FAFIA Welcomes Two New Staff Members
Click here for the PDF version.
September 10, 2020
The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) is pleased to welcome Hawa Mire as its new Executive Director and Tara Ward as its new Director of Women’s Human Rights.
Hawa Y. Mire is a proven strategic senior leader, equity consultant and community organizer with twelve years of non- profit experience focused on high-impact community development. In 2017 she completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from York University where her research examined community storytelling as a place of transformation. Hawa is a critical writer, commentator and columnist with Ricochet Media that has been featured on Macleans, Briarpatch Magazine, Metro Morning, CBC, CityTV, Rabble among others.
Tara Ward is an international human rights advocate, with a specialization in women’s human rights. She has over 15 years’ experience advocating for human rights and gender equality with non-profits, civil society coalitions, as well as within Alberta’s government. She spent over a decade working to protect human rights defenders, and support improved social, economic and health outcomes in Central America and Mexico. While working at Horizons of Friendship, a Canadian international development organization focused on gender equality and community development, she was successful in leading a five-year intervention to reduce gaps in maternal and child health for Indigenous peoples in Guatemala.
Hawa and Tara join FAFIA on September 10, 2020 to work alongside staff, Cyndia Mondésir, FAFIA’s Communications and Membership Coordinator and Shivangi Misra, Policy and Projects Manager.
“We are thrilled to announce Hawa and Tara’s new roles with us. We are extremely fortunate to have such talented and dynamic women join the FAFIA team. Their addition to our organization marks a revitalization of FAFIA’s capacity to support women’s organizations in their advocacy work by holding Canada to account on its commitments to women’s substantive equality under international treaties,” said Interim Executive Director, Diana Majury.
FAFIA is an alliance of equality-seeking organizations committed to making international agreements on women’s human rights a reality in women’s everyday lives in Canada. FAFIA has also devoted over a decade of work to addressing the human rights crisis of murders and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls.
“I am excited to join FAFIA and put my experience from working in non-profits, government policy and international human rights to use to ensure that governments in Canada live up to their commitments to protect women’s human rights,” says Tara.
Hawa adds, “FAFIA is an extraordinary women’s human rights organization with a committed team of staff and board members. I look forward to working closely with member organizations and leaders in the sector as we advocate for a different future for women in Canada, especially for those who are pushed furthest to the margins. It is an honour to join this team as its’ new Executive Director.”
Contacts:
Barbara Cameron
Co-Chair, FAFIA
[email protected]
Lara Koerner Yeo
Co-Chair, FAFIA
[email protected]