Our Team
Leymah Gbowee, Founding Executive Director
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a peace activist, trained social worker, and women’s rights advocate. She serves as the Executive Director of the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace. Ms. Gbowee’s leadership of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace—which brought together Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s civil war in 2003—is chronicled in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, and in the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. She is the founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, the founding head of the Liberia Reconciliation Initiative, and the co-founder and former Executive Director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-A). She previously served as Executive Director of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at Columbia University. She is also a founding member and former Liberian Coordinator of Women in Peacebuilding Network/West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP). A global thought leader and international facilitator for peace, Ms. Gbowee has been named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women by Avance Media, one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy, by Apolitical, and one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, Fortune Magazine. In 2020, Ms. Gbowee was honored with the Martin & Coretta King Inaugural Peace & Justice Award. She advises numerous organizations working for peace, women’s rights, youth, and sustainable development, and currently serves as a Member on the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation, as a Juror for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and as a Trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Ms. Gbowee holds an M.A. in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University, and has received a number of honorary degrees from universities around the world. See her full bio.
Mikaela Luttrell-Rowland, Ph.D., Managing Director
Mikaela Luttrell-Rowland, Ph.D. serves as the Managing Director of the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace. The Institute works to reimagine policymaking from the perspective of social movements, bringing those most impacted by crisis and conflict into the process of policy development. She previously served as Director of the Women, Peace and Security Program at Columbia University, where she worked closely with grassroots changemakers from around the globe and probed new methods for listening to, and disseminating, lessons from their everyday activism. Having held leadership roles in varied and complex settings, Luttrell-Rowland brings years of strategic vision, leadership, and program design experience. Luttrell-Rowland holds a Ph.D. in International Development from the University of Bath, and an M.Sc. in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. She has scholarly expertise in the areas of economic justice, participatory practices, human rights, and Latin America. Her research has been supported by numerous fellowships, including the United Kingdom’s British Council, Harvard Law School’s Institute for Global Law and Policy, the Law and Society Association, the Harvard Kennedy School, Society of Latin American Studies, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship. In 2018, she served as a Delegate to Canada’s G7 Presidency, where she supported the work of Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee on the Gender Equality Advisory Council (2018-19). Her latest research and teaching have been in the areas of gender justice, participatory methods, inequality, and social movements. Her book Political Children: Violence, Rights and Labor in Peru was published with Stanford University Press in 2023. See her full bio.
Molly Bangs, Program Manager
Molly Bangs (she/her) is the Program Manager at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace, where she previously served as the Program Officer. She has nearly a decade of work experience as a writer, researcher, and advocate in human rights, intersectional gender equity, and sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Molly previously served as the director of the reproductive rights organization, Equity Forward. She is an alum of The Century Foundation, the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, and the New York City Council. Molly’s written work on domestic and foreign human rights policy has been published in news outlets including VICE, Truthout, and the Huffington Post. Molly graduated cum laude from Connecticut College with a B.A. in government and a minor in Hispanic studies; she holds an M.A. in political science from Columbia University, where her research focused on international human rights law and women, peace, and security. See her full bio.
Our Fellows
Francesca Phanius, 2024 Student Fellow
Francesca Phanius was a Student Fellow at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace in Fall 2024. Francesca will graduate from Brooklyn College in 2025 with a BA in Political Science.
Diana Reyes, 2024 Student Fellow
Diana Reyes was a Student Fellow at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace in Fall 2024. Diana will graduate from Brooklyn College in 2025 with a BA in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Spanish Translation.
Sandrine Sugi, 2024 Student Fellow
Sandrine Sugi was a Student Fellow at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace in Fall 2024. Sandrine holds a BS in Sociology and Public Health from the University of Minnesota; she will graduate from CUNY School of Law in 2026 with a JD.
Mira Naseer, 2023-24 Fellow
Mira Naseer was a Fellow at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace in 2023-24. She most recently worked at an international human rights organization in London, UK, focusing on financial accountability and reparations for human rights abuses. Mira also has experience in asylum and immigration law, and international strategic litigation. Mira holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an MPhil in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
Shelby Logan-Reese, 2022-23 Fellow
Shelby Logan-Reese was a Fellow at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace in 2022-23. A Juris Doctor and proud alumna of the CUNY School of Law Class of 2022 and its Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic, Shelby served as Executive Director of the International Law Society and founded CUNY’s first International Law Journal. Prior to law school, Shelby earned her Bachelor’s Degree from George Washington University where she published her dissertation on her research in Gulu, Uganda on post-conflict generational trauma and gender-based violence. She has worked at the Global Justice Center, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Her passion lies in the international gender justice field and has been published in spaces like Ms. Magazine, advocating for accountability of international crimes. When she is not working, she is an avid photographer and baker which she enjoys sharing with her family and friends. See her full credentials and publications.
Our Advisory Board
Michelle J. Anderson
Since 2016, Michelle J. Anderson has been the 10th president of Brooklyn College. Under her leadership, the campus established the Brooklyn College Cancer Center, initiated the “We Stand Against Hate” program, diversified the faculty and college leadership, and opened the Immigrant Student Success Office. She is a leading scholar in the law of rape and sexual assault. Her research traces the history and evolution of rape law and offers new models for reform. She is an adviser to the American Law Institute’s project to reform the Model Penal Code on sexual offenses and a consultant to its campus sexual misconduct project. Prior to becoming president of Brooklyn College, she served dean of the CUNY School of Law for a decade. President Anderson previously taught law at CUNY School of Law, Villanova University School of Law, Yale Law School, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and Georgetown University Law Center. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Paisley Currah
Professor Paisley Currah is a Professor of Political Science and Women’s & Gender Studies at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Currah has written widely on transgender issues, including on topics such as discrimination and sex reclassification, and the transgender rights movement. He is the author and editor of over 30 articles and books and co-founder of the leading journal in transgender studies, TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. Currah’s newest book is Sex Is Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity. You can find out more about his work, read articles and watch interviews at paisleycurrah.com.
Sudha Setty
Sudha Setty joined CUNY School of Law as dean and professor of law on July 1, 2022. She is the first person of South Asian descent to lead a CUNY campus and is the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as dean of any ABA-accredited law school. Under her leadership, CUNY Law has revived the W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human and Civil Rights, launched the path-breaking First Impressions Youth Legal Collaborative, and created a new Emerging Needs Clinic to serve asylum seekers and other vulnerable New Yorkers. Dean Setty is a nationally recognized scholar in national security and comparative law. She currently serves on the Deans Steering Committee of the Association of American Law Schools, on the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, and on the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. Dean Setty, JD, previously served as dean of Western New England University School of Law.
Charisa Kiyô Smith
Chariso Kiyô Smith is a professor of law at the City University of New York School of Law. She was previously the William Hastie Fellow at Wisconsin Law School, where she received an LL.M., taught Introduction to Juvenile Justice, and lectured in the Family Court seminar prior to joining the CUNY Law faculty. A graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, Professor Smith teaches courses including Domestic Relations and the interdisciplinary, intersectional Family Law Practice Clinic. Her scholarship investigates themes such as personal capacity for decision-making and caregiving, moral and legal responsibility, harm, and remedy. Focusing on two broad areas—the criminalization of youth behavior and the threat to parental rights among those with mental disabilities—Professor Smith has published widely and has received numerous distinctions. Continuing her study of Zen Buddhism for over ten years, Professor Smith encourages mindful lawyering and balance in legal education.
Yifat Susskind
Yifat Susskind, MADRE Executive Director, partners with women’s human rights activists from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa to create programs in their communities that meet urgent needs and create lasting change. A lifelong promoter of human rights, Yifat leads MADRE’s combined strategy of community-based partnerships and international human rights advocacy. Under Yifat’s leadership, MADRE has enabled thousands of local women’s rights activists in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Colombia, Haiti, Sudan, Nepal, the Philippines, and beyond to survive and recover from war, climate breakdown, and their aftermath. In partnership with MADRE, women around the world rebuild their lives and communities, making their voices heard in the halls of power—from village councils to the UN Security Council. Yifat’s debut 2019 TED Talk, “Think Like a Mother,” has reached over 2,000,000 views. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Harvard International Review, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, N.Y.U. Journal of International Law and Politics, and others. Yifat has been a featured commentator on CNN, NPR, and BBC Radio.
Angie Wang
Angie Wang is a change-maker dedicated to amplifying the voices of historically marginalized communities as a force for change. For over two decades, she has worked at the intersection of advocacy, culture change, and social movements, lifting the stories of people and communities as public platforms for justice, equity, and peace. She specializes in taking visionary, cause-driven organizations to the next level by building a strong foundation that sustains – and grows – their social impact. As Chief of Staff for Abigail E. Disney, she provides strategic management and operational and leadership support to the Daphne Foundation, Level Forward, Peace is Loud and Fork Films. Angie was the executive director of Peace is Loud, an organization that harnesses the power of storytelling to ignite strategic, collective action for justice grounded in equity and care. Previously, she managed the global outreach campaign for Women War & Peace, the groundbreaking five-part documentary series about women on the frontlines of peacebuilding.
Deborah Zalesne
Deborah Zalesne is a professor of law at the City University of New York School of Law where she teaches in the areas of contract, corporate, and commercial law. Her current area of scholarship involves family, intimate contracts, and the market. She has also published and presented extensively in the areas of legal pedagogy and learning theory, as well as gender discrimination and sexual harassment law. She co-wrote a book with David Nadvorney (published by Carolina Academic Press) entitled, “Teaching To Every Student: Explicitly Integrating Skills and Theory into the Contracts Class,” and is a member of the author team for the fifth edition of the casebook “Contracting Law,” also published by Carolina Academic Press. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Legal Education.
Our Faculty Affiliates
Noami Braine, Professor, Sociology, Women’s and Gender Studies, Brooklyn College
Matthew Charity, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Ally Coll, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Lisa Davis, Dean of Clinics and Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Namulundah Florence, Professor, Secondary Education, Women’s and Gender Studies, Brooklyn College
Anna Gotlib, Associate Professor, Philosophy, Brooklyn College
Janet Johnson, Professor, Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies, Brooklyn College
Bernadita Llanos, Professor, Modern Languages and Literatures, Women’s and Gender Studies, Brooklyn College
Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, Professor, Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies, Brooklyn College