Organization founded Girls for Gender Equity | ||
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Joanne Ninive Smith is a Haitian-American feminist, human rights advocate and social worker from New York City, who currently resides in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She is the executive director and founder of the Brooklyn-based non-profit organization, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE). Smith has organized around the issues of gender equality, racial justice, school pushout, sexual harassment, police brutality, the criminalization of black girls in schools and violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.
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Education and career
In 1997 Smith received a bachelor's degree from Bowie State University and graduated from Louisiana State University's Pre-Doctoral Academy. In 2003, she received a Master of Social Work Degree from Hunter Graduate School of Social Work. In 2007, she received a degree in Non-Profit Management from Columbia Business School. Smith also completed post-graduate training at the Ackerman Institute of Family.
Smith worked as a case manager at Rheedlan for a year in 1998. In 1999, she worked as a Cobra Casework Supervisor at Brooklyn Aids Task Force for two years. In 2001, Smith became a Community Fellow for the Open Society Institute. And from 2002 to 2004, she worked as a therapist for the Ackerman Institute for the Family.
Girls for Gender Equity
With the support of the Open Society Foundation, in 2001 Smith founded Girls for Gender Equity with the mission to fight gender inequality. GGE empowers and strengthens local communities through their after school programs, community organizing, educational activities, and social work.
Young Woman's Initiative
Smith is the co-chair of the Young Woman's Initiative (YWI), because she felt that it was unfair that women and girls were left out of Mayor Bloomberg's 2011 Young Men's Initiative, so she responded by hosting town-hall meetings in New York City and a holding a National Listening Session on the needs of girls and women of color. These events were held to give women and girls a space to unite and discuss their personal experiences with racial discrimination, violence, and inequality, with the intention to show that their needs are just as pressing as the needs of boys and men of color.
Move to End Violence
Smith was a part of the first Move to End Violence cohort, a ten-year initiative created by the NoVo Foundation created to "strengthen the collective capacity to end violence against girls and women in the United States." In 2015, Smith was featured in a Move to End Violence public statement called "Building Inclusive Racial and Gender Justice Movements" in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Girl Movement
Smith moderated a panel on Philanthropy at Black Girl Movement conference on April 8, 2016.
Grant Makers for Girls of Color
In December 2014, Smith participated in the Why We Can’t Wait: Lessons from Listening to Girls of Color panel with Kimberle Crenshaw, Pamela Shifman, Andrea Lynch, LaShawn Jefferson and moderator Alvin Starks.
On May 19, 2016, she participated in Grant Makers for Girls of Color's panel on the future of the movement alongside Jody Myrum, Nakisha M. Lewis, Tynesha McHarris, Monica Dennis, Cidra Sebastian, Kameisha Smith, Monique W. Morris, Scheherazade Tillet, Gloria Malone, Shaena Johnson, LaShawn Jefferson, Elle Hearns, Makalya Gilliam-Price, and Samantha Master, M Adams.
Public Voices Fellowship
Smith was a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project, which is designed to increase the impact of underrepresented thinkers and leaders in the United States through educational programs on how to effectively build connections, speak in public, use the multiple media platforms to spread ideas, and create a legacy.
French-American Foundation
Smith is a Young Leader for the French-American Foundation. The program creates a platform for up-and-coming leaders in government, business, media, and the non-profit sector to discuss cross-cultural issues that affect France and the United States, like transatlantic policies, globalization.
Publications
In January 2011, Feminist Press published Smith's first book, Hey, Shorty!: A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets (ISBN 9781558616691). Smith co-authored this book with Meghan Huppuch and Mandy Van Deven.