Meet Caroline Herewini. Come listen to her story on March 16 at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. For more event information see the card below.

Tena koutou katoa, Ko Whakapunaki te Maunga Ko Waiau te Awa Ko Takitimu te Waka Ko Whetum Ko Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Kahungungu, Ngati Pahauwera, Nga Puhi-nui-tonu, Ngai Tuhoe nga Iwi Ko Kararaina Herewini taku ingoa

Caroline Herewini is the Kaiwhakahaere (Chief Executive) of Te Whare Tiaki Wahine Refuge based in Porirua, Wellington New Zealand.  She is passionate about the Human Rights of ALL women, children, their families & whanau to lead violence free lives.

. 

Based in Porirua City; Caroline has been the driving force behind the establishment and on-going operation of Te Whare Tiaki Wahine Refuge Charitable Trust. – An Indigenous (people of the land) service underpinned by “Te Tiriti o Waitangi” (The Treaty of Waitangi) Principles; obligations, roles and responsibilities in regards to Protection, Participation & Partnership, in reference to All women, children, families visitors/guests in our land.

We, provide prevention, early intervention, crisis intervention, immediate response  and post crisis intervention services and support to All Women, Maori women and their whanau who are affected by domestic violence, physical, psychological, financial, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, gender based violence, violence against women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Caroline has spent the last 18 years working tirelessly on the ground for Women’s Refuge in New Zealand and has presented at National and International events including Mexico, Washington DC, Canada and Australia in regards to “Impacts of Domestic Violence and Indigenous Rituals of Engagement’. Caroline has attended Three Pacific Watch New Zealand delegations to the United Nations Convention Status of Women in 2013, 2014 & 2015, is a member of The Every woman, Everywhere Coalition; works globally to advance a grassroots-driven international treaty to end all forms of violence, & is a delegate & founding member of International Network to End Violence Against Women and girls (INEVAW).  This network aims to build voice, create space and ensure representation of women from particularly developing countries and to use this to advocate for the full eradication of all forms of gender based violence.  Caroline is a Human’s Rights & Social Justice Adocate and remains committed to ending all forms of Violence Against Women & Children in Aotearoa, New Zealand. 

Ti hei Maui ora!

Meet Dana Dakin and come to listen to her story on March 16. at the UNCSW Info below

My work straight out of college (Scripps, 1964) was in the financial field and in 1976 I formed my own firm, the first creative agency to focus on packaging institutional money management firms.  Over thirty years, we were associated with some of the great launches in the business.

During this time I met a woman who at age 60 on a trek in Nepal was stunned by the deep poverty and decided to return the next year to help.  I did pro-bono marketing for her and the seed was planted to follow suit.

One day, in my late 50s, after resettling to New Hampshire from my home state California, the idea came whole: go to Africa, find a village and start a microlending program.  In 2003, three months after my 60^th birthday, with a handful of contacts, I flew to the capital of Ghana, checked into a hotel and the next morning called my top prospect.  He answered, “We’ve been waiting for you – we have a village. We’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

That was the beginning of WomensTrust.  My founding role ended nine years later in 2012 with a dedicated staff of local people on the ground in Pokuase and a capable board of directors in the U.S. The mission had expanded to include education for girls, a program that continues today with our top scholarship students going all the way to college.  

In international development terms, we were a model for “going bottom up” and today I’m assembling lessons learned for others to follow as they put their own stake in the ground. We are growing in numbers, motivated by passion to do something personally to make our world more equitable, more safe and more connected.  It is not difficult to make the case for the work we do.

Dana Dakin     danadakin.com   |   dd@danadakin.com

Founder, WomensTrust.org

Director, Dakin Partners LLC

Purpose Prize Fellow 2008

Please join us in New York City on March 16.

Currency of the Heart means spending your personal energy doing good without receiving payment. The five women named below will spend their personal currency of the heart as panelists at the 60th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The event is sponsored by Women’s Perspective and Anglican Women’s Empowerment.

Over the next few weeks we will hi-light the work of each one of these women in a blog post.