If you’ve ever received an email from me, or read my brief bio on our site, “Educate. Activate. Empower.” might sound familiar. I’ve always believed that the best way to create true leaders is to empower them through education and then engage them in a way that fits their passion and skills. Working with leaders and communities across the United States on Darfur and Sudan is one of the reasons I joined i-ACT so many years ago.
I’m proud and enthused at our next step in this journey. Last month, we officially partnered with the Carl Wilkens Fellowship (CWF). This program trains and connects adult leaders to be advocates to prevent and end genocide while supporting programs for survivors. Currently, Fellows work for peace, protection, and justice in Sudan, Rwanda, Burma, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
I’m currently working with a CWF Advisory Board and reconnecting with all 55 Fellows to reshape and strengthen the program. We hope to launch a new group of Fellows by next summer and build an even stronger network. I truly feel that this adult leadership program can propel our movement forward and create a future without mass atrocities. This is a task at which we cannot fail.
When I first met Gabriel, he and I talked about what it meant to be a humanitarian worker on the ground in places like Sudan and Chad. Specifically, we discussed how sensitive you have to be in your advocacy because having a loud voice could put the mission and the people you are there to help at risk. That was when I realized that I could really change the way the world responds to mass atrocities by being an advocate in the United States, allowing me to yell and scream as loud as I want. Now I get to educate, activate, and empower leaders across the country and world to yell and scream as loud as they can to end mass atrocities!
We are seeking funds to support the first two years of the Fellowship with i-ACT. If you are interested in supporting this project or know a foundation who might be interested, please contact me at ktj@iact.ngo.
Photo: Carl Wilkens Fellows at last months One Million Bones event in Washington D.C. organized by Fellow Naomi Natale. Photo taken by Teresa Wilkens.