Our Story
Chalk Back is a global youth-led movement turned 501c3 nonprofit organisation built from the ground up.
Our History
Our Future
We chalk back for a world where everyone has equal and safe access to public space, free from harassment and violence.
Chalk Back’s activities provide agency to young people - particularly girls, young women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and BIPOC - to resist gender-based harassment and participate in gender justice activism. We chalk back for a world where young people are leading the resistance against gender-based violence and patriarchy, by speaking honestly from their experiences and using tools accessible to them.
We are guided by the following set of feminist principles in all aspects of our work:
Intersectionality
〰️
Disrupting Power
〰️
Intersectionality 〰️ Disrupting Power 〰️
Co-Creation
〰️
Collective Action
〰️
Co-Creation 〰️ Collective Action 〰️
Empathy
〰️
Respect
〰️
Empathy 〰️ Respect 〰️
Solidarity
〰️
Justice
〰️
Solidarity 〰️ Justice 〰️
Consent
〰️
Care
〰️
Consent 〰️ Care 〰️
Our Community
We are a transnational feminist community composed of powerful activists.
Board of Directors
-
Board Member (she/her)
Lina AbiRafeh is a global women's rights expert, speaker, and author with decades of experience worldwide in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, and more. Lina serves a range of organizations in a senior advisory capacity and sits on various international boards. She is also a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Lina is a global speaker, media voice, and author of three books. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her work including the Gender Equality Top 100 Worldwide.
-
Board Member (she/he/they)
Saúl is a community organiser and masculinities specialist. He works for Plan International as Global Lead, Gender Equality, Diversity and Decolonising and is a PhD student at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Feminist and Gender Studies. He is passionate about decolonisation and working with men for gender justice.
-
Secretary (she/her)
Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi is a globally recognised gender equality advocate with nine years of experience in deploying effective solutions to challenge systemic social barriers that promote violence against women and girls through policy and grassroots advocacy. As an SBCC expert, she has implemented public relations campaigns to improve SGBV knowledge, attitudes and practices and empower over 200,000 Nigerians to become more aware of their rights to fight against inequalities and violence in their daily lives.
Oluwaseun is the Founder of Stand to End Rape Initiative (STER), a leading social enterprise that adopts a comprehensive approach to working with communities to generate sustainable homegrown
solutions and partners with local and national groups on systems-level prevention and intervention while providing holistic psychosocial support to survivors in Nigeria. Through STER, she fosters collaborates
with and scales the capacity of state and non-state actors to implement policies and programs that advance women's rights and safety. In 2019, Oluwaseun was instrumental in the Emmy-nominated BBC hashtag#SexforGrades documentary, which highlighted sexual harassment in Nigerian tertiary institutions
and fostered national policy and programmatic actions.
To exemplify her leadership, she is a Founding Member of the Feminist Coalition and NalaFEM, two feminist movements advancing women’s rights, access and accountability measures to mandate that African governments uphold their GEF commitments.
In recognition of her work, Oluwaseun was named the 2023 Study UK Awards Social Action winner, 2020 Global Citizen Prize Nigeria’s Hero Award, 2020 Young Leader for the SDGs, Commonwealth Young Person of 2019 and TIME 100 NEXT.
-
Board Member (she/her)
Awino Pauller Musyoka is a Kenyan feminist dedicated to promoting gender equality and ending gender based street harassment. With a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Psychology, she uses her activism to shine a light on the power imbalances that exist in society.
She loves to read and write, and is passionate about promoting the rights and freedoms of women and people of colour worldwide. From Nairobi to New York, she uses her writing to examine the intersection of power and gender and how it manifests in a variety of ways, including in environmental movements.
Her professional experience involves working with NGOs empowering women in Morocco, volunteering with children’s organizations promoting the culture of reading in Kenya, and enabling diplomacy as a member of the UNAIDS Secretariat in Geneva. As founder of CatcallsofKenya, Awino believes that changing the culture around catcalling is an integral part of ending gender based violence and other entrenched gender imbalances.
-
Board Chair (she/her)
Wevyn is an International Development Strategist, Thought Leader and Social Entrepreneur working at the Intersection of Gender, Peacebuilding and Digital Technologies. She is the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Arctive Citizens, a dynamic civic tech platform that empowers individuals and communities through public education, open source ideation and community engagement to address pressing social challenges. She has over 8 years of extensive experience translating complex policies, ideas and research into actionable practice for diverse audiences at the local, national and global level. Wevyn has received recognition from the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), and other key institutions for her work leading impactful campaigns and projects in Africa, South Asia and New York. She provides strategic leadership and advisory to the World Bank, Chalk Back Org and ISIRIKA Kenya.
-
Board Member (she/her)
Bio tbd.
-
Founder + Treasurer (she/her)
Sophie is a gender justice activist, chalk artist and founder of Catcalls of NYC and Chalk Back. She is an inaugural fellow of the Vital Voices and Tresemme Leadership Incubator for young women. She has presented her work to students at Juilliard, Pratt University, Plan International's Youth Leadership Academy, The Think Peace Workshop for Girls, and YouthBridge Munich. She has given talks at UNESCO's Media Information Literacy Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, and UNESCO’s World Cities Day in Paris, France. She is involved in local efforts to combat gender-based violence through public art, education, and events.
-
Board Member (she/her)
Vidushi is a south asian feminist Artivist, Illustrator and Visual designer. Her work revolves around gender justice, south asian identity, access and right based content. She has been a communication and design consultant at multiple women rights organisations worldwide.
She works from her quaint studio in Jaipur, India with her team that includes disability right activists, women of colour and queer folks passionate about making the world an inclusive place - one image at a time.
Advisors
-
(she/her)
With over 15 years of leadership experience in the non-profit, multilateral, government, and social impact sectors, Jamira is a highly effective program designer, developer, policy researcher and analyst, and community and high-level stakeholder engagement specialist. She Has impacted communities across the US and 40+ countries through my work.
Jamira is the Worldwide Education Strategic Initiative Lead at Apple, whereshe spearheaded the development of the company's global strategy for engaging with government bodies, foundations, and education stakeholders. As Director of Social Impact North America at Adidas, Jamira led the ideation and implementation of community activations and donations for cultural heartbeats and significant sporting events. Additionally, Jamira was the Director of Youth Engagement & Skills at the Global Business Coalition for Education.
Jamira holds a BBA and has completed professional development courses in various areas. Currently, Jamira is a Civic Media Lab Fellow at USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and a German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network Fellow; previously, I was a Schultz Fellow at Summit, a Director's Fellow at MIT Media Lab and fellow with the American Council of Young Political Leaders.
-
(she/her)
Jeyda is a feminist artist and graphic designer with over a decade of experience working with nonprofit organisations. Her work is driven by a commitment to social justice, using multimedia techniques to create powerful, visually engaging designs that challenge systemic inequalities. Passionate about supporting collectives and causes, Jeyda’s art aims to spark conversation and inspire meaningful change.
-
(she/her)
Fatou Wurie is an award-winning scholar, social justice and feminist entrepreneur, and communicator. With 15 years of experience at the intersection of global development, public health in emergencies, and technology, she is a driving force for social change. As the founder and CEO of Youterus Health, she mobilizes global capital and political action to close critical data gaps in African women’s health. Fatou has shaped impactful development programs in roles with the UN, UNICEF, and the WHO Foundation. A TEDx speaker, Moth storyteller, and contributor to the New York Times bestseller "Occasional Magic," she blends design principles into her work, featured in the Routledge-published anthology "Design for Social Innovation." An Oxford alumna and current Harvard doctoral candidate, Fatou is committed to placing African women at the forefront of health policy, financing, and delivery.
-
(she/her)
Georgia is a feminist activist and strategist from Ireland bringing over 10 years’ experience in programming, strategy design and influencing, specialising in girl and young feminist organising. She was the first ever Head of Youth Movements at Plan International from where she designed their girl and youth collective action strategy and managed a portfolio of girl-centred programmes and advocacy strategies. Her background is in strategic influencing and partnerships with roles at Amnesty and Nike Foundation. Georgia provides tailored advice on how to better work with, resource and move power to social justice organisations and movements, particularly girl and young feminist groups. She is particularly interested in the role of intergenerational work and collective action for a more gender just world. This includes documenting intergenerational advocacy and participatory philanthropic approaches to inform more transformative practices. Recent clients and partners include: Purposeful/With and For Girls, Elevate Children Funder’s Group, Hilton Foundation, UN Foundation, Porticus, EMpower and Global Fund for Children. Georgia holds a Master's degree in Human Rights. She is a Trustee for Shaftesbury Young People’s Trust, which provides grants to youth-led and serving organisations in London.
-
(she/her)
Faye Orlove is an artist and activist living in Los Angeles, CA. In 2015, Faye founded the radical arts space Junior High. After directing the space for 8 years, Faye co-founded the creative agency Young Professionals and became a mother. @fayeorlove | fayeorlove.com
The Working Collective
-
Coming soon
-
Tbd
-
Tbd