Brave Movement announces new Executive Director

Brave Movement is pleased to welcome international communications and campaigns leader, Anna Macdonald, as its first Executive Director

WASHINGTON, DC, October 17, 2022 – The Brave Movement announced today that international communications and campaigns leader, Anna Macdonald, has been named as its first Executive Director.Macdonald comes to Brave with 25 years of international advocacy experience working on social justice, human rights, arms control and disarmament. Most recently she served as Practitioner-in-Residence at Columbia Law School’s Human Right Institute and New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. Macdonald’s research investigated how international social movements achieve legal change, based on her own experience leading the campaign for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).Daniela Ligiero, Chair of the Brave Movement’s Global Steering Group and CEO of Together for Girls, which hosts the movement, said that Macdonald is the right leader, at the right time, to take the Brave Movement to the next level.“In our second year, the Brave Movement is evolving into a powerful, global movement to end sexual violence against children and adolescents,” Ligiero said. “We believe there is power in mobilizing globally, nationally and locally to put pressure on governments and decision-makers to take action, and Anna will be the leader to make that happen.”

Macdonald, a British national, previously served as Director of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Control Arms Campaign where she was a leader in the campaign for the ATT and coordinated work toward its universalization and effective implementation.

As the head of arms control at Oxfam, and as Co-Chair of the Control Arms Coalition, she led over 100 organizations to develop the international advocacy and campaign strateg, which ultimately secured the ATT, in addition to advising the United Kingdom government and building a coalition with progressive governments around the world.

Commenting on her new role, Macdonald said, “The Brave Movement’s network of survivors are an impressive group, and I look forward to working with them to end the scourge of sexual violence.”

Macdonald has a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Politics and Geography from Sheffield University and a Masters in Development Studies from Leeds University.

Rosalia Rivera, chair of the SAGE, the Brave Movement’s survivor board, welcomed the appointment.

“The Brave Movement’s global network brings together survivors and allies with a common mission to end all forms of sexual violence against children and adolescents everywhere,” Rivera said. “Anna Macdonald will help us build the movement into a global force. We will be silent no longer.”