| Cate Owren
(Nov. 24- Dec. 2)
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Cate Owren, currently Executive Director, has been with the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) since 2007. She has a background in women’s empowerment, participation and leadership, and sustainable development, especially climate change. Upon joining WEDO, she helped to develop the organization’s portfolio on gender and climate change, now one of its priority areas. She has led advocacy campaigns and initiatives at the UNFCCC and other global negotiations; she has also worked on women’s political participation, corporate accountability, forests, water, civil society engagement, UN reform and other cross-cutting issues. Cate Owren sits on UN Boards and advisory committees for the Women’s Empowerment Principles, Democracy Fund and post-2015 strategy. Prior to coming to WEDO, Cate worked for various NGOs in West Africa, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. on gender equality issues such as reproductive health and AIDS education, microfinance, mining and fair trade. Cate has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the New School, where she concentrated in socioeconomic development with a focus on gender and women’s empowerment. She also has a background in theater.Contact: cate@wedo.orgSkype: catewedo
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| Rachel Harris
(Nov. 22 – Dec. 8)
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Rachel is WEDO’s Advocacy Coordinator in charge of gender equality and women’s rights in global governance and sustainable development. She heads a technical policy team at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and has led women’s caucuses at the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification. Previously, Rachel directed WEDO’s campaign to encourage U.S. women’s and environmental organizations to demand responsible, gender-sensitive U.S. actions in the international climate change negotiations. Prior to joining WEDO, Rachel worked at the World Resources Institute, the International Research Institute of Climate and Society and the Environmental Law Institute. Rachel holds a BA in Environmental Science from Barnard College and an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University.Contact: rachel@wedo.org
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| Bridget K. Burns
(Nov. 22 – Dec. 8)
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Bridget is WEDO’s Project and Communications Coordinator. She focuses on projects related to women’s leadership and capacity building, specifically managing the Women Delegates Fund, a comprehensive global women’s leadership program at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Alongside this, Bridget leads strategic planning and development of work on young women’s leadership for sustainable development. In addition she performs research and coordination support on sustainable development and climate change work, actively participating in the UNFCCC negotiations. As Communications Coordinator, she manages the website, listserv, and social media tools, and drafts the organization’s newsletters and press releases. In Rio, Bridget will be acting as the Media Focal Point for WEDO at the UNFCCC, tweeting for @WEDO_Worldwide and through her own account @bridiekatie. Bridget has a Master’s Degree in Gender, Development, and Globalisation from the London School of Economics.Contact: bridget@wedo.orgTel: +1-914-310-3270 Twitter: @bridiekatie Skype: bridget.k.burns
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| Andrea Quesada
(Nov. 25 – Dec. 8)
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Based in Costa Rica, and with a background in botany and obtained her Masters degree on Ecology and Evolution from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007, Andrea is a Project Coordinator at WEDO, focused on natural resource management, forestry and biodiversity in relation to gender. Since 2007, she has been involved in numerous pioneer activities to include a gender perspective in climate change negotiations. As part of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA), Andrea produced documents on gender and climate change, participated in the UNFCCC negotiations and organized various workshops and international events on the importance of gender considerations in climate change discussions. She has also worked with the UNDP Mexico office and UN ISDR on the development of guidelines on gender and various issues related to climate change and disaster risk reduction. Recently, her work has focused on the gender implications of a REDD strategy (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) and this is one of the main objectives of her work in WEDO: ensuring that initiatives, proposals and financing mechanisms related to REDD incorporate a gender perspective. Contact: andrea@wedo.org
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| Eleanor Blomstrom
(Dec. 1– Dec. 8)
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Eleanor is the Program Coordinator at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), responsible for projects related to climate change, including forestry and REDD+ standards and safeguards, and she was the focal point for Rio+20 and continues to work, post-Rio, as part of the Women’s Major Group monitoring development around SDGs and connections to the Post-2015 process. Her work involves research, training, partner management and development, and global-level advocacy at the UNFCCC and other UN forums. Prior to WEDO, Eleanor worked on various climate change projects ranging from green roofs to waste management to adaptation with the Earth Institute, the Clinton Foundation and the World Bank. She has community development experience in the areas of agriculture and women’s empowerment with organizations in Nicaragua and Nigeria. Eleanor holds a Master of International Affairs in Urban and Environmental Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Sciences. Contact: eleanor@wedo.org
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| Madeleine Rubenstein
(Nov. 26 – Dec. 8)
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Acting as Project and Communications Support Person at COP18, Madeleine Rubenstein is a graduate of Barnard College with a B.A. in French Literature and a minor in Political Science. With the Climate Center of the Earth Institute, she researched renewable energy policy and climate change communication, as well as the intersection of science, society, and ethics. While at Sciences Po-Paris, Madeleine studied international climate change policy as well as political theory and environmental economics. Contact: madeleine.rubenstein@gmail.com |
