Project Manager – Voice in the Philippines, Hivos South East Asia 

Contact: dmacahilo@hivos.org

Dawn is an intersectional feminist, activist, and development practitioner. Her activism and passion led her to work in leading local and international development organisations.  She has several years of both theoretical and praxis work experience in human rights, focusing on issues of bodily autonomy and gender equality, peace-building, and climate emergencies. Specifically, Dawn served as an adviser and a consultant for SheDecides, a global movement promoting and defending the fundamental rights of every girl and woman. She has supported growing movements to define their local agenda for norm change, policy change, and resource mobilisation in Asia. She is continuously breaking silos and taking actions in a different capacity to amplify and see a world, where SheDecides about her body, her life, and future.

Last year, she was chosen as one of the United Nations Beijing+25 Fellow at OutRight Action International for championing SRHR and LGBTIQ+ Rights. As part of her fellowship, she has undergone training on UN Mechanisms and attended the virtual conferences on the Commission on the Status of Women, Generation Equality (both in Mexico and France), and the UN General Assembly. She also had an opportunity to work with formal LGBT and Women’s Rights caucuses which helped her in strengthening her global intersectional work.

Apart from being a champion for human rights and gender equality work, Dawn is an island girl who enjoys the sun with a beer or two and puts on her cycling gear for a ride during her free time. She’s also a foodie and an aesthete who loves cats.