Chairperson
Supriti Dhar is an ambitious and passionate journalist with great communication skills, who has been striving to make a difference. She has worked for more than 20 years with various media houses including BBC Radio Services. A dedicated human rights activist, Supriti's areas of interest are, ensuring the rights of women, refugees, religious minorities, and indigenous communities. She has founded the online portal Women Chapter in 2013 with the goal of giving the women of Bangladesh an online platform to express their views on topics related to equality and feminism which were until then considered taboo in contemporary Bangladeshi society and over the years the portal has developed an English section that now includes writings from women from all over the world. Supriti has also played a significant role in combatting the draconian Bangladeshi law called the Digital Security Act which resists the Freedom of Expression of freethinkers, dissidents, artists, and others and as a result of which has had to choose a life in exile. She has recently published a memoir of her days in the former Soviet Union. Fluent in native Bangla, English, Russian and Now learning Swedish language, Supriti includes travelling, meeting people, and knowing other cultures among her most favourite hobbies. Supriti is currently working with SAC (Swedish Art Council) as a freelance Consulting Expert. In her personal life, she is a single mother with two children and a cat and dog lover.
Member
Camilla Carlsson is the CEO for Coompanion Cooperative Development Agency Östergötand. Within the organization, she has also worked as an adviser and project leader since 2002. The projects run by Coompanion Östergötland focus on employment, integration of young people and work-integration as well as social enterprises. As a project leader and CEO for Coompanion Östergötland, she has worked on several EU projects, granted by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth as well as the Swedish ESF Council. Working together with public and local authorities is a large part of Camilla’s assignment. She also works a lot in cooperation with the international networks and in the field of social economics. Camilla is an experienced educator and has great experience working with people from different backgrounds, for example, people with disabilities, immigrants, people from segregated areas and people who have been unemployed for a long time. She has been involved in and worked together with several non-profit organisations, for example as the president for the Social Economy development partnership in Östergötland and the president for the micro-fund for the social economy. Camilla is a founding Director of Women Chapter International.
Member
About 22 years experience of working with National and International NGOs strengthened her professional competencies. Have gathered an expertise in the areas of- Gender and development, Women economic & social Empowerment, Climate Change and women livelihood, Reproductive health, Policy Advocacy, training, research, development of IEC / BCC/ learning materials, project management, networking, partnership, leadership development and capacity building. Exposed to a wide range of development discourse including gender, reproductive health, climate change, policy advocacy, governance, and social accountability with a human right based approach. Served prominent national development organizations such as- BRAC, PROSHIKA and PRIP Trust. During the tenure, worked with a range of national and international organizations like- JOHN HOPKINS University, IPPF, UNDP-CHTDF, project of Asian Development Bank, Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, South Asia Region (ANSA-SAR) Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) TDH, Netherland, Nari Pakkha and different Government Ministries. Over the years, she has been conducting participatory experiential and capacity building workshop, training for professionals and entrepreneurs at national and international levels. Also participated various international conference like ICPD 25 + in Kenya 2019, Human right convention at Geneva 2015, International Family Planning Conference in Rwanda etc. Besides, she is a social scientist by education. Also accomplished master’s on Sociology from Dhaka University. Later accomplished another master’s in development studies (major in gender and policy) from Bath University, UK.
Member
Previously a filmmaker, Fredrik Elg now specializes in issues concerning democracy, inclusion and freedom of speech, specifically in the arts. He has worked with ICORN cities of refuge for the Swedish Arts Council, Malmö City and partnered with several global organizations working with democracy and artistic freedom. Fredrik has conceptualized and launched the Safe Haven network for creative professionals under threat. He is one of the founders of the non-profit organization Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT). He has studied arts, journalism and social studies at Lund University, Malmö University and at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He spearheaded the feasibility study for a new Swedish National Museum for Democracy and Migration in Malmö 2016, whereafter he co-managed the launching of the Museum of Movements (MoM) in Sweden – the result of the feasibility study. He is presently active as a strategic developer for democracy and human rights for the Malmö City Libraries. He is also commissioned to develop an institute for oral storytelling for UNESCO-accredited Land of Legends in Småland, Sweden. He is an active member of PEN Sweden/Malmö, a board member of Swedish ICOM and is proud to have recently been appointed a board member of Women Chapter International (WCI).
Member
A Syrian/ Swedish poet, author, translator, and journalist. She arrived in Sweden in February 2018 as an ICORN guest writer. She studied English literature at AL Baath University and had a diploma in education from the same university in Syria. She had a long experience in journalism in many different press and newspapers. She has published five poetry books, three short stories, and one novel. In 2019, her first non- fiction novel was translated into Swedish and published: När vinden exploderar mot min hud (2019), Teg publishing, Sweden. Most of her poetry was translated into French in three books published in Paris and into Swedish, English, Catalan, Persian, and Spanish. Her publications focus mainly on women’s affairs in society and human relations, more broadly, freedom, war, love, nature, and Sufiism.
Lead projects
Ainoon Naher, PhD Professor, Department of Anthropology Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh Mobile: +88 01711 197 960 Email: anaher@juniv.edu&ainoon.naher@gmail.com Date of Birth: 10th December 1968 Professional Appointment: Faculty at the Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, since May 1992 Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba till 2027 Visiting Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Vienna, Austria (March 2024) Visiting professor: University of Zurich, Switzerland March -June 2016 Visiting Professor: Martin-Luther University, Halle, Germany, Oct-Nov 2012 Education: PhD, Magna cum laude, Anthropology, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany 2006 MA, Distinction, Social Anthropology, University of Sussex, UK, 1996 M.A, First Class (1st Position), Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, 1989 (held in 1991) Research Interest: Gender, Development, Islam, Identity politics, Ethnicity, Indigenous people, Climate change, Migration, etc. Fellowship& Scholarships: ISEK, University of Zurich, Switzerland ZEF (Center for Development Research, Bonn) Scholarship for PhD (University of Heidelberg) SSRC Doctoral Research fellowship ODA Scholarship for MA (University of Sussex)
Lead project
Sahar Burhan, a Swedish-Syrian Artist saharburhan@gmail.com
Expertise and Experience: As an active and highly engaged visual artist, she has a deep understanding of the power of art to connect people and foster social change. Some key highlights of her background include:
Artistic Producer at Arbetets Museum (2020-2021), where worked on creating artworks and exhibitions focused on digitalization, artificial intelligence, and social change, with a target audience of young people. Project Leader for Norrköping’s Light Festival (2019-2022), where she designed light installations that attracted diverse audiences and encouraged public interaction with art. Founder and Gallerist of Galleri Kameleont (2010-2022), where she produced and coordinated numerous art exhibitions, workshops, and educational events that facilitated dialogue and creative collaboration. Coordinator for the "Konsten att delta" initiative (2017-2018), a project aimed at supporting foreign-born artists in Sweden, fostering integration and creating new creative opportunities.Additionally, she has received several cultural awards, including the Moa Martinson Cultural Scholarship (2022), and a member of Konstnärernas Riksorganisation and Konstnärscentrum Mitt, further solidifying her commitment to the artistic community.