Brenda Gael McSweeney, a founding member of Unbound Visual Arts, is UNESCO/Unitwin Director at Boston University’s Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program where she teaches Gender & International Development, and is Resident Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC, where Research, Art & Activism Converge) at Brandeis University, both in Massachusetts, USA. She served with the United Nations for 30 years in executive positions including in West Africa and the Caribbean; in Europe heading the UN Volunteers programme; then in India as the Representative of the United Nations System and the UN Development Programme. The Government of India with the UN System designated gender equality as the UN area focus. Brenda holds her Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She was the recipient of a Fulbright in Paris and awards from the Governments of Germany, Jamaica and Burkina Faso, as well as two honorary doctorates. Her research and photography focus on female education and empowerment in Burkina Faso, and a gender perspective on livelihoods in West Bengal, India (see related papers and photographs at The Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender and at brendamcsweeney.com). She initiated the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture & Development (unitwin.blogspot.
Brenda Gael McSweeney
Brenda began her photography in West Africa in the 1970s. She was excited to be selected as the official photographer for the UN Secretary General’s drought emergency mission to Burkina Faso. She is now Curator of the “Women’s Causes around the World, Year Round” permanent photo exhibition at the Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University. Her work on Women of Vision has been selected by UNESCO Paris for their cultural project: “Women Figures in African History: an e-learning tool” for African youth. Her Burkina photo essay was published in an e-book called Gender Perspectives in Case Studies across Continents.