PeaceWomen Team: Staff and Interns


Maria Butler, PeaceWomen Project Director.

Maria is the Director of the PeaceWomen Project of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). In this role, Maria manages the monitoring, advocacy and outreach work of WILPF's Project at the UN office in NY. She was the lead author of the "Women, Peace and Security Handbook", a ten year analysis of the Security Council's resolutions published in October 2010. Maria is an Attorney-at-Law and a member of the New York State Bar. She holds a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics.

Prior to WILPF, Maria worked for the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN, and with Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She also founded and currently chairs a development initiative working in rural Kenya.


Isabelle Cutting, Project Assistant

Isabelle is returning to PeaceWomen/WILPF to head our new web-based initiative on SCR 1325 National Action Plans. Originally from Ithaca, NY, Isabelle graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in Government and minors in International Relations and European studies. Keen to branch out of her home town, Isabelle pursued studies in Germany and Switzerland and worked with youth organizations in Macedonia and Tanzania. She currently splits her time between WILPF and Human Rights Watch as a consultant. With somewhat of a third foot in business management, Isabelle also helps manage a cafe in Manhattan. Isabelle will be returning to school in the fall of 2012 for her Juris Doctor degree.

Current Interns

PeaceWomen has three interns. We are very excited to have such a dynamic team, coming from various regions around the world with diverse backgrounds and interests. PeaceWomen is pleased to welcome Kelsey Coolidge, Dominique Lardener, and Fiona Mcalpine:

Dominique Lardener
From Sydney, Australia, Dominique Lardner recently graduated with a Bachelor of International Studies from the University of New South Wales. Particularly interested in human rights and international law, Dominique relocated to New York to gain practical experience relevant to her undergraduate degree. Currently, she is  interning with both Peacewomen and Bellevue Hospital’s Program for Survivors of Torture.  Having travel independently throughout the world, often in developing and post-conflict countries, Dominique ultimately seeks to obtain a job as a site researcher for a non-profit or non-governmental human rights organization.  

Rebecca Leon
A member of the Swedish WILPF section in Stockholm, Rebecca has studied International Relations, Latin American Social Studies and is currently attending the law programme at the University of Stockholm where she will receive a Masters degree in Law at the end of 2012. Rebecca has done research in Uganda on HIV/AIDS prevention and worked pro bono as a legal adviser in Stockholm. She has a strong interest in women’s rights, international law and the Rule of Law and is currently interning in New York with Peacewomen at the UN office.

Fiona Mcalpine
Fiona has been an active member of the Australian WILPF section in Melbourne, where she studies Law and works for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. She has worked in media capacity building in the developing world at newspapers in Cameroon and Nepal, and taught English in India and Cambodia. She holds a degree in International Studies and has an interest in women's rights, labour and human trafficking. She is posted in New York for three months to work with peacewomen at the UN office.

 

Past Assistant and Consultant

  • Kristina Mader

 

Past Interns

  • Kelsey Collidge (Fall 2011)
  • Rebecca Paulsson (Fall 2011)
  • Leila Brollosy (Summer 2011)
  • Annie Hylton (Spring/Summer 2011)
  • Aziz Rahman Popal (Summer 2011)
  • Mriganka Lulla (Summer 2011
  • Stephanie Bloom (Fall 2010-Spring 2011)
  • Isabelle Cutting (Summer 2010-Spring 2011)
  • Barbara Gonzalez (Winter/Spring 2011)
  • Nicole Bianchi (Winter 2011)
  • Michelle Reyf (Fall 2010, Winter 2010)
  • Miruna Bucurescu (Fall 2010, Winter 2010)
  • Melissa Jaworowski (Fall 2010)
  • Karin Friedrich (Summer 2010)
  • Anna- Moller Loswick (Summer 2010)
  • Sasha Sleiman (Summer 2010)
  • Rachel LaForgia (Summer 2010)
  • Rachel Kean (Summer 2010)
  • Caitlin Deighan (Summer 2010)
  • Nicole Weitzner (Summer 2010)
  • Rubai Aurora (Spring 2010)
  • Emily Meyer (Spring 2010)
  • Rachel Reyes (Spring 2010)
  • Rai Sow (Spring 2010)
  • Sarah Ochs (Fall 2009, Spring 2010)
  • Tanya Quigley (Summer, Fall 2009)
  • Hali Thurber (Summer 2009)
  • Clara Donadello (Spring 2009)
  • Stephanie Thogersen (Spring 2009)