Brown Bag Lunch with Columbia University Human Rights Advocates

Join us on Monday, April 3, from 1:00pm-2:15pm for a Brown Bag Lunch with representatives from Columbia's Human Rights Advocates program. Lunch will be provided.

Please register here ahead of the event.

Isabel Flota (she/her) is the Institutional Communication Officer for the International Indigenous Women’s Forum/Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indigenas (IIWF/FIMI). As a Maya woman who has experienced discrimination firsthand, she joined FIMI to advocate for Indigenous communities facing the same racism, discrimination, and alienation from their culture that she experienced. FIMI is a global network that mobilizes Indigenous women from all parts of the world to find consensus on agendas, coordinate objectives, and develops leadership. The organization bridges together women-led initiatives at the national, regional, and local levels They empower Indigenous women to lead international decision-making processes. By doing so, FIMI hopes to have the perspectives of Indigenous women consistently and seriously included in human rights discussions on an international level.

Isabel has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences from the Universidad de las Américas Puebla and a master’s degree in Political Journalism. She uses this knowledge in her role as the Institutional Communication Officer for FIMI. Her role allows her to spread Indigenous knowledge, promote education, and provide training on Indigenous communication media. Isabel has been part of the Alianza de Mujeres Indígenas de Centroamérica y México and founded the news agency Notimia for Indigenous and Afro-Descendant women. She continues on her advocacy path dedicated to intercultural communication and amplifying the voices of Indigenous women.

Jade Jacobs (they/them) is an LGBTQIA+ activist from South Africa. They joined the human rights movement because they want to help end the violence, fatal hate crimes, and human rights violations perpetrated against the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa. Jade’s passion for activism is rooted in their personal experience within the LGBTQIA+ community, which has motivated them to continue working towards creating more inclusive and supportive spaces. They act as both the Co-Director and the Knowledge and Research Manager of Iranti, a media-advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening African LGBTQIA+ rights movements. Iranti uses narratives to advance human rights by serving as a platform for various kinds of collective evidence-based documentation. By creating archives of human rights violations, engaging in policy reform, and influencing changes in legislature, Iranti helps strengthen movements at local, national, and regional levels. Through Iranti, different movements can help shift public dialogue and perceptions around sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

Through their different roles, Jade is working towards strengthening Iranti’s ability to document human rights violations and ensure the successful implementation of organizational strategy. Jade holds a master’s degree in South African Sign Language and a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Witwatersrand. In 2022, they attended the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association World Conference and are using their skills to work towards engaging LGBTQIA+ rights in high-level advocacy spaces.