Indigenous Girls’ Movements: Strengthening Indigenous Systems & Self-Determination

Indigenous Justice Circle’s Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN), and Population Council’s GIRL Center are co-hosting an event on the sidelines of the 2024 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) titled “Indigenous Girls’ Movements: Strengthening Indigenous Systems and Self-Determination.”

The hybrid event will take place on April 15, 1:30–2:45 pm EDT. Guests are invited to RSVP to attend either in-person or via livestream on Zoom. The in-person event will be held at 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd Ave between 47th & 48th St), Population Council, 3rd Floor.

The panel will identify structural drivers of Indigenous female exclusion and describe solutions to increase their participation and influence in health, education, economic and political systems, while addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ (MMIWG2S) crisis.

Guests will hear from Indigenous female and 2SLGBTQ+ speakers and allies of the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) and Indigenous Young Leaders programs of the Indigenous Justice Circle, the Abriendo Oportunidades program of the Population Council’s GIRL Center, UNPFII and Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties.

Moderated by Tina Rosenberg of Solutions Journalism Network, speakers will include:

• Kelly Hallman (Cherokee Nation), Founder and CEO, Indigenous Justice Circle

• Angel del Valle, Guatemala Country Representative, Population Council

• Hannah McGlade (Noongar), UNPFII Member, Australia, Independent Indigenous Appointed Expert

• River Webb (Nez Perce/Sac and Fox), International Native Two-Spirit Ambassador

• Kashmir Bowser (Upper Cayuga, Turtle Clan of Six Nations), Niagara Clubhouse Manager, Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties

• Callie Pettigrew (Cherokee Nation), MPH Candidate, Columbia University

Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) and Indigenous Young Leaders are projects of Indigenous Justice Circle (IJC), a Native American-female-led organization working to redirect and strengthen systems to increase benefits to Native American communities by investing in the rising generation of Indigenous girls and 2SLGBTQ+. Working throughout Indian Country and headquartered in New York City with satellite offices in Oklahoma and Arizona, IJC undertakes gender-transformative tribally-driven participatory program design, implementation and research to advance gender justice, increase health equity, and combat the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit (MMIWG2S) epidemic.

The Guatemala-based Abriendo Oportunidades (AO) program within the Population Council’s GIRL Center, increases Indigenous Mayan girls’ social support networks and access to role models and mentors, building critical life and leadership skills and providing hands-on professional training and experiences. Over the past 20 years, AO girl group mentors have created an inter-generational cascading leadership structure, with these Indigenous female leaders going on to become integral change-makers within government, and various social movements including climate change, Indigenous rights and women rights and others.

IJC’s work is made possible by generous donors including Ford Foundation, The Summit Foundation, Marty Jeiven, ForGood Fund, Flora Family Foundation, Dr. Estelle Bender, The Pad Project, among others. The AO program is made possible by the Summit Foundation, Tinker Foundation, the Jerry Cunningham Family, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Coca-Cola FEMSA, and the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.Estelle Bender, The Pad Project, among others. The AO program is made possible by the Summit Foundation, Tinker Foundation, the Jerry Cunningham Family, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Coca-Cola FEMSA, and the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.