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THE ACTIVISTS

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THE ACTIVISTS

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Katy Johnson

Katy Johnson

Fidel Bafilemba

Fidel Bafilemba

Neema Namadamu

Neema Namadamu

Brian Krzanich

Brian Krzanich

Justine Masika Bihamba

Justine Masika Bihamba

Sasha Lezhnev

Sasha Lezhnev

After graduating from UW, Katy moved to Kenya where she was a Princeton in Africa fellow with the International Rescue Committee, Somalia, office. She focused on women's protection and empowerment programming for displaced persons within Somalia. She also worked for the United Nations Foundation on the Data2X initiative, which aims to improve the quality, availability, and use of gender data.  Currently, she is a graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she focuses on conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, forced displacement, and gender equality.

 

 

Following a career as an educator and rebel colonel, Fidel has become a leader in eastern Congo's civil society. He has visited the White House and testified before U.S. Congressional hearings on the impact of illegal mining in eastern Congo. His profound commitment to the rebuilding of his country is centered around the education of its youth.  He is currently working on the Lumumba Childrens Library and Learning Center, a unique beacon of hope and literacy in eastern Congo where fewer than one in three children ever finish school. Please support Fidel's cause.

              http://www.congolibrary.org

     

    

Neema is the first woman with a  disability from her ethnic group to earn a university degree, going on to serve in Parliament for South Kivu province, and then as Chief Advisor to Congo’s Minister of Gender and Family.  In 2012, Neema founded the umbrella organization, SAFECO, to help empower Congolese women and girls who seek equal rights in their country. Many projects, like the sani-pad program on the high plateau (featured in Merci Congo) are designed to keep girls in school.  Please support Neema's cause.

          http://www.herowomenrising.org        

 

 

Under Brian's leadership, Intel has continued to responsibly source minerals from Congo.  To date, Intel's conflict minerals team has visited more than 100 smelters in 21 countries to eliminate conflict minerals from its supply chain.  Intel was recognized by FORTUNE Magazine's inaugural Change the World list for its efforts to eliminate conflict minerals from its supply chain and its manufacturing of conflict-free microprocessors, "an achievement many had thought impossible."  Brian believes all products should be conflict-free.  See Intel's commitment to conflict-free here:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/conflict-free-minerals.html

 

Justine founded Synergy of Women for Victims of Sexual Violence, (SFVS) to improve the lives of rural women, especially survivors of sexual violence. In addition to supporting these women, SFVS has documented the incidence of rape in North Kivu, calling for the arrest and trial of the perpetrators. Justine has received considerable international recognition for her work but has been subjected to death threats and has had to flee the country for her safety.  Please support Mama Justine's cause.

    http://donordirectaction.org/activists/synergie/

 

 

Before becoming Associate Director of Policy at the Enough Project, Sasha worked at Global Witness, the International Crisis Group, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from Cambridge University and spent two and a half years in Uganda as an advisor to the chief mediator attempting to broker peace with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). He is also the founding director of the Grassroots Reconciliation Group (GRG), an organization that supports projects assisting former child soldiers and their communities in northern Uganda.  Please support Sasha's cause.

                http://grassrootsgroup.org