Rabi WILSON is currently the Assistant Director, Economic Shocks at the United Kingdom’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). In December 2020, she joined members and supporters at the Small World Café in her previous role as a Senior Portfolio Manager at BEIS where, among other things, she focused on policy and culture, gender roles, and empowering women in the workforce.
WILSON participated in a virtual U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in September 2020. That project focused on youth empowerment and civic engagement and was coordinated at the national level by World Learning.
The café started with a slideshow focused on her volunteerism in South Africa where she worked on community engagement health initiatives. She spoke about the violence against women and girls in that country and segued into an overview of initiatives encouraging male allies to become active in feminism and projects supporting education about domestic violence and gender stereotypes. After her slideshow, the group discussed how COVID has affected domestic violence rates and the importance of language in educational articles. WILSON also reflected on her IVLP experience.
At the end of the café, WILSON left the group with a piece of advice: Be aware of how you affect the spaces you are in and the gender distinctions of the places you are around. Try and facilitate a safe space because no matter how much people agree or disagree with you, it still opens the floor.
