Introducing our new International President and Board of Directors!
At the Graduate Women International Triennial in November, Patrice Wellesley-Coles was elected as President of GWI for the coming triennium. A Lawyer and retired Tribunal Judge, Ms. Wellesley-Coles has been a trailblazer from her earliest years in school, in college and in her chosen profession of the law. Born and educated in Great Britain she has also worked and held leadership roles in her parents’ homeland of Sierra Leone. She is a human rights and women’s rights activist, and has engaged been active in GWI for over 30 years including a term of the Board of Directors in 1989 to 1992. She is the first woman of African heritage to occupy the presidency of GWI.
Over 300 GWI members from 40 GWI national federation and association countries Attended the Triennial – the first time it has been held completely online! Members had the opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from around the world in the Conversation Café, and in the General Assembly voting delegates elected the new GWI 2023-2025 Board of Officers and Committee members. A list is now available on the GWI website. Ten new policy resolutions were adopted and will be pursued by GWI member National Federations and Associations over the next three years. The Indian Federation of University Women, who cohosted the Triennial, provided a beautiful and uplifting cultural experience video. Attendees heard from five 2022 GWI Fellowship awardees and two teachers in training who are part of the Teachers for Rural Futures project in Uganda.
On the third day of the event, the Conference offered 14 workshops and 11 seminars on various topics in line with the theme of From Growth to Sustainability and the five subthemes.