational structure. In 2014, WPP established the International Advisory Council, comprising of WPP Community Members, whose expertise informs and guides the content and direction of the overall WPP strategy. With the establishment International Advisory Council, the WPP organizational structure is as follows:
“My motivation to devote my time and energy to WPP is that I am driven by human rights, which has formed the central theme in my career and private life”
Ms Trijntje Kootstra studied Management and Policy in International Organizations at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and has over 20 years experience in the field of human rights. She is the co-founder of the La Strada Network in which Central and Eastern European organizations work together against traffic in human beings. She is also known for her involvement in the development of the Dutch multi-agency approach to combat trafficking. She has implemented research into youth prostitution, corporate image, career development for sex workers and safe return for victims of trafficking. Within one of the major Dutch women’s shelters on domestic violence she has contributed to corporate professionalization and the development of an internal quality management system.
“Quakers from the very start in the seventeenth century have valued the contribution of both women and men to church life. As a member of the living tradition of the Peace Churches I want to contribute to enabling women to actively engage in peacebuilding and reconciliation. That is why I want to serve WPP.”
Ir. Kees Nieuwerth M.Phil. studied landscape architecture and landscape ecology in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Kees has worked as a land use planner in rural and urban settings in Kenya, Nigeria and Mali. In the Netherlands he worked for many years with the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature Conservation. He is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and represents Quakers in the peacemovement Church and Peace. Kees is also active in the International Felllowship of Reconciliation. He served as a Quaker delegate to the European Ecumenical Assemblies and recently the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Busan (South-Korea).
”I strongly support the activities of Women Peacemakers Program. Although different from my other activities in the field of capacity enhancement in developing countries, I am hopeful that a more general (international) acceptance of WPP’s mission will contribute to a world with less man-made disaster.”
For most of his professional life, Bob van Boven worked as an external auditor, from 1981 – 2001 as audit partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. After leaving PwC he continued working on a freelance basis, mostly for compliance audits ‘in the field’ for non-governmental organisations active in international cooperation. Besides his auditing work, he is engaged on a voluntary basis, mostly as a board member, with various non-profit organizations in different fields of activities, ranging from international humanitarian aid to domestic animal welfare.
“I am honored to be able to walk with and support WPP as it further develops its profile as a key actor facilitating a creative and inclusive platform which witnesses to the transformative power of non-violence.“
Carolyn Boyd Tomasović is currently managing director of the Ecumenical Women's Initiative, an indigenous women's fund in the Western Balkans supporting grassroots women peace and rights activists within an inter-religious framework. Her professional life, with its roots in the fine arts, has taken many diverse turns from artist to the UN military serving in Croatia to field consultant for the World Council of Churches for whom she managed 2 regional funds for 15 years related to the support of women victims of war and the other in developing ecumenical cooperation in S.E. Europe. She has lived and worked in the region throughout the wars where, among a variety of activities, she cooperated with the Conference of European Churches in facilitating the inter-religious roundtables for ex-Yugoslavia in the 1990s. She is committed to the active and visible participation of women and women believers in post-war peace processes.
"Powerful voices of feminism and active nonviolence have always said that we must work together to make the world a better place for all and the next generations. WPP is a core space in my life where I see and feel a heartfelt commitment to people-power and transformative gender justice. I am honored to work as part of this innovative, effective, and dedicated collective. It inspires activism and expands the spirit!"
Patricia Ackerman is Lecturer in Women and Gender and Director of the Women’s Studies Program at The City College of New York in NYC’s Harlem. She focuses on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, gender justice, and challenging religious fundamentalisms. Patricia is completing a doctorate in Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center, NYC. She was actively involved as a trainer in the 2009-2010 WPP Pilot Training of Trainers on "Overcoming Violence: Exploring Masculinities, Violence and Peace".
"With WPP, I find my feminist politics being heard and I strongly support WPP's advocacy efforts, training initiatives, publications and conferences. WPP brings very innovative perspective on masculinities in the field of peace-building by inviting women and men to work together."
Anand Pawar is the executive director of SAMYAK, an NGO based in Pune, India. He is a male gender trainer and activist involved with women’s and men’s groups working towards gender equality and violence-free society. He is also an active member of SANAM, a network in South Asia and of Partners 4 Prevention. Development of communication materials on gender, men and masculinities is his specific interest area. He is involved in conceptualizing and contextualizing gender trainings with different groups and play key role in engaging with other social justice movements to locate issues of men and masculinities within their movement. He also associated with various qualitative research initiatives exploring issues around gender, men and masculinities in India. Anand Pawar was one of the participants of the WPP pioneering pilot Training of Trainers on positive masculinities in positive masculinities in 2009-2010.
"I like to work with and support WPP because there is so much violence in the world and we need holistic peace. WPP is supporting gender sensitive peace where women and men partner and transform societies for peace."
Netsai Mushonga is a development, women rights, gender and peacebuilding consultant. In the past year (2014-2015) Netsai worked as a consultant/full time employee with the Centre for Conflict Resolution in South Africa. Between 2003 and 2013 Netsai was the National Coordinator of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, the network of 72 women’s rights NGOs and individuals across Zimbabwe. She grew the network from 24 to 72 member organisations and coordinated the successful campaigns for a Domestic Violence Act and for a gender sensitive constitution. Since 2000 Netsai has facilitated gender and peacebuilding, economic empowerment and gender-based violence training for female and male leaders in government and civil society in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, East and West Africa, the Middle East and North Africa region, Asia, Europe and the United States of America. She has a strong background in peace and conflict resolution work, having been a board member of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and later the Women Peacemakers Program Africa Region. Netsai was a participatory trainer in several WPP Training of Trainer Cycles in MENA region, Latin America and Asia.
“Working for WPP is for me all about supporting the creation of spaces where seeds of transformation are planted. Change is possible when people can come together, and from this find the support and courage to think outside of the box, challenge injustice collectively, and formulate creative and sustainable solutions for a more peaceful and gender-just world.”
Isabelle’s journey into peace work started during 1998-1999 during her studies, when she lived in Belfast and conducted research about local communities’ experience of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement, and the impact of peace projects run by local community leaders. Upon obtaining her Masters Master of Arts Degree from the University of Maastricht in 2000, she started working on a project-base in the field of women’s studies (University of Utrecht) and peacebuilding. This took her to Srebrenica during 2001, where she worked for the Working Group Netherlands-Srebrenica, during which she was involved in cross-community initiatives. In 2002, she became the Program Manager of WPP at the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). Under her leadership, WPP started pioneering a program on engaging men for gender-sensitive peacebuilding. Since WPP’s establishment as independent foundation during October 2012, Isabelle serves as the WPP Executive Director.
“Through WPP I am able to cooperate with others in order to make the world a place where everyone wants to live in.”
Having been active in different social movements previously, Merle Gosewinkel joined the team of the Women Peacemakers Program in 2009, where she now holds the position of Senior Program Officer. One of her main tasks includes the coordination of the WPP Training of Trainer Programs and Consultations. Merle Gosewinkel has studied European Anthropology and Gender Studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin and holds a Master Degree in Sociology with the focus on Gender, Sexuality and Society from the University of Amsterdam.
"I am happy to lend my support to WPP to assist in promoting a more inclusive process in peacebuilding where women have an active role"
Thalia Malmberg recently graduated with a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Governance from the University of Amsterdam, where she researched the impact of counterterrorism finance measures on civil society organizations in the MENA region. Born and raised in Aruba, she moved to Amsterdam in 2010. She left to pursue her bachelor’s degree at Amsterdam University College where she majored in Social Sciences. Human rights and the role of women have always been a passion of hers. In 2013, Thalia wrote her bachelor thesis about sexual violence as a weapon of war used against the indigenous population during the Guatemala civil war. During her studies she was active in the Amnesty International Studentgroup of Amsterdam, serving as the secretary, then chair.
“Translating WPP’s content into appealing and fitting graphic designs is always fun and challenging. Each time feels great to make a small contribution to the awesome work WPP does.”
Based in Zwolle, Annemarie Schuffelers-Bron is an enthusiastic art director, graphic designer, script writer, director and dedicated mother of twins. She studied Graphic Design & Marketing and Film and started volunteering for WPP in 2004, nowadays with the main focus on events. With WPP's independence in 2012, Annemarie reviewed WPP's house style. In addition, among others, Annemarie designed the graphics for WPP's activities in the field of faith-based peacebuilding, as well as the invitations for several WPP panel discussions in New York, such as "Taking UNSCR 1325 to the Next Level: Gender, Peace & Security".
Over the years, the Women Peacemakers Program has built a strong community of organizations and individuals working on Gender-Sensitive Active Nonviolence (GSANV). Want to learn more about the WPP Community Members? Get to know our members - a diverse group of creative thinkers and actors - located in different regions in the world. Click here to read about the WPP Community Members!
