Our speaker at this week's Brown Bag Lunch is Lisa Davis.  Ms Davis, an international human rights attorney, received her J.D. from CUNY Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the New York City Law Review, and her M.A. in International Policy from American University.  For the last seven years, she has worked as a women's human rights advocate and consultant and has written extensively on international women's human rights issues.

MADRE works to communicate the impacts of policies of governments, international financial institutions, and other centers of power on women and their communities worldwide and to formulate and press for alternatives to destructive policies.  The group brings women who work for social change at the community level into the process of creating and monitoring international law by offering training and opportunities for women to advocate for their rights in local, national, and international arenas.  These trainings enable women to infuse local human rights struggles with the power of international law and hold their governments accountable to international human rights standards.   In addition, the participation of community-based women's human rights activists in the international arena ensures that the perspectives and needs of historically marginalized women are incorporated into international laws and processes.