{
"authors": [
"Bama Athreya",
"Saskia Brechenmacher",
"Mayra Buvinic",
"Te’a Williams"
],
"type": "event",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"programAffiliation": "DCG",
"programs": [
"Democracy, Conflict, and Governance"
],
"topics": [
"Civil Society"
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}
The Day Iceland Stood Still
Tue, March 24th, 2026
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM (EDT)
Washington DC
On October 24, 1975, 90 percent of the women of Iceland walked off their jobs and out of their homes, refusing to work, cook, clean, or take care of children. For one day, their visible and invisible labor stopped. The documentary The Day Iceland Stood Still chronicles this watershed moment, which set Iceland on a path toward becoming one of the world's most gender-equal societies.
Join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the International Center for Research on Women for a special screening of the film, followed by an intergenerational conversation between women's rights activists Mayra Buvinic and Te'a Williams on the past and future of women's collective action for gender equality.
The screening will begin at 6:00 p.m.; a reception will follow.
Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Event Speakers
Bama Athreya
Executive Director, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) Americas
Bama Athreya, PhD is the Executive Director of ICRW Americas. Most recently, she served as ICRW’s Director of Global Advocacy. Prior to joining ICRW, Bama served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships and Innovation where she managed global portfolios related to gender equality, child protection, youth in development and ensuring development benefits reach marginalized and underrepresented populations. She has been a senior leader in the public and nonprofit sectors and has led interagency and multilateral engagement and represented the US government in delegations to the UN General Assembly, Commission on the Status of Women, G20 and COP28.
Saskia Brechenmacher
Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Saskia Brechenmacher is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where her research focuses on democratic erosion, gender, and civic activism in the United States and globally. She also serves on the board of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.
Mayra Buvinic
Senior Fellow Emeritus, Center for Global Development
Mayra Buvinic, an internationally recognized expert on gender and development and social development, was the founder and former President of the International Center for Research on Women and is a senior fellow emeritus at the Center for Global Development and a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Previously, she was Director for Gender and Development at the World Bank. She also worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) where she headed the Social Development Division. She has a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Te’a Williams
Program Coordinator, Vital Voices Global Partnership
Te’a Williams is a U.S.-based advocate for racial equity, gender equality, and food justice and a program coordinator at Vital Voices Global Partnership. A Tulsa, Oklahoma native, she holds a master’s in international relations from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals in Spain. Passionate about dismantling systemic barriers to healthy food access, she focuses on the intersection of poverty, racial inequity, and food insecurity. With a background in human rights and nonprofit work, Te’a amplifies Black women’s voices and works to create pathways for their leadership in food and policy spaces. She is dedicated to building equitable, community-driven food systems that promote sustainability and justice.