Women in NGO Security Management

INSSA Insights

Welcome to another episode of INSSA Insights. In this show today, we will have a more central topic on our great women in the field of NGO security. We invited Melanie Murphy, the Physical Security Director for Human Rights Watch, Lisa Oliveri, the Director of Global Risk Management, Security, and Operations for National Democratic Institute, and lastly Javeria Malik, the Global Safety and Security Lead at ActionAid/INSSA Chair. They each share their stories of how they started in NGO Security management. They also share the challenges they've faced as women in the sector as these have been male-dominated fields. Moreover, they give some examples where women have some advantages in the field and how these sectors have been shifting towards a female-friendly environment. Lastly, they each give some tips and advice to the audience and give some knowledge about the upcoming challenges the sector will face.
Key Takeaways
Our Guests' stories on how they started in the NGO Security Sector
The challenges of our guests as women in the NGO security sector
The advantages of being a woman in the NGO Security Sector
The shift towards the women-friendly environment in the past decades in the NGO Security sector
Advice and Tips from our Guests to our fellow Audiences
The challenges the NGO security sector will face in terms of safety and security in the upcoming years
Quotes
"I can be tough however I prefer that people will see me as an approachable person, working alongside them because security management is about intimate conversations and details with people about their fears and vulnerabilities." - Melanie
"We have amazing women that support and make sure we're, diversifying our thoughts and approaches as much as possible." - Lisa
"One of the advantages of being a woman in this field is that I don't appear to be a threat and challenge their authority which able me to negotiate our way through various tensions." - Javeria
Featured in this Episode
Melanie Murphy
Physical Security Director for Human Rights Watch
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/melanie-murphy-she-her-7a25403b
Website: https://www.hrw.org
Lisa Oliveri
Director of Global Risk Management, Security, and Operations for National Democratic Institute
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamoliveri
Profile: https://www.ndi.org/people/Lisa_Oliveri
Javeria Malik
Global Safety and Security Lead at ActionAid/INSSA Chair
Linkedin: https://za.linkedin.com/in/javmalik
Profile/Website: https://inssa.org/javeria-malik
Amaury Cooper
Board Member /Treasurer, INSSA
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amaurycooper
Profile/Website: https://inssa.org/amaury-t-cooper
Words to our Sponsors
Thank you To the Robert McPherson Fellowship for its generous support and donation, helping to make this podcast possible
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:53 How Melanie, Lisa, and Jav started in the NGO Security Management
06:13 The challenges as a female in the field of NGO security
10:23 The advantages of a woman in the field of NGO security
16:40 The changes in the field for women over the decade
22:52 Opening up for women in the NGO security sector
29:07 Pieces of Advice from our guests to all women who want a career in the NGO security sector
34:09 General challenges that the NGO security sector faces in regards to safety and security
41:52 Our guest's summer reading lists
44:11 Conclusion