Our Thematic Work

WIMN’s Secretariat

Catherine Tactaquin, Operations Manager

tactaquin.catherine@womeninmigration.org

Catherine Tactaquin is a longtime activist, organizer and advocate for migrant rights. She is the former Executive Director of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) in the US and was a founding member of Migrants Rights International (MRI), a global alliance, in 1994, and subsequently, the Global Coalition on Migration (GCM) and the Women in Migration Network (WIMN). She has been a frequent speaker on U.S. immigration and global migration policies, including migration concerns at the intersection of race, climate change and the environment, and gender. She is serving as WIMN’s Operations Manager.

Chus Álvarez, Membership and Leadership Development

alvarez.chus@womeninmigration.org

Chus is a passionate feminist, an avid reader and a sea lover. She is leading the development leadership program with grassroots organizations along with the language justice activities and the climate change advocacy. She has lived and worked in different countries in Asia, Europe and South America developing a strong sense of global justice and participatory development. She holds a degree in Social Work and has further education in International Development and Gender Equity, as well as more than 15 years’ experience working for non-profit organizations.

Paola Cyment, Advocacy Lead

cyment.paola@womeninmigration.org

Paola Cyment has 15 years of expertise in migration, gender, human rights and development. She has been part of WIMN since 2015, joining the Secretariat in 2020. She has represented WIMN in various advocacy events, and coordinated WIMN’s Local/Global Nexus of Intersectional Movement-Building project to bring grassroot migrant women voices to global migration governance spaces. Paola has worked in different positions with domestic and international organisations conducting research advocacy, institutional development and project management.

Roula Seghaier, International Coordinator

seghaier.roula@womeninmigration.org

Roula Seghaier is an interdisciplinary organizer working with migrant, refugee, and diasporic communities on movement building. She is a co-founder of several cooperatives and transnational feminist collectives in the SWANA region. Roula served her community both from the ground and from international platforms. Most recently, her work focused on advocacy within international spaces such as the ILC, IMRF, GCM, CAS reviews and more. She brings experience on informality and a reproductive justice approach to issues of women, labor, and migration.

Interns

Julie Jang, Community Engagement Intern

Julie Jang is a graduating senior majoring in Political Science and minoring in Philosophy. She has been active in her role as the campaign coordinator for New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG), recruiting volunteers to educate and register new voters on campus since her freshman year. Her campus involvement extends to providing resources on campus as a Resident Assistant and as student worker with the Intercultural Resource Center. She’s published two articles with the Scarlet Magazine, sharing stories on topics of race, history, reparations, and immigration. Julie has been part of the Rutgers-Newark debate team for the entirety of her college career and is now also a judge, fostering public speaking skills in others. She has also interned with the former Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., aiding in constituent issues of her district. She aspires to be a future attorney and community leader, advocating for the marginalized.

Moujan Moghimi, Research and Advocacy Intern

Moujan Moghimi is a senior pursuing an accelerated B.A./M.A. in Political Science with double minors in Global Politics and Women’s & Gender Studies. She is an active member of the campus and community at large as she values civic engagement and using her voice to support others. In the past, she served as the Community Outreach Senator for the Student Governing Association, Marketing Chair for the University Square Hall Council, and is currently President and Campaign Coordinator with NJPIRG. After graduation, she plans to attend law school to become a civil rights lawyer, advocating for fundamental rights before transitioning into politics to serve and uplift her community.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors sets organizational policy, provides strategic guidance and oversight of the progress and management of the organization. It safeguards and advances the vision, objectives, reputation, and principles of WIMN. Directors receive no compensation for their participation and serve in their individual capacities; they do not represent their organizations. The members are listed here in alphabetical order by their first names.

Berenice Valdéz is a feminist and human rights defender. She is the general focal point of the Latin American Bloc on Migration (LAC Bloc) and has participated in WIMN for over 10 years. She is also a member of the Mesoamerican Network on Women, Health, and Migration and collaborates with various migrant and art groups.

She has worked with migrants and refugees for 21 years and has also promoted women’s leadership in migration and intersectional and gender analysis in various processes, as well as in social and political advocacy at the local, national, and international levels. She is based in Mexico.

Carolina Gottardo is a migrant lawyer and economist with more than two decades of  experience on  migration,, gender and human rights. Carolina is Executive Director of the International Detention Coalition (since 2020). Previously she served as director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Australia and director of the Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS), a UK women’s rights organisation working with refugee and migrant women.  She was also a senior manager at the British Institute of Human Rights, British Red Cross and One World Action (now Womankind Worldwide) in the UK and served as the National Policy  Director of the Refugee Council of Australia.  Carolina worked for the Constitutional Court and the UN Development Programme in her native country, Colombia. She has served on a number of boards related to human rights, gender, migration and refugee issues in London, Melbourne, Bangkok, Bogota and Brussels and currently serves as co-lead of the UN Migration Network Working Group on Alternatives to Detention.  Carolina is also a member of the Expert Working Group for addressing women’s human rights in the Global Compact for Migration and served as a member of the steering committee of the UN  Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund. She is based in Germany.

Cindy Clark is a US-based feminist with 30 years of experience that weaves strands of feminist organizing and bridge-building, popular education and facilitation, organizational effectiveness, and politics of resource mobilization.  Since 2023 she has been the Vice President of Operations for Thousand Currents. Prior to that, she worked with AWID, a global feminist membership organization, for over 15 years in a variety of roles. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir-México.

Dur-e Shawar Siraj is Vice President of the Pakistani Workers’ Federation, a member of the International Trade Union Confederation, and works to champion the rights of women workers and promote gender equality within trade unions. She has worked in organizing and education with informal sector women workers over the last 16 years, with a focus on labor rights, collective bargaining, decent work and combating gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment in the world of work.  Shawar Siraj is a tripartite member on several committees seeking recognition of informal workers in Pakistan. She currently leads a campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention C 190, aiming to create safer environments and equal opportunities for workers at national and global level. The campaign seeks ratification of the Convention in Pakistan to keep all workers safe from violence and harassment in the world of work.  Shawar Siraj is based in Pakistan. 

Fulya Pınar Özcan (Turkey) is a distinguished professional with unwavering dedication to labor rights, women’s empowerment, and social justice. Since 2006, she has been an integral part of the Textile, Garment, and Leather Trade Union Öz İplik-İş (in Turkiye), assuming pivotal roles such as Project Manager, President of the Women’s Committee, and Head of International Relations Department. In her current position as International Relations Secretary and head of Gender Equality department she develops and implements projects. Fulya is also a founding member of the International Migration and Refugee Association, actively participating in initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges faced by migrant workers and refugees. She serves as the Gender Equality Taskforce representative for IndustriALL Global Union and holds the role of OECD Global Deal contact person. In 2024, Fulya also founded the Initiative for Women’s Empowerment (IFWE), an NGO founded in Ankara to advance women workers’ empowerment.

Lucy Turay is a Sierra Leonean activist, survivor, former migrant domestic worker in Lebanon and founder of Domestic Workers Advocacy Network (DoWAN).  Her activism is guided by and highlights the similarities of the struggles of Black women and working-class communities across the globe. Her work focuses on ending the Kafala system (modern day slavery) to prevent women from being trafficked into domestic servitude and advocating for the rights and dignity of migrant domestic workers.  Turay works with other women to take collective action and build socio-economic alternatives for women, despite facing dangers as a frontline rights defender and despite corrupt and narrowly self-interested policies which endanger and restrain women in her community. Turay is based in Sierra Leone. 

Michele Levoy is Director of PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants.  She has led the organization for nearly two decades in advocating for undocumented migrants’ human rights towards European and global institutions. Levoy has played a key role as board member for several civil society organisations at the global and EU levels, including Migrant Rights International and the Global Coalition on Migration. She holds degrees in French, Justice and Peace Studies and a master’s in applied sciences (Housing and Development). Levoy is based in Belgium. 

Nalishha Mehta is Senior Program Officer for Migration at the Solidarity Center, the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization.  She has spent her professional career advocating for the rights of workers, particularly the most marginalized and underrepresented workers, and supporting women workers to find their voice and build their power.  Mehta’s parents immigrated to the United States from India, seeking opportunities for themselves and their daughter.  Their experiences of daily discrimination and racism in the workplace, including wage theft and job loss, has shaped her life work.  Mehta also serves as chief shop steward for the bargaining unit staff at the Solidarity Center’s headquarters with the Office and Professional Employees International Union. She practices Raja Yoga Meditation and has facilitated meditation sessions for union organizers, women workers, and staff at unions and non-profit organizations, supporting youth, activists, and workers to combat burnout and stress and to rediscover their own inner power and strength. Mehta is based in the United States.

Vani Saraswathi is Editor-at-Large and Director of Projects at MRRORS, and is the author of Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf.  She holds a Master’s in Human Rights from the School of Advanced Studies, University of London. She moved to Qatar in 1999, working with several local and regional publications and launching some of Qatar’s leading periodicals during her 17-year stint there. While in Qatar she and others mobilised a grassroots community to help migrants in distress. She also reported regularly on human rights issues in Qatar for publications in India. Since 2014, she has reported from the Gulf states and countries of origin with a particular focus of women migrant workers. She also organises advocacy projects and human rights training targeting individual employers, embassies, recruitment agents and businesses in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE, working with nationals and long-term residents in these countries with a special emphasis on female migrants, including domestic workers. Saraswathi is a member of the Migration Advisory Group of ILO ROAS, Freedom Fund’s Ethiopia Hotspot Programme Advisory Group, and Humanity United’s Forced Labour and Human Trafficking Advisory Group. Saraswathi is based in India.

Previous WIMN Funders

• United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women)
• National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (in-kind)