Two University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students, Alison Domonoske ’15 and Josh King ’14, were awarded the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Fellowship awards by the advocacy organization WomenNC.
Founded in 2009, WomenNC is a non-profit organization focused on leading North Carolina’s youth in the elimination of injustice against women and girls at home and around the world. WomenNC’s signature leadership training program, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Fellowship, is awarded to college students each fall and culminates with presentations of original research at the United Nations annual global meeting on the status of women. Upon their return to North Carolina, the WomenNC ambassadors will share the global solutions and tactics that they learned from the conference.
This year’s class of fellows, which also includes students from North Carolina State University, Duke University and Meredith College, will immediately begin a series of workshops and training sessions while simultaneously developing original research related to this year’s theme, “Beijing + 20,” which focuses on the progress of women’s human rights through the lens of the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing and the subsequent Beijing Platform for Action.
Josh King is double majoring in psychology and sociology, while Alison Domonoske is pursuing a degree in global studies with a focus in international politics and Latin America. Domonoske expressed her enthusiasm about the award, saying, “I’m excited to work with the other fellows from across the Triangle and learn how women’s human rights can be applied in North Carolina. I still can’t believe I’ll be attending the Commission on the Status of Women in NYC and am very grateful to WomenNC and everyone who’s helped me along the way!”
King’s research project with WomenNC builds on prior work with another non-profit. “I became interested in the plight of sex workers – the focus of my research project – after serving as an outreach volunteer with the NC Harm Reduction Coalition,” King explained. “[WomenNC] provides access to a rich network of activists who are passionate about the same issues that I am. My long-term goal is to work in community mental health, providing culturally appropriate interventions for queer youth, refugees and other underserved groups.”
“The quality and number of applications for our fellowship program increases each year,” explained Beth Dehghan, WomenNC president and founder. “Our committee was faced with a record number of highly-qualified, talented future leaders this year, making selection especially difficult.”
UNC Global has partnered with WomenNC to provide support for the 2015 Carolina fellows.
For more information, visit www.womennc.org.
