Every Woman Matrix
The Every Woman Matrix empowers women everywhere to break the barriers of race and unite for the freedom and equality of all women.
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
– Lilla Watson
Every Woman Matrix inspires the necessary dialogues for women to converse about the global issues that greatly impact them and the lack of seats for them at the table for change. The Every Woman Matrix is the megaphone for women of color, sounding the alarm for the urgency of women everywhere to come together and disrupt patriarchal social norms that keep them down.
VISION
The Every Woman Matrix is a leading platform that converges women of color with other women to reinforce an agenda of gender equity and inclusion. It breaks barriers and promotes unity for stronger bonds and better peace and security. The Every Woman Matrix is about developing dialogues that launch the advancement of women everywhere.
MISSION
The Every Woman Matrix is committed to stand firm in creating an understanding between women of color and other women on issues of peace and security that affect them. It is determined to create the necessary momentum for forward movement in building stronger bonds based on honest and real exchange of ideas and experiences. Every Woman Matrix is creating change for all women, from this generation to the next.
Elmira Bayrasli
CEO & Co-Founder, Foreign Policy Interrupted
Julie Harris
Founder, Riverband Coaching
Rebecca Irby
President & Executive Director at PEAC Institute
Maryum Saifee
U.S. Diplomat
Quinn Wonderling
Senior Coordinator of United Nations & International Affairs for the General Board of Church and Society
Welcome to the Every Woman Matrix
THE EVERY WOMAN MATRIX MANIFESTO
Demanding Diversity in Gender Equity
“... if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
— LILLA WATSON
The Every Woman Matrix is an assembly of women who seek to bring diversity, inclusion, and equity into global issues on peace and security. We seek to create a welcoming space for others to step into, which aims to break down barriers between women of color and white women so that they can work alongside one another and promote the interests of all women. We understand that these conversations can be uncomfortable, but they are crucial to advancing gender equity. Because women of color identify as women and people of color within gender and racial discourses that respond to one or the other aspects of our identity, our voices are often undervalued in both. Women of color are the global majority and are disproportionately impacted by every major global issue. They must therefore lead, not merely validate, the making of policy agendas.
Gender equity challenges the systems of power that silence our voices, which should be at the forefront of leadership and decision-making. “Gender equity” means fair treatment for all people according to their respective needs in terms of rights, benefits, obligations, and opportunities. Gender diversity initiatives value and respect the unique attributes that women bring forward and ask that women be numerically represented in groups or organizations. “Gender diversity” encompasses diversity across gender identities and sectors of society, including women of color and women who come from different educational, economic, linguistic, and geographical backgrounds.
For white women at the forefront of progressive movements, it is not enough to identify as an ally while naively perpetuating systems rooted in white supremacy. Gender diversity that does not meaningfully include diverse perspectives is counter-productive to gender equity, and to women’s peace and security, worldwide. White women who desire to be allies must recognize the intersectionality of women of color and actively participate in difficult conversations about the lived realities of women of color. For this reason, we seek to develop a dialogue among women that provides a space for open and honest discussions about the unique challenges women of color face and how these challenges are different from our allies.
Women are not a monolith but are sources of creativity and knowledge that arise from the large swaths of individuals who make up our identity. Women are multidimensional and should not be homogenized in ways that perpetuate the gender binary. In fact, we are certain that the full realization of women’s equity cannot be achieved by perpetuating the false gender binary, which separates people into two categories for the comfort of the patriarchy. Creating a world that values a multiplicity of identities, individual experiences, and global transformation requires eliminating social constructs that force women to exist in an oppositional relationship to men, and to one another. When white women and women of color move out of individual silos and into the every woman matrix that is woven and stitched together, appreciating individuality, intersectionality, and the full spectrum of gender identities, we can work together to promote policies that benefit all women.
The Every Woman Matrix welcomes you into our expandable web, where self-awareness and dialogue bring alignment to policies that impact us all.