Vital Voices speaker at Fairfield University: "Why Investing in Women Improves our World" | Press Releases

Melysa Sperber, senior staff writer and editor for Vital Voices Global Partnership, will speak at Fairfield University on Wednesday, March 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. Her talk on "Women's Global Leadership: Why Investing in Women Improves our World," is co-sponsored by Fairfield's Center for Faith and Public Life, Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN), College of Arts & Sciences, Women's Studies and International Studies Programs and the Connecticut Council of Vital Voices Global Partnership. Admission is free.

In her lecture, Sperber will talk about women's groups and non-governmental organizations, known as NGOs, that have been working to support women leaders to achieve greater economic opportunities and political leadership and to combat violence against women. To create sustainable, positive change for women and for the world, she says, the strength of all sectors of society is needed - civil society, corporations, the media, academia, and the government - to invest in women who are making positive change for their communities, their countries, their regions, and the world.

Prior to joining Vital Voices, Sperber was a Staff Attorney at the Tahirih Justice Center, a non-profit legal services and advocacy agency that provides services to women fleeing gender-based persecution. She handled a caseload of over 80 immigration matters involving domestic violence survivors, human trafficking victims, asylum seekers, and victims of violent crime.

During law school, Sperber received two Equal Justice Fellowships for her work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, and for her time as a law clerk with Public Citizen Litigation Group.

She is an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School where she teaches Refugee and Asylum Law.