Conference Committee

Meet the World Women Studies Conference Committee Driving Innovation and Collaboration

The World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2027) is a globally recognized platform that brings together academics, researchers, practitioners, activists, and policymakers working at the intersection of gender, development, and social transformation.

The Woman Studies Conference Committee forms the academic and strategic backbone of WCWS 2027. The committee ensures quality, relevance, and global representation while guiding the overall direction of the conference.

Conference Chair

Diana J Fox, Professor of Anthropology and Department Chairperson, is a cultural and applied anthropologist, scholar-activist, and documentary film producer. Her work is based in Anglophone Caribbean and South Asia where she researches issues of gender and sexual diversity, women’s social movements, activism for ecological sustainability, women’s artivism, sexual and gender diversity, gender-based violence, self-determination of Indigenous peoples, transnational feminisms and activism. She serves on a number of boards and committees including the international advisory board of the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project (FACRP) in Trinidad and Tobago. She is the founder and executive editor of the open access online Journal of International Women’s Studies. Prof Fox is the executive producer of two documentary films, “Earth, Water, Woman: Community and Sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago” and “Many Loves One Heart: Stories of Courage and Resilience” about the LGBTQ movement in Jamaica. She is the recipient of four Fulbright awards and has published a number of books and articles. As with most feminists, her passions emerged from her lived experiences and her passion for equity and human rights for all.

Conference Convenor

Isanka P. Gamage is a Global South Knowledge Diplomat, global collaborator, and entrepreneur, and the Co-Founder and Managing Director of The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM).

Through TIIKM, he has been at the forefront of elevating Global South voices onto global academic and policy platforms, fostering meaningful collaboration between the Global South and the Global North. His leadership spans education, knowledge management, research and development, and international conference management.

Isanka has convened over 375 international conferences, founded three international journals, and built global knowledge platforms supporting sustainable development and interdisciplinary research. His work has connected Nobel Laureates, ministries, diplomats, industry leaders, and an academic network of over 450 universities and 2,000 scholars worldwide.

He serves on the Board of Studies of the Institute of Management Sri Lanka, is a certified NLP practitioner, and delivers mindfulness-based leadership and wellbeing programs internationally.

Currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Kelaniya, his mission is clear:
to transform conferences into platforms for lifelong collaboration and real global impact—especially for the Global South.

Steering Committee

Darlene Miller is an Associate Professor at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs. She has a herstory of Scholar-Activism and ethnographic research in Africa. Her doctorate was on African Labour in Post-Apartheid Southern Africa and SA Food Retail Multinationals (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US). She was the Director of the Institute for African Alternatives, Senior Advisor to the President of the International Science Council in Paris and Cape Town and CEO of Human Sciences Research Council, the Bloomberg Fellow for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch in New York and the National Educator for the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU). Her current research focuses on Indigenous Matriarchal Leadership, Krotoa, and Food Partnerships.

Dr. Dalea Bean is a Senior Lecturer and Graduate Coordinator at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Office at The University of the West Indies. Before working with the IGDS, she taught in the Department of History at The UWI in the areas of women’s history and Caribbean history. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts at The UWI in African and Caribbean History and Political Science and graduated with first-class honours in 2002. She then completed her Ph.D. in History on the topic “Jamaican Women and World Wars I and II”. She has been the recipient of awards for scholastic achievements, including the Inaugural Robert Marley Scholarship and Walter Rodney Prize for African History.

Her areas of teaching include Feminist Theorising, Gender and Political Activism and Mobilisation, Gender and Conflict Situations among others. Her general research interests include women and gender justice in Caribbean history, women in conflict situations, and gender relations in the Caribbean hotel industry and Caribbean masculinities. She has written books, book chapters, journal articles, and has presented numerous lectures internationally on these and other topics. She has also conducted gender equity and gender mainstreaming training regionally and has been engaged in research with the IGDS that facilitates gender mainstreaming in education, history writing, and masculinity studies. Her first single-authored book: “Jamaican Women and the World Wars: On the Front Lines of Change” was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2017. She has also written “Jamaican Women of Distinction: Holding up more than Half the Sky” commissioned and published by the RJR Gleaner Communications Group.

Dr. Bean serves on the Editorial Board of The Caribbean Journal of Strategic and Security Studies and Identity Papers: A Journal of British and Irish Studies and is also the reviews editor for Jamaican Historic Review. She is also Assistant Chief Examiner for CSEC History. She is also A Distinguished President of the Kiwanis Club of Young Professionals Jamaica, which allows her critical engagement in youth advocacy and service to children and vulnerable communities in Jamaica. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, singing, travelling, and spending time with friends and family.

Nelly Nita Dillera is a distinguished public servant and senior manager with over three decades of leadership in government service, known for bridging national policy with local and community-based action. She currently serves as the Deputy Director General for Partnerships and Linkages at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), where she leads initiatives to strengthen industry alignment, expand enterprise-based education and training (EBET), and mobilize Industry TVET Boards across the country.

Prior to her appointment at TESDA in 2024, she was Executive Director of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), where she transformed the agency into a more globally responsive training institution. Under her leadership, PTTC became the hub for developing the Philippine Skills Framework (PSF), a pioneering initiative that defines skills standards and career pathways aligned with industry and international benchmarks. As Project Director of the Philippine Skills Initiative since 2019, she has led the successful completion of sectoral and cross-sectoral PSFs and coordinated multi-agency and international collaboration to mainstream skills development in national policies and enterprise strategies.

Her earlier leadership roles include Director of the Department of Tourism’s Office of Industry Manpower Development and Regional Director for DOT Region 12, where she transformed SOCCSKSARGEN into a leading tourism destination, quadrupling tourist arrivals and launching inclusive programs like “COMPLETE WoMen”, Treasures of SOX Marketing event and the award-winning “SOX is Next” campaign. She also held key positions at the Department of Trade and Industry, both as Provincial Director in Sultan Kudarat and as Business Development Division Chief.

Ms. Dillera is also an accomplished communicator, educator, and content creator, having worked in media and taught as Associate Professor in Communications. Her awards include International Woman Leader, Crystal International Women, and Outstanding Teduray Achiever, affirming her lifelong commitment to public service, women empowerment, and inclusive development.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a degree in Mass Communication, she holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Notre Dame University and has completed multiple international training programs and learning missions in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Asia. A communicator, alliance builder, and foresight-driven policy advocate, Nelly Dillera continues to champion skills development, enterprise innovation, and community empowerment for a future-ready Philippines.