Moira Di Vruno (She/Her)
My name is Moira, but everyone just calls me Moichi. I am an art curator from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’ve worked mostly in education, serving as a librarian, collection curator for book exhibits and literary consultant for degree students, alongside with administrative tasks, display set ups, fundraising and finance admin in a non profit organization called “Asociación La Nube - Infancia y cultura” (“La Nube Association for childhood and culture”).
I’ve always fought for feminism, LGBTQI+ rights and visibility of minorities. I strongly believe that true equality will be achieved when everyone has the same opportunities, regardless of sex, gender, race, skin color or background.
I love to paint, and I love to sing while my fiance plays guitar, and in fact, one of my favourite
things about the Chalk Back movement is seeing so many people around the world sharing
their stories and raising their voices through art. As a mom (of twins!), my feminist angle
relies on early education in terms of gender equality, and my goal as part Chalk Back is to try
to make it sustainable for each of us while keeping up our common mission: to educate as
many people as we can reach, and to stop street harassment.
Yola Mzizi (She/Her)
Hi. I'm Yola Mzizi (she/her/hers). I am a student at Northwestern University and I'm also
heading up Catcalls of Chicago. I'm passionate about transformative justice, public health and
social policy. Working at Chalk Back has been an absolute dream, in that, I have an
opportunity to incorporate what I learn in theory to what I experience on the ground. In my
free time, I enjoy playing the ukulele, reading and gushing about all things fashion.
Farah Benis (She/Her)
I am an entrepreneur at heart and am involved in multiple businesses, though I run FFA
Security Group full time. I am also a gender equality advocate and conduct workshops with
young people covering consent, sexual harassment, and bystander training whilst also
campaigning for safe and accessible spaces. I am originally from Uganda and spent a decade
working across Africa in the private sector whilst also heading up Libra Foundation and
fundraising for multiple charities, most notably the Refugee Law Project. Here in the UK, I
started Catcalls of London in 2017 and have been involved in the growth of Chalk Back as an
organisation while it was still in its early stages. I am excited to join the board as the next part of my journey with this incredible organisation and look forward to serving our community.
Anshika Rai (She/Her)
Hi! I am Anshika Rai. I use She/Her pronouns. I am a 21 year old from West Bengal, India and am Currently a student in Geology. Last year when the world shut down, I got the chance to really work through my mental health. I realized most of my social anxiety was attached to
the incidents that happened when I was younger. My first experience of street harassment was when I was 12-13 years old. I remember my mom asking me to put a hand in front of my chests so that no one could touch me inappropriately but still I remember a hand slapped me on my butt. When I turned around he disappeared in the crowd, probably was standing right beside me and laughing but I couldn't accuse anyone of anything during the rush hour on the train station.
Then I discovered Catcalls of NYC which completely changed my world. I didn't just find my
community but my voice. I realized that the work they did could do wonders in India. It could
make noise without a sound. It could turn heads and start conversations that were far from
being started. Catcallsofdelhi was the first Indian account I came across and the way they
were working in Delhi was something that I strived for in West Bengal. I am currently a
member of catcallsofwb and founder of catcallsofbharat_ . Due to the pandemic, I didn't get a
lot of chance to chalk but as far as I have done, I felt on top of the world. I felt powerful and
since I started the work, I have even less of an anxiety of going out and it almost like been a
full circle for me. Chalk Back is my comfort, strength and joy. I found the perfect place to
learn, grow and bring change and I hope that I am able to bring that emotion to everyone I
work with in future.
Dr. Lina AbiRafeh (She/Her)
Dr. Lina AbiRafeh is the Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at the
Lebanese American University, based in New York and Lebanon. Prior to joining AiW, Lina spent over 20 years in development and humanitarian contexts, working with the United Nations and other international organizations in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, and others. Her specific expertise is in gender-based violence prevention and response, summarized by her TEDx talk, Women Deliver PowerTalk,
keynote address for Swedish International Development Agency annual meeting, and podcast interview, amongst others.
Lina completed her doctoral work from the London School of Economics and published
“Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention” based
on her research. She speaks and publishes frequently on a range of gender issues such as
gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, what’s holding Arab women
back from equality, bodily integrity and autonomy, female humanitarian aid workers, women
in conflict – for instance in Sudan and Yemen, and so on. Recently, Lina has been focused on
the need for a feminist response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Arab women
and girls.
Lina is active on Twitter and blogs on current issues including the humanitarian crisis in
Yemen, Palestine and feminism, and other critical conversations. Lina is frequently in the
media, for instance in The Native Society, where she shared her story as a feminist activist.
Additionally, Lina is a board member of various organizations including SheDecides, Forced
Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, and Greenpeace MENA, amongst others. In
2018, Lina was listed as one of the Gender Equality Top 100: The Most Influential People in
Global Policy - one of only two Arabs to make the list. She received this honor again in 2019
from over 9000 nominations.
Fatou Wurie (She/Her)
Fatou Wurie is a social justice advocate, passionate about gender equity and female
leadership. She is an experienced grassroots organiser and advocate who has learned the art
and science of community development firsthand in a range of cultures and settings from remote villages to the highest level of the United Nations. She is a respected international professional with an aptitude for innovation and joining the dots across generations, ideologies and sectors.
Fatou returned to her home country of Sierra Leone in 2011 and was part of the first set of development specialists at the forefront of the Ebola response. Working first through various channels simultaneously to bring ebola under control - including NGO, government and local networks and the United Nations system - she also founded The Survivor Dream Program (SDP). This local, digital-driven NGO was established to address the yawning gap in access to quality psychosocial and health services for Sierra Leonean women and girls survivors of Ebola and Sexual Violence. As a Specialist in practical applications of design and technology in delivering services and programs, Fatou has led initiatives to improve human development outcomes in over 15 countries, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Her experience includes working with open government, multinational organizations, public health, financial inclusion and public-private management.
She has designed information systems to improve adolescent girls’ and young women’s access to quality health care services in Sierra Leone, to address the lack of information on Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Palestine, in humanitarian settings she’s developed content and technical systems for feedback and monitoring for accountability to affected populations (AAP) in Indonesia and she coordinates digital and social systems for more effective reporting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by aid workers.
She is known as an engaging speaker, writer and active participant in the justice journey at
multiple levels, working and writing, and is a formidable proponent for the promotion and
protection of the rights of women and girls, and the participation of young people - with the
vision, capacity and energy to attract supporters from all corners. Fatou’s work has been
featured by Amnesty International,Ebola Deeply, National Geographic,Huffington Post, Open
Society Foundation,St. Hilda’s Feminist Salon, Photoville Brooklyn Photography Festival and
others. She is a contributor and curator of The Moth’s highly selective story compilation often
placed on Best Seller lists. Fatou sits on the Rainbo Rape Crisis Center and is an
Abshire-Inamori International Fellow.
Yana Panfilova (She/Her)
Yana Panfilova holds a bachelor's degree in social work, Academy of Labour, Social
Relations and Tourism. Head of Board Union of adolescents and youth «Teenergizer»
since 2015. Works in the field of support and protection of the rights of vulnerable
adolescents for 7 years in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the author of report Key barriers to HIV testing for adolescents in EECA (Ukraine, Russia and
Georgia). Yana was born with HIV. She discovered her status at the age of 10. At 13,
she spoke openly at the international conference "Children and HIV" on behalf of
adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Also, as a result of
speaking openly about her HIV status in Moldova and of advocacy in June 2013, the
Ministry of Health introduced disability benefits for all HIV+ children. As well, as a
result of speaking openly at the expanded meeting of the Coordinating Committee of
HIV prevention in Sverdlovsk Region in Russia in Dec 2013 and advocacy, a decision
was taken by the government structures to pay special attention to youth living with
HIV. Yana spoke on behalf of teenagers living with HIV in EECA region at the
High-Level meeting on HIV/AIDS in 2016 and 2018, also she was a panelist at the 22
International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam in 2018 and was a speaker at the first
panel at Global Primary Health Care Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Emily Flores
Emily Flores (she/her) is a Mexican-American and disabled journalist. She is the
founder and editor-in-chief of Cripple Media, a media company run by and for young
disabled people. Her work can be seen on Teen Vogue, Allure, Yahoo News, & more.
A warm welcome to all the Chalk Back Board of Directors!
