Celebrating Women’s History Month | | | | | Remembering WIIS' Founder, Dr. Catherine Kelleher The WIIS global community is reacting to the passing of our founder, Dr. Catherine McArdle Kelleher (January 19, 1939 – February 15, 2023). While Catherine was a renowned scholar, writer, professor, mentor, analyst, and practitioner in national and international security studies, she was most notably a pioneer and champion for women in the national and international security field. In 1987, Catherine founded and served as the first president of WIIS. Catherine’s legacy is the generations of young and talented women now working in national and international security. Catherine had to forge a path forward in a field where few women could make a career. Catherine started her career finding doors that would open to new and diverse generations of women–and then spent a career ensuring that the doors would remain open. | | | | Lt. Col. Duilla Turner, USAF (Ret.) Joins WIIS as a Senior Nonresident Fellow
WIIS welcomes Lt. Col. Duilla Turner, USAF (Ret.), as a Senior Nonresident Fellow.
Duilia Turner is a Leadership and International Relations advisor focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. She retired from the United States Air Force after 25 years of service, holding key positions in crisis response, human capital development, science, and global management. As the first Chief of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at the United States Southern Command, she reached 36 countries and over 350,000 people globally in efforts ranging from tactical military exercises to strategic and ministerial-level advisement. Duilia is an international lecturer and speaker who has collaborated with the United Nations, the Organization of the American States, the Wilson Center, and the Special Operations Community. Passionate about women’s professional development and leadership, Duilia has received three congressional recognitions and a City of Doral Women of Legacy Award. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master in International Relations. | | | | Alistair Millar Joins the WIIS Board of Directors WIIS is pleased to announce that Allistair Millar has joined the WIIS Board of Directors
Alistair Millar is the President of the Fourth Freedom Forum, a private operating foundation focused on peace and security issues. He is also an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Alistair has been a proud member of WIIS since 2016, and he has worked on peace and security issues and served on boards for over thirty years. He has written books, chapters, articles, and reports on a wide range of issues that are relevant to the work that WIIS is doing, including the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, preventing violent extremism, human rights and the rule of law, and the nexus between security and development. | | | | CSW67: Bridge to the Future: Women and Girls at the Center of Progress
On March 14th, WIIS and SecurityWomen hosted an official parallel event at the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women, discussing women’s influence in cybersecurity, innovation, and emerging technologies. The event featured opening remarks from Min Kyriannis (Board of Directors, WIIS & CEO, Amyna Systems Inc.), Dr. Maxinne Rhea Leighton, Assoc. AIA (President, WIIS New York), Barbara Cleary (Board Chair, SecurityWomen). A panel discussion with Cat Fan (Technical Talent & Diversity Leader), John Deskurakis (Chief Product Security Officer, Carrier Corp.), and Dr. Robert Zuber (Director, Global Action to Prevent War and Armed Conflict) followed. | | | | WIIS Attends the International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony On March 8th, 2023, WIIS was invited to the White House, where First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken hosted the International Women of Courage award ceremony. Pictured above is Ariela Blätter (President and CEO, WIIS) with H.E. Esme Jynet Chombo (Malawian Ambassador to the U.S.) and H.E. Hilda Suka-Mafudze (African Union Ambassador to the U.S.). | | | Women’s Changing Roles and Leadership During the War in Ukraine To mark International Women’s Day, WIIS, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), and the Romulus T. Weatherman Foundation hosted a discussion with women from Ukraine and Europe that looks at how the war is impacting gender roles in military, civil society and government institutions. The event featured opening remarks from Lise Grande (President and CEO, USIP), Ariela Blätter (President and CEO, WIIS) and Meaghan Mobbs (President, Romulus T. Weatherman Foundation) and was followed by a panel discussion with Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko (Chairperson, Kharkiv Regional Council), Tamila Afansieva (Head, Odessa Regional Council for Peace), Solomiia Bobrovska (Member, Parliament of Ukraine; Deputy Head, Ukraine’s Delegation to NATO PA), Olga Rudnieva (Executive Director, Superhumans Rehabilitation Center), and Ioana Vlad (Midshipman, United States Naval Academy). The event was moderated by Mary Glantz (Senior Advisor, Russia and Europe Center, USIP). | | | | Gender and Technology: Designing Pathways for an Equitable Future WIIS and the U.S. Department of State’s Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) hosted a virtual discussion examining how policy can provide for creative development while also incorporating a gender perspective on the general themes surrounding women and gender in technology and cyber. The event featured a Fireside chat with Ambassador Katrina Fotovat (Acting Ambassador-At-Large, S/GWI) and was followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Layla Hashemi (Researcher and Data Analyst, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center) and Moira Whelan (Director for Democracy and Technology, National Democratic Institute). | | | | WIIS meets with the German Ambassador to the U.S. On March 2nd, 2023, Ariela Blätter (President & CEO, WIIS) met with Ambassador Emily Haber (German Ambassador to the U.S.) to discuss the launch of German Feminist Foreign Policy Principles and U.S. policy. | | | WIIS Poland Launches the Young Female Leaders in STEM Mentoring Program WIIS Poland recently celebrated the launch of their new initiative, the Young Female Leaders in STEM Mentoring Program, at the Warsaw headquarters of Northrop Grumman. This program gathers 10 female students and young graduates with a background in STEM and are interested in pursuing careers in international security, defense, and peace studies. The program aims to provide participants with the tools and network needed to successfully navigate the world of international security and defense, as well as overcome challenges faced by women in the industry. WIIS Poland has partnered with the European Academy of Diplomacy, Northrop Grumman, Casimir Pulaski Foundation, Warsaw Security Forum, and Vital Voices for this program. | | | | WIIS Switzerland Launches Mentorship Program WIIS Switzerland officially launched the first edition of its mentoring program. The program, which aims to connect young women starting a career in international security in Switzerland with established experts who will provide professional guidance and advice, will run from February to July 2023. WIIS Switzerland was joined by Irene Fellin (Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General for Women, Peace and Security and Former President of WIIS Italy) and Talia Wohl (Senior Advisor in the Peace and Human Rights Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Swiss representative to the Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network) for the launch event. | | | | | Multilateral Cyber Negotiations and Gender Mainstreaming: A Complicated Relationship
Despite the technical universalism that technology grants us, there is a strong pushback on conceptual universalism in human rights in cyberspace, including gender issues. The gender dimension, if at all represented, is mainly in the norms of capacity-building and gender parity, avoiding direct referrals to gender equality and women’s rights. The latest WIIS Perspectives blog, by Liliya Khasanova, explores this complex dynamic between gender mainstreaming and multilateral cyber negotiations. | | | | Gender and Climate Disaster: A Worsening Situation for Pakistani Women In our WIIS Student Blog Spotlight, author Tristen Thakar (University of Pittsburgh, WIIS Chapter) explores the gendered implications of the 2022 floods in Pakistan, focusing on the challenges pregnant women in Pakistan face. | | |
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