Patronus: Owl, hummingbird.
Favorite Quote: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.“– Maya Angelou

Ely is a feminist advocate and activist from Ecuador. She considers herself a multipotentialite (a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life). Her areas of interest and expertise include: sexual & domestic violence, reproductive rights, public policy, feminist emotional health and expressive arts therapy. Ely has over 6 years of work experience at nonprofit organizations and NGOs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College (USA) with a concentration in International Development & Gender Dynamics in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. For her thesis she founded Picture Her Story (PHS), an arts-based participatory project for women to tell their stories of sexual violence through their own art. She organized a multimedia silent exhibit to showcase survivors’ stories and held a march to protest the mishandled sexual violence cases on campus. After graduating, Ely moved back to Quito where she worked with the city’s local government as the person in charge of their Mujer Rural (Rural Woman) program. She also became involved in feminist collectives such as Vivas Nos Queremos and Red de Acompañamiento en Aborto Las Comadres. Ely recently moved to Bali, Indonesia and plans to live in Southeast Asia for some time. She is fluent in Spanish and English with some knowledge of elementary Portuguese, Swahili and conversational French.