OUR ADVISORY COUNCIL
Amar Nijhawan is a Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Center (IDRC), supporting action-research addressing inequalities in the care economy in 15 countries across Africa. Prior to IDRC, she worked at Oxfam Canada as a Women’s Rights Policy and Advocacy Specialist. Amar has a decade of experience advancing issues related to development policy, gender justice and economic inequality as a policy specialist, program manager, researcher, and advocate with a passion for feminist economics.
She has worked in a range of settings globally: from a grassroots human rights organization in New Delhi addressing gender-based communal violence and shelter access for unhoused women, to a think tank supporting projects that promote women-led small business across the Asia-Pacific, to advocating for investments in the care economy globally and lobbying for inclusive child care systems in Canada with a leading INGO. Amar holds an MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently based in Nairobi.
Caren Grown is a senior fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution and a leading global expert on gender and development. From 2014 to 2021, she served as global director for gender at the World Bank Group, where she shaped institutional strategies for gender equality. She has also held senior roles at USAID, the Levy Economics Instituteat Bard College, and the International Center for Research on Women. Grown has led major research initiatives, including projects on gendered asset gaps and taxation and gender equality, and is a founding member of the International Working Group on Gender and Macroeconomics (GEM-IWG) and Data2X.
Her publications—ranging from Taxation and Gender Equityto The Feminist Economics of Trade—have influenced both policy and academic debates. She has advised multilateral institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and multiple UN agencies. Recognized as one of Apolitical’s Top 100 Influencers in Gender Policy, Grown brings deep technical expertise in fiscal policy, public finance, and institutional reform. Her current work focuses on integrating gender equality into climate and development strategies, offering crucial insights for city networks advancing gender-equitable urban governance and inclusive economic development.
Diana Rodríguez Franco is the Special Advisor on Gender and Diversity to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank. With nearly 20 years of experience, she bridges rigorous academic training in sociology, economics, and law with hands-on leadership in public policy. As Bogotá’s Secretary for Women’s Affairs (2020–2023), she pioneered the internationally recognized “Care Blocks” model to reduce the burden of unpaid care work, alongside policies to strengthen women’s access to opportunities, and address gender-based violence. Her work mainstreamed gender perspectives across city governance and fostered collaboration with civil society and the private sector.
Previously, she served as Deputy Director of Dejusticia, where she led efforts in economic and environmental justice and international Human Rights. Rodríguez Franco holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from Northwestern University, and degrees in Law and Economics from Universidad de los Andes. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of the Care Economy and Room 5 on Gender Equality (17 Rooms). Her experience and vision make her a key contributor to city networks promoting inclusive urban governance and gender-transformative development strategies.
Erin Bromaghim is Chief of Staff to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky and brings extensive experience in urban governance, international affairs, and public sector innovation. Previously, she served as Deputy Mayor of International Affairs under Mayor Karen Bass and as Director of Olympic and Paralympic Development in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office. In these roles, she led efforts to ensure that the legacy of the 2028 Games advances sustainability, inclusion, and resilience for all Angelenos. As the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Fellow, she aligned the City’s strategic planning with the UN’s 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Before her work in city government, Bromaghim spent 14 years as a senior civilian at the U.S. Department of Defense, managing interagency efforts in defense, intelligence, and international security reform, including postings with the Navy, Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and NATO. She holds a B.A. from Wake Forest University, an M.A. from Georgetown University, and a certificate in advanced project management from Stanford. Her cross-sectoral experience and commitment to inclusive development make her a valuable contributor to city networks focused on gender equity, sustainability, and international cooperation.
Geeta Rao Gupta has served for over four decades as a leader, advisor, researcher, passionate advocate and international spokesperson for gender equality and women’s rights.Currently, she is Co-Founder of the Arch Collaborative, a strategic initiative to confront today’s challenges to women’s rights and gender equality in the United States and globally. Together with other colleagues who used to serve in the State Department, she also a co-founder of The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice, an initiative to develop a vision to center human rights in U.S. foreign policy.
From 2023 to 2025, Ambassador Rao Gupta held the position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State, a Senate-confirmed position. She previously served as Senior Fellow and led the 3D Program for Girls and Women at the United Nations Foundation, while also working as Senior Advisor to Co-impact, a global collaborative philanthropy. From 2012 to 2016, Ambassador Rao Gupta served as Deputy Executive Director, Programmes at UNICEF and prior to that as a Senior Fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Earlier, Ambassador Rao Gupta was President of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) for more than a decade.
Ambassador Rao Gupta has chaired and served on numerous boards and been the recipient of numerous awards, including InterAction’s Julia Taft Award for Outstanding Leadership and Harvard University’s Anne Roe Award. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Bangalore University and an M.Phil. and M.A. from the University of Delhi in India.
Leslie Kern PhD, is the author of three books about cities, including Gentrification Is Inevitable And Other Lies and Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World. Her latest book, with Dr. Roberta Hawkins, is Higher Expectations: How to Survive Academia, Make it Better for Others, and Transform the University. She was an associate professor of geography and environment and women’s and gender studies at Mount Allison University from 2009-2024.
Leslie’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, Vox, Bloomberg CityLab, and Refinery29. She is also an academic career coach, helping academics find meaning and joy in their work.
Mariana Flores Mayén is an independent consultant who served from 2010-2023 as Advisor to the General Coordination of International Affairs of the Government of Mexico City. In June 2012 she served the Regional Office for Latin America of the Global Fund for City Development (FMDV) as Project Director and from August 2016 as Regional Director. That year she also assumed the Regional Secretariat for North America of the World Association of Major Metropolises (Metropolis). In addition, she has coordinated and contributed to publications on local government external action and urban development financing.
Mariana has a Degree in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) and a Master in International Relations Studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
Sonia Ruiz García holds a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in Political Science from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her doctoral thesis (2013) received second prize in the Maria Ángeles Durán Award for Scientific Innovation in Women’s and Gender Studies (2014).
She has worked as a policy officer at the European Women’s Lobby in Brussels and as a political advisor in the Spanish government. For nine years, she directed Gender and Time Policies at the Barcelona City Council, where her team won an innovation award for pioneering gender impact assessments of local tax policies. A career civil servant with the Government of the Province of Barcelona, she now coordinates the area of Feminism and Equality.
Previously, Sonia was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Research Associate at the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes University. She has extensive experience teaching academic and practitioner-oriented courses and combines public sector work with research on intersectional public policy, social and economic justice, and digital transformation.
Active in feminist, international, and community-based organizations, she is deeply committed to social justice activism and is the proud mother of her daughter, Vera.
Get Involved
Successful movements rely on effective partnerships. Reach out - let's collaborate!