2021 Leadership Journey Project: Shifting power to abortion rights activists in East Africa
Erin Williams [she/her/elle] oversees the Constellations Fund at the Center for Cultural Power that aims to resource BIPOC and LGBTQI artist disrupters and culture bearers across the U.S. fighting for social justice and liberation. Previously she was a Program Director at the Global Fund for Women and focused on sexual and reproductive justice and feminist technology and digital justice strategies globally. As a radical listener, trust-based grantmaker, and change manager, she has 20 years of experience fighting for social, gender and racial justice including at the International Women’s Health Coalition in NYC and World University Service of Canada in Gaborone, Botswana. Erin served as the first Executive Director of the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women in Ottawa, Canada and worked to secure funding to support women with incarcerated loved-ones in Kingston, Jamaica. Erin has direct intervention experience in women’s shelters, as a pregnancy options counselor, and as a youth sexuality educator. Erin holds a BA in Communications and Ethics, Society and Law from the University of Toronto, a Master of Social Work from Carleton University, and a recent graduate certificate from Columbia University in Principles and Practices of Organization Development. She speaks English and French, and can be found in yoga studios, on dance floors, or soaking in conscious theatre by fellow women of color. Erin is motivated by cultivating deep relationships, and tries her best to live up to these words by Kay Ryan, “Intention doesn’t sweeten. It should be picked young and eaten.”
