Simone Leid is a Trinidad and Tobago national who has worked in the field of Gender and Development and International Development since 2003. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Management from the University of the West Indies and a Masters degree in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, USA.
As a former Project Officer with the Gender Affairs Division in Trinidad, and in her capacity as a consultant with the Division and other Women’s NGOs, she has worked on a number of projects aimed at building awareness and understanding of gender issues and how they affect the lives of men and women in society.
Simone developed The WomenSpeak Project to promote participation and knowledge-sharing among individuals, activists and organisations in order to improve advocacy outcomes around issues pertaining to discrimination against women in the Caribbean. The WomenSpeak blog also provides a space for women to share their own stories, including creative reflections on various issues related to gender discrimination.
The WomenSpeak Project was featured at the 2011 BlogHer conference in San Diego, USA, where Simone was awarded an International Activist Scholarship to present the work of the Project at the conference.
Learn more about Simone and the impetus behind The WomenSpeak Project at the links below
erview with Promosaik magazine on Writing and Activism
Article on Commonwealth Youth Blog