# @princetonspia on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B9HuIuuhh4i
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20742498-princetonspia-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/0c56ec8310.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-02-28T18:29:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Princeton SPIA (@princetonspia) — https://gondola.cc/princetonspia

## Caption

#WooWho: “Allowing people to represent themselves in their own communities is powerful. I realized this at my last job at the International Center for Research on Women (icrw_org) in Washington, D.C. There, I worked in global advocacy on gender issues, an interest I developed as an undergraduate student at gwuniversity. At ICRW, we started a feminist unitednations campaign, bringing together civil society, academics, philanthropists, and advocates from all over the world. We challenged the U.N. system to be more inclusive and progressive both in its internal policies and program implementation. We actually started a project in which we graded the Secretary-General on his efforts to advance gender equality. Working alongside and learning from global civil society advocates was empowering. It was truly the highlight of my career—an opportunity to be creative and exert leadership. These experiences, along with my background, pushed me in the direction of international affairs and development. I come from a Pakistani, Muslim-American background. I’m really passionate about those communities and the values they taught me around equity and justice. Whatever I do next, I want to create space for people to actually speak for themselves—and not necessarily be the person speaking on their behalf. In whatever space you occupy, you should remember who you are, where you are coming from, and what drives you. Those three things have and always will ground me in the work I do as an advocate for civil society.” – Spogmay Ahmed MPA ’20 (Photo by eganjimenez) #Princetagram * #WooWho is a Wilson_School Instagram series featuring our community. Want to be featured? Comment/DM us.

## Stats

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## Tags

princetagram, woowho

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