All Past Events

As we celebrate 100 years of votes for women, join historians Cathleen Cahill and Bill Green for a conversation about the critical leadership roles women of color and Indigenous women played in the suffrage movement here in Minnesota and across the U.S. This event is co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota's History Department and American Indian Studies Department.

Feminists have long been on the front lines of environmental and climate justice activism. In honor of International Women’s Day, this interactive exploration of climate work centered feminism at the heart of the movement. The purpose of the event was to build connections, explore community, and engage with students, activists, scholars, and local climate leaders.

Featured Participants

• Mysti Babineau | MN350
• Karen Clark | Women’s Environmental Institute
• Michelle Garvey | UMN Sustainability Studies
• Fayola Jacobs | UMN Humphrey School of Public Affairs
• Juwaria Jama | Minnesota Youth Climate Strike
• Bonnie Keeler | UMN Center for Science, Technology & Environmental Policy
• Taysha Martineau | Gitchigumi Scouts
• Cecilia Martinez | Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy
• Ashley O’Neill Prado | Tamales y Bicicletas
• Carissa Slotterback | UMN Humphrey School of Public Affairs
• Elle Thoni | In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre

Indigenous women have always been the backbone and heartbeat of their families and communities. They channeled their history of leadership into victories at the state and federal levels during the 2018 election, marking a major turning point for their political representation. Indigenous women are poised, now more than ever before, to use their strengths to shape the future of their communities and awaken the nation. This daylong celebration of Indigenous women’s leadership featured speakers, artists, and food.

Featured Speakers

• Melanie Benjamin, chief executive, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
• Rep. Ruth Buffalo, North Dakota House District 27
• Sharon Day,  Indigenous Peoples Task Force
• Alexis Davis, Turtle Mountain Youth Council
• Jayme Davis, Native Governance Center
• Karen Diver, Faculty Fellow, Inclusive Excellence for Native American Affairs, College of St. Scholastica
• Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant governor, Minnesota
• Jodi Gillette, Indigenous Peoples Initiatives, Wend Ventures
• Vanessa Goodthunder, Dakota Immersion Early Head Start and Head Start
• Lourdes Tibán Guala, UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues, Ecuador
• Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein, Minnesota House District 41B
• Brooke LaFloe, Young Women's Initative, YWCA
• Anne McKeig, associate justice, MN Supreme Court
• Jaidyn Probst, MN Young Women's Cabinet
• Prairie Rose Seminole, American Indian, Alaska Native Ministries, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Tina Smith, US senator, Minnesota

Violence against women and girls is one of the greatest violations of human rights in the world. According to the World Health Organization, 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical violence, and 30 percent of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence inflicted by their intimate partner. Yet more than one billion women lack legal protection from domestic violence.

In response to this pandemic of violence, more than 2,000 organizations and activists around the world have formed the coalition “Everywoman, Everywhere” that is advocating for an international treaty to end violence against women and girls worldwide. Activists from Minnesota-based NGO, Global Rights for Women, with the support of UMN students, have drafted a concept paper supporting the idea. But others question whether such a treaty is needed. And is it politically viable in the current global political context, in which we have seen a retreat from multilateralism?

This panel discussion, co-hosted by the Human Rights Center and the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy features the following guests:

• Francisco J. Rivera Juaristi, Member of Everywoman, Everywhere and associate clinical professor, Santa Clara University School of Law
• Helen Rubenstein, senior counsel, Global Rights for Women
• Marsha Freeman, senior fellow, Human Rights Center, University of Minnesota Law School
• Moderated by Christina Ewig, faculty director of the Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy 

Twin Cities community members and University of Minnesota faculty celebrate the work of nine community-university collaborative teams who were granted seed funding to support projects related to immigration and racialized surveillance, self-care and wellness, and education. The program includes:

• A welcome from Provost Karen Hanson
• Presentations from Women and Girls of Color Engagement and Research Initiative award recipients
• Opportunities for interaction among participants

Participants share ideas about how the University of Minnesota can support engaged research related to women and girls of color and Indigenous women and girls in the future. 

Speaker: Eliana Villar
Brookings Institution Echidna Scholar
Former Head, UN Women, Peru

How can educational policy be designed to address intersecting forms of inequality? Peru promotes inclusion, gender equality, and non-discrimination as key pillars of its public policies at all levels. However, while the state has made important efforts to include indigenous populations, less attention has been given to Afro-Peruvians. In this presentation, Brookings Institution Echidna Scholar, Eliana Villar Márquez will highlight why policy needs to focus on Afro-Peruvians, and Afro- Peruvian girls specifically. Afro-Peruvians make up roughly 9 percent of Peru’s population and have experienced ongoing poverty and discrimination. Among Afro-Peruvians, it is Afro-Peruvian girls, however, who are most impacted due to the intersections among race, gender and poverty. A principle result is lesser access to quality public education.