WELCOME

Lara Fergus, PhD

Lara has over 20 years of experience in policy, research and advocacy for prevention of gender based violence (GBV) and intersectional gender justice. She has previously held a number of executive and leadership roles: as Co Director (with Muthoni Muriithi) of the Accelerator for GBV Prevention, coordinating advocacy for 'more and better' investment in evidence-based and practice-informed prevention work; as Director of Research, Knowledge and Advocacy at Mama Cash, leading work to strengthen knowledge-based case-making for the sustainable resourcing of feminist activism; and as Director of Policy and Evaluation at Our Watch (and prior to that with the Victorian Government), leading the co-design of domestic prevention of violence against women frameworks and policy in Australia. Lara has held a number of advisory roles with UN Women, including assisting preparations for the 57th Commission on the Status of Women as Expert Consultant and Rapporteur on prevention of violence against women and girls, and has undertaken major design and research projects for international development and rights agencies in Asia and the Pacific. Lara has facilitated the co-design of frameworks, policies and programs with development agencies, governments, researchers and activists, at global, national and sub-national levels - most recently with the EU/UN Spotlight Initiative. Lara sees the work of ending gender based violence as a necessarily intersectional project, one that must be grounded in collaboration and bridge-building between sectors and constituencies - none more urgently than those working for environmental justice and a just transition