CWGL Announces New Program Director

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jewel Daney, 1-732-932-8782
cwgl@rci.rutgers.edu

New Brunswick, NJ, June 21, 2010 – The Center for Women’s Global Leadership is pleased to announce the hiring of Natalia Cardona, as the Center’s new program director.  She will join the staff on July 1st.

Natalia has worked in the area of advocacy on issues of militarism and economic justice for more than ten years.  She began her career at UNIFEM’s Andean Regional Office in Ecuador.  Following UNIFEM, she spent nine years at American Friends Service Committee lobbying to change U.S. military and economic policy in Latin America and the Caribbean region.  Currently, she is advocacy coordinator for Social Watch in New York focusing on financing for development, gender equality, and climate justice lobbying at the United Nations.

“We welcome Natalia’s expertise on issues of poverty, development, gender equality and economic justice,” said Radhika Balakrishnan, CWGL’s executive director.  “Her skills in global advocacy will strengthen CWGL’s work in economic and social rights and bring new perspectives to our ongoing commitments in UN monitoring, violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, women human rights defenders and leadership development.”

Natalia has co-edited and co-written a variety of publications, including Beijing and Beyond: Putting Gender Economics at the Forefront, 15 Years After the World Conference on Women (2010); Climate Justice for a Changing Planet: Placing the Right to Development at the Heart of the Response to Climate Change (2010); I Will Never Be Silenced: Testimonies of Hope from Colombian Women (2009); and The Violent Intersections of Commerce and Conflict: Examining the U.S. Colombia Free Trade Agreement (2008).

Natalia holds a M.Sc. in International Affairs from The New School and a B.A. in Spanish Literature and International Development from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.  She is originally from Guatemala.

“I am excited to join CWGL because it is at the cutting edge of the debate on economic injustice and has an important role to play in highlighting the need for a fair and just economic system,” said Natalia.  “I was drawn to its acknowledgment of the current economic crisis as a challenge, but also an opportunity to put forward key reforms in global economic governance.  I look forward to being part of the work towards a more just world that integrates a comprehensive human rights framework with social and gender justice at the forefront.”

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