CEO/General Secretary (USA)
Casey (she/her) is a testament to the YWCAs mission to create space for young women to be leaders, in all their diversities, working together to contribute to gender equality.
Since January 2019, as the 15th CEO/General Secretary of World YWCA, Casey has been driving the realisation of the global YWCA movements’ Goal 2035 – 100 million young women transforming power structures – and tackling exciting operational, governance, and partnership opportunities to ensure the vitality and relevancy of YWCA in the 21st century. She demonstrates commitment to transparency, authenticity and inclusion, and a closely held aspiration for World YWCA to be accountable to the leaders of the YWCA global movement, most especially young leaders.
Casey has worked in the local, regional and national sphere of the USA advocating on and ensuring direct services in response to the issues of sexual and gender-based violence, economic justice, health and wellness, leadership and anti-racism. Casey joined the YWCA movement 24 years ago and through varied executive and leadership positions, has shown how to harness a movement that is rich and wide-reaching in its diversity, toward a common goal for collective impact, including a multi-year transformative process toward the YWCA USA mission of racial justice.
Casey serves on the Board of ACT Alliance, as a co-chair of the Multi-Faith Advisory Council to the UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and Development, on the Board of the Global Youth Mobilization, and as a #ThursdaysinBlack ambassador for the World Council of Churches.
An aspiring astronaut, proud mama of four, and YWCA torchbearer who finds joy in simple things, Casey believes that young women and girls will lead the way in realizing the global goal of leaving no one behind.
Read more about her journey here.
Director of Movement & Capacity Building and Accountability (Chile)
Caterina Lemp Bitsacopoulos (she/her), known to many as Cate, has spent over 25 years advancing the mission of the YWCA across local, national, regional, and global communities. Her efforts began as a young volunteer and staff member at the YWCA in Valparaíso, Chile, and today, she leads movement-building efforts at the World YWCA and advocates for good governance, organisational development, and holding the movement and the civil society sector accountable to its stated values.
Since 2007, Cate has ensured that the World YWCA was relevant and complimentary to YWCA associations and leaders through many internal and external transitions. More recently, she has been one of a handful of leaders who have led a multi-year initiative toward movement accountability, authentic partnership, and bold change. Her vision that women and young women are able to lead and sustain the YWCA movement – and the human, women’s, and youth rights movement – is a constant lamp for the movement and partners of the YWCA to follow.
Cate draws on her journalism background and fluency in Spanish, French, and English to build strong, meaningful connections across the global YWCA network.
Cate constantly creates capacity-building modalities and provides constancy and new influence on value-based operational and governance methods and systems for YWCA leaders and volunteers, ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to contribute to a powerful global movement for gender justice.
Cate has clarity about and passion to sustain her contribution to feminist and social movements that are community-based and membership-led, especially those that tackle issues of justice. She exemplifies that accountability begins with personal responsibility and community accountability will lead to collective transformation.
Rooted in her Chilean, Greek, and Swiss heritage, Cate finds joy in spending time with her family, the sustenance of the sun, and communing with plants and animals of all kinds. You may find Cate crocheting during a meeting, on a train ride, or all afternoon on a Sunday. She approaches life with curiosity, a standard of integrity and a relentless commitment to justice.
