Our Feminist Experts

Mwanahamisi Singano (Tanzania), Director, WEDO and WGC Co-Focal Point
Contact info: mwanahamisi@wedo.org
Bio: Mwanahamisi (“Mishy”) Singano  is an African feminist passionate about fighting structural and intersecting inequalities while contributing to a more just, equal, fairer and sustainable world. Over the last 15 years, she has worked with women’s rights organizations, civil societies, and governments in developing strategies, building partnerships, managing programs, and engaging communities towards the promotion and protection of women’s rights and the health of the planet. At WEDO, Mwanahamisi serves as Senior Global Policy Lead.International, and a member of the WGC Facilitative Committee.
Expertise: gender and climate (overall) | global stocktake | just transition | adaptation | biodiversity

Gina Cortes (Colombia/Germany), WGC Co-Focal Point
Contact info: gina.cortesv@gmail.com

Bio: Gina Cortés Valderrama is passionate about contributing to the enhancement of resilient communities in developing countries based on a human-rights approach. She is an environmental engineer from El Bosque University in Bogotá, Colombia, and an M.Sc. in Sustainable Resource Management from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), with additional studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Currently, she is a Project Manager for Gender, Climate & Energy at WECF International, and a member of the WGC Facilitative Committee.
Expertise: just transition | fossil fuels | corporate capture & false solutions

 

Claudia Rubio (Dominican Republic/Columbia), Data and Knowledge Associate, WEDO
Contact info: claudia@wedo.org 

Bio: Claudia is a Dominican-Colombian feminist, lawyer, researcher and activist. As Data and Knowledge Associate at WEDO, she supports the collection, analysis, and use of data in the Gender Climate Tracker and contributes to the ongoing development of the Gender and Environment Data Alliance. Before joining WEDO, Claudia studied Law in the Dominican Republic, and later obtained an LL.M. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. She worked as research assistant on environmental justice topics, interned in the United Nations following which she was appointed as Senior Analyst in GreEnergy Dominicana, leading and participating in projects relative to climate change, sustainable development and environmental management. IIn her free time, she collaborates with local organizations advocating for gender equality and the protection of the environment, reads endlessly and indulges her curiosity.
Expertise: gender| gender action plan (GAP) | gender climate tracker

Sinead Magner (Ireland), Leadership & Learning Manager, WEDO
Contact indo: sinead@wedo.org
Bio: Sinéad Magner is an Irish feminist, campaigner, trainer and climate justice activist. At WEDO, she works on capacity strengthening of women and feminist leaders in the environment and global climate policy spheres, including the Women Delegates Fund program that supports travel and capacity of women from LDCs and SIDS to engage in the UNFCCC climate negotiations.She also forms part of the UK Youth Climate Coalition, where she works on UNFCCC processes and outcomes. Before joining WEDO, Sinéad worked with the Green Party Northern Ireland where she led the delivery of the Climate Change Act Northern Ireland, one of the first gender-proofed climate laws in the world. Sinéad holds a B.A. in French and English from Maynooth University, and an LL.M. in Gender, Conflict and Human Rights Law from the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University. She is currently completing an M.Sc. in Carbon Management from the University of Edinburgh.
Expertise: just transition | capacity strengthening | gender 

 

Liane Schalatek (U.S./Germany), Associate Director, Heinrich Boell Stiftung
Contact info: Liane.Schalatek@us.boell.org 
Bio:
Liane Schalatek is the Associate Director of the Washington Office of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, where she coordinates the foundation’s work on climate finance in its 30 offices worldwide. Her work currently focuses on the efforts to operationalize the new Green Climate Fund, a process she followed from its design process in 2011. As an expert on gender and climate finance, she works on the gender dimension of climate financing instruments and operations, including in the GCF. A journalist by training, she co-founded and co-leads one of the primary climate finance transparency efforts, the website www.climatefundsupdate.org, a joint project with ODI.
Expertise: climate finance | loss and damage (member of transitional committee)

 

Tara Daniel (U.S.) Senior Program Manager, WEDO
Contact info: tara@wedo.org
Bio:
As a Senior Program Manager at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), Tara leads WEDO’s portfolio of work on feminist climate finance, supports women’s participation and leadership in the climate negotiations, and advocates for gender-responsive climate policies, particularly working with the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Climate Justice Coalition. Tara also serves as a CSO Active Observer for the Green Climate Fund observer network of civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. Tara draws from her interdisciplinary background, including dual Master’s degrees in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology (M.S.) and Public Policy (M.P.P.) from the University of Maryland, for her feminist analysis and advocacy.
Expertise: climate finance | SRHR and climate nexus 

 

Tetet Nera-Lauron (Philippines), Advisor, Rosa Luxumburg
Contact info: tetet.lauron@rosalux.org
Bio:
Tetet is a development worker with 30 years’ experience in multidisciplinary and multi-cultural settings at grassroots, national, regional and international levels. She is a policy and advocacy expert on diverse thematic areas including climate justice, sustainable development, financing for development, trade, human rights, gender and women’s rights among others. She has served as co-chair in regional and global advocacy platforms and has represented civil society in different advocacy arenas. She is an Advisor for the United Nations Programme at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
Expertise: loss and damage (WGC representative on the L&D board)


 

Demet Intepe, PhD (Netherlands), Climate and Resilience Officer, Practical Action
Contact info: demet.intepe@practicalaction.org.uk
Bio:
Dr Demet is a researcher and policy expert in climate justice, climate change adaptation, and adaptation finance. Currently, she is leading the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation across Practical Action’s portfolio which spans DRR, agriculture, energy access and WASH. Also leading our key policy influencing engagements on adaptation and driving alignment with internal programming. Demet is actively involved in climate negotiations under the UNFCCC, with a focus on climate change adaptation, adaptation finance, locally led adaptation, and gender-responsive adaptation. She chairs the Climate Action Network UK’s Adaptation Working Group and also co-chairs the Women & Gender Constituency’s Adaptation Working Group to achieve progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation.

Demet holds a Research MA degree from the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, and a PhD from the University of Warwick, UK. I have over a decade of research experience on migration, racial justice, gender, and environmental and climate justice.iversity of Maryland, for her feminist analysis and advocacy.
Expertise: Adaptation

 

Alex Gordon (US), Senior Coordinator (Programs, Policy & Development), WEDO 
Contact info:alex@wedo.org
Bio
:Alexandria (Alex) Gordon (she/her) is a Program Manager at WEDO, supporting the planning and implementation of projects and programs related to gender-just climate solutions, the Women Delegates Fund, and the Gender Climate Tracker. Alex co-leads the Women & Gender Constituency’s Adaptation Working She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from the College of Wooster, with focused undergraduate research on state-sanctioned violence and human rights atrocities. Alex’s multi-cultural background drives her passion for uplifting the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality within the international development sphere. In her free time, Alexandria enjoys trying new cuisines and dancing to live music. Alex currently resides on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Lenape people.
Expertise: Adaptation

 

Anne Barre (France), Gender & Climate Policy Coordinator, WECF
Contact info:anne.barre@wecf.org
Bio
: Anne Barre is the Climate Action Policy & Programmes Coordinator at WECF. She has a degree in international management. Prior to working with WECF on gender, ecological and environmental health issues, she worked in communication and business strategy
Expertise: global stocktake | gender-just climate solutions | technology and capacity building

global stocktake | gender-just climate solutions | technology and capacity building

 

Valeria Pelaez (Columbia), Project Manager, WECF
Contact info: valeria.pelaez@wecf.org
Bio
: Valeria is  a passionate political scientist specializing in the intersection of politics and technology with a Master of Science degree. Proficient in data analysis, project management, and advocacy, adept at generating insightful research and reports. Skilled in formulating projects and public policies to address contemporary societal challenges. Currently exploring how technology is gendered, combining interests in feminism, climate change, and gender justice, Valeria co-leads the Technology and Capacity Building working group of the WGC. She also serves on the CTCN Advisory Board as the WGC representative.
Expertise: technology and capacity building | gender-just climate solutions 

 

Pat Bohland (Gemany), Co Lead Environmental Education and Climate Policy and WGC FC Member 
Contact info: Bohland@life-online.de
Bio
: Pat is the co Lead for Environmental Education and Climate Policy, where they have worked for 5 years. They are also a member of the Facilitative Committee, and co-lead the WGC’s working groups on Article 6, ACE, and Fossil Fuels.
Expertise: Article 6 | Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) | fossil fuels | response measures

 

Gertrude Kenyangi (Uganda), Executive Director (Geman), SWAGEN and WGC FC Member 
Contact info: ruralwomenug@gmail.com
Bio
: Gertrude graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) from Makerere University and obtained an MA (Integrated Rural Development Planning) and MA Gender Studies. For a short period after her studies she held a white collar job with a bank as a credit officer before discovering that her calling was not in air-conditioned, pristine and sanitized work environments but with the people right at the grassroots getting her hands dirty. Shortly after, she founded Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment (SWAGEN), where she still serves as Executive Director. She is also the Gender Focal Person for African Union of Conservationists. At the WGC, Gertrude leads the working group on Response Measures and serves as a member of the Facilitative Committee.
Expertise: response measures

 

Michelle Benzing (Germany). Environment Associate, WILPF
Contact info: michelle.benzing@wilpf.org
Bio
: Michelle Benzing (she/her) is a feminist peace activist and intersectional environmentalist. In WILPF Germany, she organizes the Climate Justice Working Group and is also part of the Young WILPF Network. Michelle also co-leads WGC’s Peace and Demilitarisation Group
Expertise: peace and security | militarization | feminist foreign policy |  youth