Our Members
Savanna Mapelli
Jill Follows
Founding Member Jill Follows is a United Nations Representative for the International Alliance of Women. She serves on its task force for UN CSW69 and wrote its intervention on localizing CEDAW for the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. Jill is a former UN Observer for the League of Women Voters of the United States. During her time as Co-Chair of Action and Advocacy for the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area (Virginia) she convened the Fairfax Working Group for CEDAW and secured a Fairfax County Resolution in support of CEDAW. Jill’s professional career spanned both nursing and law. She was a trial attorney and Judge Pro Tempore in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas and a community health nurse. Jill received the Outstanding Advocacy Award from The American Association of Nurse Attorneys for her advocacy before the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Jill completed a health policy fellowship with the National Center for Health Research and testified before the US FDA Advisory Committee on medical devices.
Founding member Savanna Mapelli is a member of the International Alliance of Women, committed to the promotion of women’s human rights and empowerment. From 2023-2025, she served as Director of Voter Services for the Bucks County Pennsylvania League of Women Voters Voter Services, managing the league’s voter-related efforts. She has represented the League of Women Voters as a delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women for almost a decade, contributing to a parallel event in 2023 with other members of HRSIG. She is retired from the practice of law in New Jersey and centers her advocacy efforts on the United States ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. She teaches international humanitarian law for the American Red Cross and is the co-author of scholarly articles, mostly in the field of human rights.
Kathleen Montgomery
Ashley Raveche
Founding Member Kathleen Montgomery has been active in the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Orange Coast (CA) and the LWV of Prince William-Fauquier Area (VA). Her various LWV roles have included serving as a moderator at the LWV National Convention, as a representative of her local League to the LWV State Convention, and as Director of International Relations for LWV-Orange Coast. She also is active in the International Alliance of Women, undertaking various editorial duties as part of the IAW communications team. For several years, she represented the League of Women Voters and, more recently, the International Alliance of Women as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Kathleen’s interests in human rights have permeated her academic research and teaching on women’s experiences of incivility and disempowerment, as well as human rights issues in health care systems, including patients’ informed consent. She is Professor Emerita and Professor of the Graduate Division of the University of California, Riverside, and has held visiting scholar appointments at the Universities of Oxford, Sydney, Stanford, and UCLA. She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and received UCR’s Distinguished Emerita award.
Ashley Raveche is the President of the United Nations Association of San Francisco leading the Ratify Movement — a national campaign to adopt the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2023, Ashley co-sponsored California Assembly Bill 549, CEDAW Act. Ashley was a delegate to the U.N. Human Rights Commission 87th Session on CEDAW, a delegate to the 68th Commission on the Status of Women and a delegate observer to the COP Climate Conferences 26 - 29. Ashley received an award for the Emerging Public Leader for the U.N. Agenda, recognizing her advocacy in human rights and racial justice.
Ashley is a public safety officer in Marin County focused on intersectional equity and community engagement. She is also the Program Director for Criminal Justice for the League of Women Voters of California and serves on the state League Board. As President of the San Francisco League of Women Voters, she was recognized with the HERO Award from San Francisco Mayor Lee and the Human Rights Commission for her advocacy and leadership.
Anu Sahai
Michele Thorne
Founding Member Michele Thorne is an attorney and serves as the Equal Rights director on the board of the League of Women Voters of Wilmette, Illinois. She was a delegate to the 2018 and 2020 LWVUS Conventions and served as a LWVUS delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2019 and 2021. Michele is an active member of groups advocating for certification of the Equal Rights Amendment, abolition of the Electoral College, adoption of the CEDAW treaty on women’s rights, protection of the environment and the humane treatment of animals.
Founding member Anu Sahai serves as the First Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. She was the former Co President of the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area. A lawyer by profession, Anu worked in legal aid in India before moving to the United States in 1991. She commits time and energy to League initiatives, especially to those concerning ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, redistricting, and census. She represented her local League as a delegate to the 2020 LWVUS Convention and served as a LWVUS delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.