You are invited to a panel discussion featuring three international activists who are currently Writers In Residence at Hedgebrook.

This program is presented in partnership with three University of Washington departments:
• American Ethnic Studies
• Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies
• The Honors Program

It will be moderated by University of Washington Professor & Hedgebrook alumna Dr. LaShawnDa Pittman. In addition to being the Assistant Professor in the American Ethinic Studies Department, LaShawnDa is the founder of the first digital archive devoted to black grandmothers, RealBlackGrandmothers.com

Reception with refreshments to follow the panel discussion. Seating is limited, please RSVP now.

Featured Panel Discussion Guests

Ashima Kaul is a journalist, grassroots worker, policy analyst and social entrepreneur from India’s Kashmir Valley. She founded Yakjah Reconciliation and Development Network, primarily for youth. Most recently, she was a fellow for Women in Conflict 1325 for Beyond Borders Scotland. Ashima is a recipient of the 100 Women Achievers Award, granted by the government of India. She was a Woman PeaceMaker at the IPJ in 2014 and her story was documented there by Alison Morse, entitled A Slow Bloom.

Lucia Mimiaga - Mexico

Lucia is a journalist and directs the investigative unit of El Debate, a major newspaper in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa in Mexico. She is one of the only women journalists in the state, the birthplace of the violent Sinaloa drug cartel. Lucia is a journalist at El Debate – one of the top five most-read online newspapers in Mexico – her team has won major journalism awards, including for an article about the use of pesticides in agriculture that leads to cancer, and a piece on political corruption and the stealing of public lands for private use. In 2016, the team won the national prize of journalism, in the image category, for the video documentary “Ayotzinapa, la lucha sigue.”

Zandile Nhlengetwa - South Africa

Zandile is a peacemaker, teacher, community worker, and survivor of political violence that has affected her home province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Her work includes conducting trauma healing workshops for survivors and developing income-generating programs to alleviate the effects of poverty, as well as facilitating dialogue with traditional leaders to promote development in the province. She was a Woman PeaceMaker at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in 2008. Her story was documented there by Alicia Simoni and is entitled Deepening the Peace.

Emiko Noma, Senior Editor & Writer for The Institute for Peace and Justice

Emi oversees the production of print and online publications and contibutes to program development at the institute. She has written or edited more than 50 publications in the genre of creative nonfiction in the Women Peace Makers Program, while providing guidance and support to the program's professional writers as the document stories related to war, conflict, peace building, justices, reconciliation and trauma healing.