OUR TEAM
HEIDI BASCH-HAROD | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Heidi is responsible for the vision, strategy, and international fundraising efforts that sustain and grow WVN’s programs, locally and globally. She is the founding editor of The WVoice, WVN’s digital publication.
Heidi brings her experience in international human rights advocacy from her work with Tibetan Nuns Project, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress, and the Palestine-Israel Journal. She is a scholar of the modern history of the Middle East and North Africa, specializing in women’s rights movements of the region with a master’s degree from Tel Aviv University. In 2017, her master’s thesis, The Kurdish Women of Turkey: Building a Nation, Struggling for Gender Parity, became a published monograph (Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies). Heidi’s written works can also be found in several publications, including: Open Democracy, Palestine-Israel Journal, Tel Aviv Notes, Working Mother, The Berkeley Daily Planet, The WVoice and the edited volume, Kurdish Awakening: Nationbuilding in a Fragmented Homeland. She is a producer of the award-winning feature documentary Honor Diaries, and the highly-acclaimed short film, In Search of America, Inshallah.
Considering herself a practical idealist, Heidi’s commitment to her work derives from knowing she is part of the living chain of people who dream and work for a better world and the future generations who will continue to do so.
SOIZIC PELLADEAU | DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
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Soizic is responsible for leading fundraising efforts, including grant writing, individual donations and corporate sponsors. Soizic also oversees evaluation, monitoring and reporting across programs, and assists with strategic planning.
Soizic brings with her extensive experience in gender-specific program design and evaluation. While getting her master’s degree in International Development and Political Science, she worked for Women’s Worldwide Web in Paris, and then for the Division for Gender Equality at UNESCO for two years, where she supervised and updated monitoring & evaluation processes. In Los Angeles, Soizic worked as a Program Officer for the Cultural Services of the French Embassy from 2016 to 2018 before joining Women’s Voices Now. Soizic occasionally consults for UN Women, assisting with evaluation and performance analyses of UN agencies’ efforts to promote gender equality.
ARIANE THIELENHAUS | DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS & PARTNERSHIPS
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Ariane is responsible for managing all WVN programs, including the WVN Film Festival, Film Archive, and Girls’ Voices Now. Ariane also leads partnership development and community outreach efforts both locally and internationally, on behalf of WVN.
Ariane comes to WVN with a non-profit background specializing in program development, project management, and strategy. Her experience working at all levels of a non-profit organization, addressing diverse issues – from homelessness and social justice to environmental conservation and workforce development – allow her to approach her work with a holistic vision, considering all parts of the greater whole. In addition to her work at WVN, Ariane occasionally consults with mission-driven organizations looking to increase their efficiency and maximize their impact.
Ariane’s passion for furthering girl’s and women’s rights comes from her own lived experience, as well as her background in providing direct services to women who have suffered immeasurable trauma and injustice. As a filmmaker herself, she firmly believes in the power of story and film to change minds, inspire action, and effect real change in the world.
YASMEEN AL-SHAWWA | COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
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Yasmeen leads WVN’s communications and social media strategies.
In her early 20s, her curiosity and devotion to exploring the world drove her to pursue a Master’s degree in Journalism at Columbia University. After six years of international reporting on business, culture, and immigration, she decided to switch gears and focus on utilizing her storytelling tools to empower conscious organizations + businesses. Yasmeen now specializes in helping identify, amplify, and disseminate mindful narratives to audiences across multiple online platforms.
Growing up in a multicultural family and living in several countries throughout the Middle East and Latin America allows her an expansive perspective and unique lens of the world around her. Through government laws and societal norms from Saudi Arabia to Argentina, Yasmeen has experienced first-hand accounts of support and suppression for simply being a woman. She whole-heartedly believes in the power of advocating for women’s rights, education, and progression in order to create a more sustainable and peaceful collective existence.
AUSMA PALMER | SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
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Ausma assists with developing and implementing WVN’s social media strategy.
Ausma is a recent graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a concentration in Cinema Studies. She has always been interested in the intersections of women, media, and social justice, and she has explored these issues through documentary filmmaking, photojournalism, and film criticism. In her spare time, Ausma enjoys reading, experimenting with film photography, and playing tennis.
CLANCEY CORNELL | COMMUNITY LIASION
Clancey is responsible for engaging local communities to ensure the continuing development of WVN’s local partnerships and community programs.
An advocate for the arts, Clancey has engaged in archival projects in Argentina, Hawaii, and Los Angeles, approaching archiving as an activist practice narrating histories that would otherwise go unexplored. Since 2017, she has led archival projects for the Skid Row History Museum & Archive, a project of the Los Angeles Poverty Department, which traces the neighborhood’s activist history and amplifies the effective community strategies of its inhabitants. Clancey began collaborating with grassroots arts initiatives in Skid Row in 2015. She is an active collaborator with Studio 526; and a founding member of Creative I, an organization dedicated to creating more opportunities for art making in Skid Row. Clancey is currently pursuing a Masters of Social Work at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, USC.
Clancey is a multimedia artist, a lover of history, travel, and capoeira.
ALEXANDRA HERNANDEZ | CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT INTERN
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Alexandra creates and collaborates on promotional reels, content, and social media for Women’s Voices Now.
Alexandra is earning her Bachelor’s of Art in Film and Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. Through her coursework, she has developed skills in video editing, screenwriting, cinematography, production management, directing, and comprehending the struggles of women in film throughout history. Alexandra began interning for Women’s Voices Now in 2019 as the Girls’ Voices Now summer program intern.
ROOPASHREE JEEVAJI | ENVOY
Roopashree Jeevaji was born in India and raised in Mumbai. At a young age, she trained in Bharata Natyam, a classical Indian dance from where her interest for acting developed. As a teenager, Jeevaji became the face of Bru Coffee, India’s largest coffee brand. Roopa attended college in the United States where she was awarded a scholarship at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in Los Angeles after Anna Strasberg saw her performance on scene night. She was at the theater for three years. Roopa’s film debut was in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers. In 2012, she competed against seven thousand actors and comedians from all over the country and was chosen to be among the top 22 to participate in the much acclaimed CBS Diversity Showcase held in Los Angeles. From then on, she has starred in other movies including the soon to be released Taco Shop along with Eric Roberts and Tyler Posey; In search of America, Inshallah, for which she received the Best Actress Award at the California Women’s Film Festival in 2014; and Disney’s Planes. She also starred in NBC’s Outsourced, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and appeared in the ABC’s daytime show General Hospital. In 2013, she was also chosen to be a part of the Producers Mentoring Program at Women In Film.