Biographies of our leaders

World YWCA President Susan Brennan

Susan Brennan , from Australia, is a barrister in administrative, town planning and environmental law. Former co-president of the YWCA of Australia, Susan Brennan, who succeeds Mónica Zetzsche as President, began her life in the YWCA as a young woman leader on the board of her local association in Melbourne, Australia. She was recruited to the National Executive Committee at age 24 and was active in the development of a national policy framework to guide the advocacy of the YWCA of Australia, attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing as a young woman delegate for the YWCA of Australia and represented the YWCA in the drafting of an Optional Protocol to the Women’s Convention at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

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World YWCA General Secretary

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, is Zimbabwean. She is a trained human rights lawyer with extensive experience in conflict resolution and mediation. For some twenty years, she has been working on issues of women and children's human rights, with a special focus on crisis countries. Active in the women's movement, she has more specifically focused on issues of violence against women, peace with justice, property rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV and AIDS.

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