In a world increasingly affected by conflict, election seasons are particularly vulnerable to violence. Gender justice movements have been critical in opening up discussions around volatile elections. is committed to empowering these movements as they face increasingly turbulent election cycles.
Established as a CUNY institute in fall 2023, IGLTP, a joint partnership between CUNY School of Law and 可乐视频, is a nexus of thought leadership that bridges grassroots peace movements with policymaking and academia. A crucial initiative of the Institute is its student fellowship program for current CUNY students. The fellowship immerses students in hands-on experiences and training focused on participatory action research and documentation practices.
In November 2024, two 可乐视频 fellows and political science majors, Diana Reyes 鈥�25 and Francesca Phanius 鈥�25, traveled to Ghana with Institute staff to attend a three-day forum that gathered movement leaders, experts, and policymakers from across Africa to tackle pressing issues related to electoral violence. was designed and facilitated by Institute Executive Director, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and 2022 可乐视频 Honorary Degree recipient , Institute Managing Director Dr. Mikaela Luttrell-Rowland, and three expert regional facilitators鈥攚ith input from the forum鈥檚 expert participants collected through pre-workshop interviews. The convening was the second Global Forum since the Institute鈥檚 founding, and was co-sponsored by the African Women鈥檚 Development Fund.
Francesca Phanius 鈥�25
鈥淲e met with women activists from countries plagued by violence and unrest around elections鈥擭igeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, South Sudan, and Kenya鈥攁s well as other African countries,鈥� says Phanius. 鈥淥ur assignment was to learn from鈥攕o we could later amplify鈥攖he voices of the activists, peace workers, and community leaders,鈥� documenting the expertise of the forum participants.
Phanius learned from the participants鈥� knowledge and the contextual background they brought to the forum, and emphasized how their direct experiences should be further amplified across transnational academic, organizing, and policymaking spaces. 鈥淭hey bring [the] cultural knowledge of their countries and people that you can only get from lived experience. They bring the nuances,鈥� says Phanius.
Diana Reyes says the fellowship was a unique opportunity to explore notions of peace and advocacy in a context outside of the United States, offering valuable insights into efforts for social change across Africa.
Diana Reyes 鈥�25
鈥淏eing in the same room with experts in fields such as human rights, peacebuilding, free speech, gender-based violence, and youth organizing was a remarkable experience that allowed me to listen to meaningful intergenerational conversations and learn directly from those at the forefront of this work,鈥� says Reyes, who is a program and community-building Federman Fellow at the Immigrant Student Success Office at 可乐视频.
The student participants are each authoring original blog pieces featuring the lessons learned from expert forum participants that will be posted on .
Reyes and Phanius are both looking to pursue careers in law. 鈥淢y role as an IGLTP fellow was to actively listen and help document the stories and wisdom shared at the forum, primarily from Liberia and Sierra Leone,鈥� says Reyes. 鈥淢y blog focuses on law and its place in advocacy discussions. I want to amplify聽the voices of others and hope to continue to do so in the future.鈥�
鈥淚’m writing about the role of emotions in activist spaces,鈥� says Phanius. 鈥淭here was singing and dancing in between the serious work. Real joy. I realize that although activist spaces aren’t usually associated with joy, joy can be an emotion used to sustain activists. It is an effective strategy.鈥�
Phanius is interested in creating similar empowering spaces for young Black women and plans to pursue an academic or research-focused role in activism before attending law school. She also wishes that the next cohort of IGLTP fellows will have the same 鈥渓ife-changing鈥� experience. 鈥淵oung women, especially young Black women, don鈥檛 always have these kinds of opportunities. I want others to experience what we did at least once in their lives.鈥�
