On June 11, 2007, The New York Women’s Foundation®, in partnership with The Global Fund for Women, held a public forum entitled "Weaving the Threads: Women’s Activism and Leadership in New York City and Africa." The panel of experts brought to light the strides that are being made in women’s activism at home and around the world.

Ana Oliveira, the President and CEO of the Foundation, and Sarah Costa, Director of Special Projects and New York Representative of the Global Fund for Women, addressed the motivation for continued partnership to break down the traditional compartmentalizing that typically occurs between local and global dimensions. “We are weaving the threads together,” stated Oliveira, “and we are breaking down all the artificial boundaries and understanding that local and global are one and the same.” “We must look beyond our so-called differences,” added Costa, “and recognize our universal humanity.”

The panelists included women who have long been involved on the front lines of local and global activism: Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of Equality Now; Zeinab Eyega, Executive Director of Sauti Yetu Center for African Women; Adama Diop, Senior Coordinator, Harlem United Community AIDS Center; and Abigail Disney, philanthropist and founder of the Daphne Foundation. Disney is currently producing a film about the role of women in the peace process in Liberia.

Moderating the panel was Charlotte Bunch, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University. Ms. Bunch has been a pioneer in the Women’s Movement for several decades and her experiences in both academia and activism gave her a perspective perfectly suited to the discussion.

The panel explored the relationship between international and grassroots work, and explained how each is necessary to the success of the other. Taina Bien-Aimé gave an example of the importance of working together to bring about meaningful change. Bien-Aimé told of how the international community pressured the Kuwaiti government into granting women the right to vote. Bien-Aimé, who has been working for the past 15 years to include women’s rights in the Human Rights Movement, said there has been tremendous progress in the last 10 years and that voices of women “now have impact at the highest levels of policy.”

Panelists agreed that policy change is a necessary ingredient for social justice, but that it must trickle down to the citizens of a particular country, city or village. Without the pressure of grassroots activism, policy changes are slow to happen, or do not happen at all. There is an interrelation between the different levels of women’s activism, the panelists agreed, that cannot continue to be underestimated. Costa pointed out earlier in her remarks that, “Liberia recently elected its first female president, but the grassroots women were there before she was.” Abigail Disney illustrated the synergy between local grassroots work and policy at all levels. Disney spoke of the women in Liberia, who lobbied tirelessly for a cease-fire between the government and the rebels forces. “They even locked arms and surrounded the building where negotiations had broken down and refused to move until terms of ceasefire were agreed upon. These women brought to the table a new form of leadership.”

There were differing views among the panelist on the critical topic of cultural practices and human rights. Zeinab Eyega believes these cultural misconceptions must be broken down in the name of progress. “If ‘culture’ includes violence,” she said, “then cultural intervention is needed.” However, Adama Diop stated that often the best way to deal with problems within the community is to do so strictly within the framework of that community. Diop noted that she is in favor of collaborating with religious leaders, even if those leaders do not condone her empowerment work. “If I know the Imam, I can help the women through him.” Even with her more conciliatory views toward traditional African culture, Diop notes that she is still viewed an outsider in the community. “I am seen as a feminist. This goes against my religion and my culture but it has to be done.”

Zeinab Eyega spoke about the intersection between race and gender, along with the added stresses of immigration to the United States. Specifically addressing the African feminist movement, she said there is much social policing in the African community around the term feminism. Some women are afraid of being called feminists because they will be thought of as “anti-African” and “anti-family”. The matter is further complicated when she tries to involve African men. While they tell her she is doing “great work”, they often shy away from participating in the program. There is a lot of cultural pressure on them not to get involved. Part of their reluctance is fear of their community succumbing to “the loose morals of the MTV generation”, especially the shame of their daughters getting pregnant.

Abigail Disney commented that a brand of social policing is still very prevalent in American culture as well. She said “feminist” is still a dirty word. Therefore, she feels that while policy changes are necessary, there must also be shifts at the social level. “People say that feminists are anti-family but my experience working with feminists inside and out of the US is precisely the opposite.”

In closing, NYWF® CEO, Ana Oliveira pointed out the need for philanthropy to effect social change. She invited the panelists and guests to join in the “I Declare my Interdependence” challenge by Abigail Disney. Oliveira stressed the need to continue to work together across national, cultural and gender boundaries and the importance of every woman making a contribution to change the world through the collective power or our leveraged resources.