Dr. Daniela Ligiero is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Together for Girls, a global partnership working to end violence against children and adolescents, particularly sexual violence against girls. The partnership brings together multiple actors and sectors to advance prevention, healing and justice. Dr. Ligiero also serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, and is a co-founder of the Brave Movement: a global survivor-led advocacy movement working to end childhood sexual violence.
Before she joined Together for Girls, she served as the Vice President of Girls and Women’s Strategy at the UN Foundation and developed the foundation’s gender integration strategy. In addition, she spent over five years at the U.S. Department of State where she led the integration of gender issues into all foreign policy and investments in global health—working with over 70 countries and over 1 billion dollars in investments on issues like preventing gender-based violence and improving the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women. She helped develop the first ever International U.S. Government Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence.
Dr. Ligiero also served in leadership roles at UNICEF, as Chief of HIV and then as Deputy Representative in the UNICEF Brazil Country Office. In addition, she has held positions at the World Bank and the US Senate, and has worked directly with survivors of sexual assault in a variety of settings. She is also a survivor of sexual violence herself, and has been speaking publicly about her story for the last decade. She earned her doctoral degree counseling psychology from University of Maryland, College Park, ranked the No. 1 program in the US. Dr. Ligiero is fluent in four languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.
Daniela lives with her husband and two daughters in Bethesda, MD. She greatly enjoys spending time with family, making furniture, gardening, scuba diving (or any activity involving the ocean), and practicing meditation.
Title of a book that changed your life: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari. Helped me have a better perspective of our place in the universe.
A quote that inspires you: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela
A simple pleasure: Girls Night with my two daughters: pijamas, movie, popcorn and laughter
Movie you could watch on repeat: New Dune Movie
A podcast you can’t stop thinking about: Dare to Lead, Brenee Brown
The theme song of your life: Feeling Good, Nina Simone
Something that gives you hope: The courage of individual people to create change
Favorite part of your job: Meeting amazing people who are changing the world
One word to describe Together for Girls: Transformation