“Striding into Taliban-held Afghanistan with a chador over her six-foot frame, playing high-fives with a traumatized child rape survivor in the Congolese jungle, marching with the defiant grandmothers in Swaziland, Sally explores the darkest reaches of women’s experience and brings back astonishing news of hope, challenge and change.” — Michele Landsberg
Hello GRANs,
Have you registered for our national gathering, Hello Friends!, taking place next month in Toronto? Are you excited that we have confirmed award-winning author, journalist, and human rights activist Sally Armstrong as our keynote speaker?
Introducing Sally Armstrong
Sally is a globally recognized expert in conflict reporting and women’s rights advocacy. Renowned as the “war correspondent for the world’s women”, she has covered conflicts spanning Bosnia to Somalia, Congo to Afghanistan, and Iraq to Guatemala. Sally is a former member of the International Women’s Commission at the United Nations and has received international recognition for her work on human rights and gender equality. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, with 11 honorary doctorate degrees, and is a four-time winner of the Amnesty International Canada Media Award. In 2019 Sally was chosen to deliver the Massey Lectures, in which she argues that the future of humanity depends on strengthening the status of women and girls. We are so very fortunate to have Sally with us on our opening night at Hello Friends! to set the stage for our time together.
Hearing Sally speak is just the beginning! We encourage you to explore the two full days of Hello Friends!programming in our Program Overview. Here are some highlights:
A panel of our early leaders will take us back to GRAN’s beginnings, sharing stories of our grassroots advocacy and the development of our collective grandmother power.
- We will take time to review the highlights and take-aways of recent GRAN actions, campaigns, and partnerships.
- Workshops will help us build and hone our advocacy skills to meet effectively with MPs, create impactful letters, and plan engaging public events.
- Break-out sessions will allow us to explore and exchange ideas about the focus for our next all-of-GRAN campaign.
Hello Friends! is taking place in Toronto from May 13 – 15. You will find everything you need to register and book your stay on our Hello Friends! webpage.
We hope to see you there!
Linda and Sharon
Co-Chairs