CODEPINK : Founders & Staff

CODEPINK Founders & Staff

Medea Benjamin
Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. She has been a tireless advocate for social justice for more than 20 years. Described as "one of America’s most committed -- and most effective -- fighters for human rights" by New York Newsday, and called "one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement" by the Los Angeles Times, Medea has distinguished herself as an eloquent and energetic figure in the progressive movement.

Medea can be reached at: medea@globalexchange.org.

Jodie Evans
Jodie Evans has been a community, social and political organizer for the last 30 years. She has used her skills,for the protection of the earth, to give voice to communities and people who go unheard and unseen, in the area of human and civil rights, to protect the rights of women, to raise the minimum wage for farm workers, to protect dolphins, in El Salvador in the early 80's and with Zapitistas since '94. From 1973 to 1982, she served in administrative capacities in all of Jerry Brown's campaigns and in his staff and cabinet as Director of Administration. Breakthroughs in wind and solar energy happened while she was overseeing the office of Appropriate Technology.

Jodie can be reached at: jodie@codepinkalert.org .

Gael Murphy
Active in the peace and justice movement, Ms. Murphy serves on the executive committee of CODEPINK: Women for a Peace. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Occupation Watch Center and a steering committee member of United for Peace and Justice.

Gael can be reached at: gael@codepinkalert.org.

Nancy Kricorian
CODEPINK NYC Co-ordinator. Nancy Kricorian is part of the national staff and the coordinator for CODEPINK NYC. In addition to working with CODEPINK, Nancy is a writer and a novelist. She is a member of PEN USA and on the board of the Armenia Tree Project.

Click here to read Nancy's article on Direct Action & Street Theater.

Nancy can be reached at: codepinknyc@gmail.com.

Farida Sheralam

Farida is the National Website Manager at CODEPINK. Farida manages our websites, designs national alerts and special event /campaign sites. She also designs our brochures and media kits. Farida is a freelance web and graphic designer.

She can be reached at: webmanager@codepink.org.

Dana Balicki
Dana Balicki is the Campaign Manager at CODEPINK. She has project managed the CODEPINK book "Stop the Next War Now," coordinated work camps in New Orleans, organized countless fundraisers and events, among many other projects with CODEPINK. After much traveling she has finally settled in New York City and runs the NYC office there.

Dana can be reached at dana@codepinkalert.org or by calling the NYC office, 646.723.1781

Rae Abileah
Rae is the CODEPINK local groups coordinator. She connects CODEPINK's national campaigns with the grassroots women's movement for peace, and brings organizing resources to local coordinators.

Rae can be reached at: rae@codepinkalert.org.

Gayle Brandeis
Gayle Brandeis is our wordsmith extraordinaire. She crafts all of the CODEPINK Alerts that go to nearly 200,000 members weekly. She is the author of several books, and of them, The Book of Dead Birds: A Novel (HarperCollins) won Barbara Kingsolver’s Bellwether Prize for Fiction in Support of a Literature of Social Change. Her second novel, Self Storage, was recently published.

Lydia Vickers Giordano

Lydia Vickers Giordano has been an anti-war activista since Abby Hoffman sported his American flag cape in the 1960's. Her Think Pink, Think Peace cape were inspired by that era and the exciting application of fun and theater that drew her to CODEPINK in 2005. "CODEPINK gives me courage to keep my ‘heart above water’ when the world is drowning in war".

Lydia currently enjoys coordinating the DC Housing Board. She can be reached at pinkwelcome[at]yahoo.com.

Bonnie Johnson
Bonnie is a local and national organizer based in Los Angeles. Her background is in the US labor movement as both a worker and an organizer, and in Latin American solidarity work, the focus of her graduate studies at Stanford. She is a long-time CODEPINK member and winner of a 2009 Harvey Milk Club award for her community organizing efforts in San Francisco. Bonnie loves music, dancing, vegan food and playing outside in the sun. She is also the author of the zine What I Did on My Summer Vacation. Bonnie can be reached at bonnie@codepink.org.