Julia Canney

Julia Canney is a Senior Program Assistant for the Gender, Women and Democracy Team at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Washington, DC, where she works on programs promoting women's political participation across the globe. At NDI, Julia works on programming specifically focused on masculinities, violence against women in politics, and democratic resilience across the Central and West Africa and Eurasia regions. Prior to NDI, Julia earned her MSc Human Rights at University College Dublin, where her studies focused on gender, security, and peace building. While in Dublin, she worked as a researcher with the Justice for Magdalenes Research Group, providing research and drafting for the submission of an official report to the Irish Government detailing abuses against women held in Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes in 20th century Ireland. Julia has previously written for The Humanist and the Women's Media Center's Women Under Siege Project, with a particular focus on Ireland and the fight for abortion and reproductive health rights. She is a 2016 graduate of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Julia was one of two awardees of the 2018 'Beyond War' Reporting Fellowship from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, for which she traveled to Northern Ireland during the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement to speak with women involved in peace building efforts. Julia's work was shared widely by Peace is Loud during the launch of their PBS special on Women, War and Peace, which featured the release of the documentary film 'Wave Goodbye to Dinosaurs' about the Northern Irish Women's Coalition.