The following are posts from Amanda Sullivan, representing Equality Now, which were posted to the CSTS forum during the Event Organizer consultation in late August.
"I just want to weigh in here that, yes, of course we are ok with whatever you all come up with. You do all the work, every year, year after year, and the results have been mind-blowing, spectacular and have helped us more than I can tell you. Equality Now is small, you know, and because of that we do not like to duplicate efforts on any given issue. Violence against women and girls is ubiquitous, a worldwide epidemic and we would like to take up so much more but we simply can't. Rather we work with our grassroots partners in the other countries to strategically support their efforts for justice for women and girls. An exception to the Action campaigns is our Levenson work (UK), also our work on pressing for a UN Committee on Discrimination against women in law put in place to monitor countries, as we believe that laws must be enacted and enforced, also our SOAWR work in Africa. These are broader issues and are just as strategically important as our campaign work. Again, we always work in collaboration with our partners and focus on pressuring governments through strategic litigation, to enact and enforce laws protecting their women and girls.
We are also always sorely in need of funding, especially now as we are going through a period of major growth that is necessitating a lot of adjustments and organizational changes. It was bound to come eventually, we are 20 years old now and growth was inevitable, and is a good sign! Obviously, we need funding in order to realize that growth (85-88% of our funds go to our programs) and I hope you ALL know how extremely and deeply grateful we are for your extraordinary support and efforts on our behalf.
Having said all that I want to also reassure you that we totally understand your desire to support your local charities, and how important doing so - in varying degrees - might be to all of you. I believe it is a tribute to who you are, every city uniquely so.
I hope, WE hope that you are all able to come to a compromise that is satisfactory to everyone. I am sure that you will be able to. All of you do this every year for FREE. The way I see it is, you do it because you love Joss, you love the crew, the series and the movie, you love getting together and pulling it together and celebrating. You love the community of CST. It truly is a unique and brilliant example of people working together for a common purpose. I have witnessed it firsthand and it is very, very SHINY.
One more thing, I hope you won’t ever hesitate to come to me with any questions about anything involving Equality Now and/or our history with Joss, with CSTS, our future, anything.
With all my warmest wishes, Mandy"
"Just to let you know, EN was/is part of that coalition re: representation of women in the media, from the very beginning. Our London office director was quoted often in your press and had a fantastic piece in the Guardian. There is a lot that we do that we do not do Action Campaigns on, this being a prime example. Everything we do is up on the website."
"We cannot register in Canada without 'bricks and mortar'."
_________________ Global Steering Committee Chair (2010-2015) Global Team: Comms Lead (2009) Local Event Organiser/Crew: Melbourne (2007, 2009-2017), Vancouver (2006) New Melbourne Browncoats Inc - newmelbournebrowncoats.com
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