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Mission & Vision
Gather RI creates collective momentum through inclusive and intentional connections for and by women and gender expansive people.
Gather RI envisions a world where communities are rooted in gender equity and where people across identities have meaningful spaces to gather. We will educate by amplifying the work and lives of inspiring women and gender-expansive individuals in Rhode Island and beyond; and build purposeful connections between community members while offering them a safe and accessible feminist haven in which to meet.
Gather RI is a not-for-profit. Its center in Providence is currently being built and will open in mid-2025.
Our Inspiration
Gather RI was inspired by interviews with women and gender expansive people discussing how an empowerment center could help with three types of challenges:
- Individual – Women and gender expansive people face systemic barriers to achieving their civic and professional goals.
- Communal – The achievements of women and gender expansive people are routinely erased from history (aka ‘The Matilda Effect’) so others cannot be inspired or sustained by their examples.
- Rhode Island – RI women and gender expansive changemakers are often silo-ed and disconnected from the support and wisdom of their peers and potential mentors.
Core Values
Gather RI’s decisions and evolution are driven by these five principles:
Feminism – Our bedrock.
Connection – Individuals and organizations are stronger when they support each other (instead of competing).
History – Spotlighting people’s achievements provides the shoulders for future generations to stand on.
Inclusion – Representation and accessibility must be consciously and continually baked in.
Haven – In addition to areas for the general public, spaces reserved for only women and gender expansive people are invaluable.
Timeline: Gather RI’s Development
2022 – Founding team begin stakeholder interviews; identify a building on Providence’s West End to be developed into the HQ; and, launch Gather RI’s virtual library catalog to track the 2,000+ biographies being acquired.
2023 – Providence’s Historic District Commission grants conceptual approval for the planned building renovation and expansion; and, stakeholder interviews continue.
First half 2024 – With assistance from The Dirt Palace, a feminist artist-run space project, Gather RI announces artist commissions for the launch exhibit of its Portrait Gallery.
Second-half 2024 – Founding Board named. Staff hiring commences. Building construction begins.
Mid–2025 – Gather RI HQ scheduled to open, with programs including a Portrait Gallery, Biographical Library, Meet Them speaker series and Changemakers Club.
People
Founding Board
Marisa Albanese, Former Manager External Affairs at Rhode Island Energy (Retired)
Marcela Betancur, Executive Director, Latino Policy Institute
Dana Borrelli-Murray, MA, CEO, Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England
Touba Ghadessi, PhD, Provost, RISD
Sara Gilkenson, MA, Diversity Director, Supreme Court of Rhode Island
Anne Hills Holland, Director, 189 Development
Felicia Salinas Moniz, PhD, Director, Sarah Doyle Center for Women & Gender at Brown.
Construction & Development
Sheila Palmer, Operations Manager of Development Team
The Dirt Palace, Portrait Gallery Commissions
Meghan Schulze and Matthew Cate, CSL Consulting – Building Development and Construction Project Management
Bernice Wahler Landscapes – Landscape Design
Charlotte Breed Handy, CBH Architect, LLC – Building Design Consultant
Pernilla Bergquist, Pernilla Interiors – Designer
New England Construction – Building Construction
Vision 3 Architects – Building Design
Job Openings
Note: Submissions for Gather RI’s portrait art commissions are now closed.
Go here for current job openings.
Interested in volunteering or partnering with us? Contact us to ask a question. We are genuinely so interested to hear from you.