We are never as knowledgeable individually as we are together. Please see our team of speakers covering all our campaign issues and more.
Ann Wright
Areas of expertise:
- Afghanistan
- Call to Disarm (weapons manufacturer stocks)
– Ukraine
- War Is Not Green (climate and militarism)
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience."
Contact: [email protected]
Koohan Paik-Mander
Areas of expertise:
– War Is Not Green (climate and militarism)
- Call to Disarm (weapons manufacturer stocks)
Koohan Paik-Mander is a Member of the Board of Directors of World BEYOND War. She is also a board member of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, is part of the CODEPINK working group “China is Not Our Enemy,” and is on the advisory committee of the Global Just Transition project at Foreign Policy in Focus. She formerly served as campaign director of the Asia-Pacific program at the International Forum on Globalization.
She is co-author of The Superferry Chronicles: Hawaii’s Uprising Against Militarism, Commercialism and the Desecration of the Earth, and has written on militarism in the Asia-Pacific for The Nation, The Progressive, Foreign Policy in Focus, and other publications.
Contact: [email protected]
Danaka Katovich
Areas of expertise:
– Saudi Arabia and Yemen
- Palestine
- Call to Disarm
- Divest (weapons manufacturer stocks)
- Ground the Drones (U.S. drone program)
Danaka graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science in November 2020. Since 2018 she has been working towards ending US participation in the war in Yemen. At CODEPINK she works on youth outreach as a facilitator of the Peace Collective, CODEPINK's youth cohort that focuses on anti-imperialist education and divestment.
Contact: [email protected]
Jodie Evans
Areas of expertise:
– China
- Feminist Foreign Policy
- Local Peace Economy
Jodie is co-founder and board member of CODEPINK and has been a peace, environmental, women’s rights and social justice activist for fifty years. She has traveled extensively to war zones promoting and learning about peaceful resolution to conflict. She works locally to have governments, universities, churches and pension funds divest from war and to cultivate local peace economies through engagement with those who have felt the violence of the war economy locally and who have the vision for the future humanity and the planet need.
Contact: [email protected]
Medea Benjamin
Areas of expertise
- Afghanistan
- Cuba
- Iran
- Latin America
- Ukraine
Medea is a co-founder of CODEPINK and the fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange. She has been an anti-war activist for several decades and is the author of various books including Drone Warfare and Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.–Saudi Connection. In 2012, Medea was awarded the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation’s Peace Prize; she is also the recipient of the 2014 Gandhi Peace Award and the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Contact: [email protected]
Nancy L. Mancias
Areas of expertise
- BlackRock
- Divest (weapons manufacturer stocks)
- Ground the Drones (U.S. drone program)
- War is Not Green (climate and militarism)
- Iraqi Kurdistan
Nancy has worked for over 15 years in the non-profit sector, focusing on social services, social justice, and theater. She is CODEPINK's coordinator for its War if Not Green campaign and a doctoral student in Anthropology and Social Change at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Nancy she holds an MBA from Dominican University of California and a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University.
Contact: [email protected]
Shea Leibow
Areas of expertise:
- Cut the Pentagon (NDAA, military spending)
- Divest (weapons manufacturer stocks)
- Ground the Drones (U.S. drone program)
- War Is Not Green (climate and militarism)
Shea Leibow (they/she) lives in Chicago, coordinates the Divest from the War Machine campaign, and has been with CODEPINK since summer of 2021. Shea is originally from Seattle, WA and received a BA in Environmental Science & Policy and Gender Studies.
Contact: [email protected]
Marcy Winograd
Areas of expertise:
- Call to Disarm (Nuclear Proliferation and Disarmament)
- Cut The Pentagon (NDAA, military spending)
- Ukraine/Russia/NATO
- Militarism/Climate Crisis
Marcy is a long-time anti-war activist and has served as a 2020 DNC delegate to Bernie Sanders and co-chairs the foreign policy team for Progressive Democrats of America. A member of Veterans for Peace’s Climate Crisis and Militarism Project, Marcy’s activism began in high school when she marched against the Vietnam War and later joined the defense team of Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. A retired English and government teacher. At CODEPINK, Marcy coordinates CODEPINK Congress and serves on the steering committee for the Peace in Ukraine Coalition. Marcy blogs about militarism and foreign policy. Her writings are featured in San Jose Mercury News, Antiwar.com, Responsible Statecraft. Presenza, CommonDreams, CounterPunch, and more.
Contact: [email protected]
Olivia DiNucci
Areas of expertise:
- Cut The Pentagon (NDAA, military spending)
- War Is Not Green (climate and militarism)
- Cost of War (the human cost of militarism)
Olivia's experience includes years of working in organizing and social and climate justice education in parts of the US and Global South with the School for International Training. She also worked as an Organizer with RootsAction after moving back to the US to work on the Bernie 2020 campaign. She is currently based in Washington, DC, leading Cut The Pentagon, one of CODEPINK's all-encompassing campaigns.
Contact: [email protected]
Samantha Wherry
Areas of expertise:
- U.S. hybrid wars in Latin America
- US blockade towards Cuba
– US drug policy towards Colombia
- US sanctions towards Venezuela
Samantha is a Colombia-born peace activist. She joined CODEPINK's Latin America team after years of working with Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective to uplift the work of frontline defenders, who continue putting their lives on the line to protect the environment, water sources, and human dignity. While in Colombia, Samantha organized and educated U.S. citizens to advocate for just U.S. policies toward Colombia. Samantha holds a Master's in Human Rights and Politics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in International Studies with a minor in Peace Studies from Loyola University Chicago.
Contact: [email protected]
Teddy Ogburn
Areas of expertise:
- War Is Not Green (climate and militarism)
- BlackRock
Teddy Ogborn is an activist and organizer based in New York City with a BA in Comparative Literature from Haverford College. They have several years of experience in documentary storytelling, strategic organizing, and direct action, particularly with climate actions in New York and New Jersey. Teddy is CODEPINK’s War Is Not Green (WING) Coordinator where they focus on the intersection of militarism and climate change.
Contact: [email protected]
Wei Yu
Areas of expertise:
- US/China foreign relations
- Neocolonialism
Wei was born in Tianjin, China and has lived in the US since her high school years. While in university pursuing her degree in Sociology and International Studies, Wei conducted an independent research project on neocolonial bias in Global North academia. Wei has worked with several nonprofit organizations serving women, racial minorities, and other progressive causes.
Contact: [email protected]
Michelle Ellner
Areas of expertise:
- Latin America
- Venezuela
Michelle was born in Venezuela and holds a bachelor’s degree in languages and international affairs from the University La Sorbonne Paris IV, in Paris. After graduating, she worked for an international scholarship program in Caracas and Paris and was sent to Haiti, Cuba, The Gambia. Subsequently, she worked with community based programs designed to promote productive endeavors in Venezuela and then served as an analyst of U.S.-Venezuela relations. Michelle is a Latin America campaign coordinator at CODEPINK.
Contact: [email protected]
Grace Siegelman
Areas of expertise:
- Feminist Foreign Policy
- Prison and police abolition
– Intersection of abolition and divestment
- Transnational feminisms
Grace is a Women's and Gender Studies graduate student at DePaul University. Her organizing and research focus on prison and police abolition, gendered violence and anti-war efforts. She is CODEPINK's Feminist Foreign Policy coordinator.
Contact: [email protected]
Tim Biondo
Area of expertise:
- Digital media management in movement work
Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in Peace Studies from The George Washington University. Their studies centered around critically understanding questions of peace, justice, power, and empire. As a student, they organized against war, imperialism, and settler colonialism through political education, protest, art, and writing. Tim is CODEPINK’s digital media manager.
Contact: [email protected]
Ysabel Gonzalez
Area of expertise:
- Cuba and economic sanctions
Ysabel completed a Master's Degree in Political Science at San Diego State University and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science at UC San Diego. After graduating, she participated in a research internship program in Havana, Cuba where she assisted with evaluating the effects of the blockade on the most vulnerable communities. Her organizing and research focus on Cuban Economic Sanctions, Latin American Neoliberalism and anti-war efforts.
Contact: [email protected]