Trimita Chakma

Trimita Chakma

Trimita Chakma

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2023 © Trimita Chakma.
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About

Trimita a feminist researcher, organiser, & facilitator from the Indigenous Chakma hill tribe of Bangladesh with over 15 years of experience in social movement organising.

Trimita specialises in using Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) for strengthening social movements and evidence-based policy advocacy, particularly in women’s rights, climate justice, labour rights, Indigenous People’s rights, land rights, and water governance. Since 2012, Trimita has led numerous feminist research and advocacy campaigns across Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, collaborating with hundreds of community organisers and activists. In 2022, she co-founded the FPAR Academy (www.fparacademy.com), an online feminist pedagogical platform. She holds an MA in Asian Women's Studies from Ewha Womans University in South Korea and an MSc in IT Management from Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

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Organisations I have worked with

Key Areas of Work

Feminist Research and MEL

Conducting intersectional, participatory research using Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) methodologies. Specialising in gender-focused studies, policy analysis, and MEL (monitoring, evaluation and learning) across various social justice issues.

Communications & Advocacy Campaigns

Developing comprehensive communications strategies, leading digital media campaigns, and crafting compelling narratives for policy advocacy. Expertise in project management and public speaking on gender, climate, and economic justice topics.

Training & Facilitation

Designing and delivering participatory workshops on feminist research methodologies, gender equality, and social justice issues. Facilitating inclusive learning experiences for grassroots activists, researchers, and organisations globally.

Toolkit & Framework Development

Creating practical, user-friendly resources for activists, researchers, and organisations. Specialising in feminist advocacy toolkits, research guides, and strategic frameworks to build community skills and facilitate social change.

Education

Degree Certificates

  • 2020–2022

    MA in Asian Women's Studies

    EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

    Thesis title - Conceptualising Asian Women's Studies: Seen through the process of institutionalisation in South Korea

    CGPA 4.24/4.30 or 98.9/100

  • January - December 2008

    MSc in Information Technology (Management track)

    PENNSYLVANIA, USA

    Graduated with distinction (CGPA 3.77/4.0)

  • 2002-2005

    BSc in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

    JACOBS UNIVERSITY BREMEN/ CONSTRUCTOR UNIVERSITY, BREMEN, GERMANY
  • 2000-2002

    International Baccalaureate Diploma

    UNITED WORLD COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC, SOUTH WALES, UK

Work Experience

Work Related to Feminist Research and Organising

  • May 2023 - Present

    South Feminist Futures (SFF), South Africa

    SOUTH FEMINIST MANIFESTO PROJECT LEAD

    Coordinating the development of the South Feminist Futures Manifesto, including methodology design, consultation facilitation, and overseeing the drafting process.

  • July - October 2022

    South Feminist Futures (SFF), South Africa

    CONSULTANT – RESEARCH ON MAPPING FEMINIST MOVEMENTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC

    Led research into mapping invisible feminist issues and struggles in West and South Asia; Southeast Asia & the Pacific.

  • May 2020-Present

    Public Services International (PSI), Asia Pacific

    CONSULTANT – CAMPAIGNS & COMMUNICATIONS

    Lead and support PSI Asia Pacific’s communications and campaigns work such as overseeing the region’s communications strategy as well as coordinating campaigns for trade justice, decent work for community health workers, democracy in Myanmar etc. Highlights include:

    ▪ Leading the production of the video: Public Service Workers on Frontline of Climate Crisis Fight for a Just and Equitable Transition highlighting the need for quality public services to respond to the climate crisis as well as the role of unions in advancing just transition particularly in small island states.

    ▪ Organising launching of a PSI study: Towards a Public Goods Approach for Climate Finance: the Case Study of the Green Climate Fund at the 5th ITUC World Congress in Melbourne. This study aims to assess the degree to which international climate finance (such as the Green Climate Fund) strengthens universal quality public services in developing countries.

    ▪ Developing the story: Mana Wāhine Claim: Māori women workers unite to challenge colonial legacies and restore indigenous workers’ rights and leading the production of a podcast and a short video on how Māori women are fighting discrimination in in Aotearoa New Zealand.

    ▪ Creating the social media tools for the #TRIPSwaiver digital campaign which were used by several international organisations to push for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments during the pandemic.

  • May - July 2022

    Malala Fund, UK

    CONSULTANT – LEAD RESEARCHER, GENDER-TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

    Led and authored background research on conceptualising Gender-Transformative Education in partnership with Bonhishikha, Bangladesh to inform Malala Fund's strategic programming.

  • July 2021 - June 2022

    Oxfam International, Global

    CONSULTANT (VARIOUS PROJECTS)

    Consultant - Briefing paper on securing women's land rights (Apr–Aug 2023)
    Research and author an Oxfam briefing paper on securing women's land rights in the context of SDGs and GEF commitments, providing analysis and recommendations targeted at governments, donors, companies, and other stakeholders.

    Consultant – Expert in feminist participatory action research training (Apr–Dec 2023)
    Provide training, coaching, and support to Oxfam's partner organisations in Southeast Asia to integrate Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) methods into their work on water governance to produce evidence-based reports to strengthen gender-responsive advocacy in the region.

    Consultant – Expert in feminist participatory action research training (Jul 2021–Jun 2022)

    Provided FPAR training and targeted capacity support and technical assistance to Oxfam’s Inclusion Project Phase-2 partners in Mekong, including targeted technical advice for the project’s monitoring and evaluation framework in partnership with Edith Cowan University. Led the development of a FPAR toolkit to support the partners in implementing their FPAR work.

  • July 2021 - January 2022

    International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    CONSULTANT – GENDER EQUALITY AND MACROECONOMICS TRAINING AND TOOLKIT

    Designed and delivered a series of feminist participatory training workshops on Gender Equality and Macroeconomics for staff and partners, with a particular focus on collaborating with grassroots and community-based activists and organisations. Developed IWRAW-AP’s Gender Equality and Macroeconomics (GEM) Training Manual.

  • 2020 - 2022 Enter year from

    ActionAid International, Global

    CONSULTANT (VARIOUS PROJECTS)

    Consultant – Authoring a care framework for Women’s Labour Alliance (October - February 2022)
    Developed and wrote “A Care Framework” envisioning a feminist, just and green future which requires a radical re-valuing and reorganisation of the economy, with care at the centre. This includes literature review of feminist economics theories and grey literature to support the members of Women’s Labour Alliance.

    Consultant – Research Advisor (interim) (March - June 2021)
    Facilitated and supported the piloting of ActionAid's Feminist Research Guidelines in Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Brazil. Reviewed international research terms of references, reports, policy repots and the development of new policy positions.

    Consultant – The Feminist Humanitarian Network Research (September 2020 - March 2021)
    Supported members of the Feminist Humanitarian Network in undertaking a research study to document the experiences of local and national women’s human rights organisations in responding to the challenges of COVID-19 including in designing, providing tools and approaches, analysis and validation of findings and producing reports and materials for policy advocacy.

    Consultant - Piloting of ActionAid's Feminist Research Guidelines in Myanmar (August 2020 - February 2021)
    Supported and facilitated the research team in Myanmar to undertake piloting of ActionAid's Feminist Research Guidelines, including actively reflecting on and documenting the process, to identify and build on good practice, evaluate their usability, identify elements that need changing or missing to support their finalisation, including tools to support their roll-out across the ActionAid federation.

    Consultant – Global report and primer on the impact of COVID-19 on young women working in the informal sector (October –November 2020)
    Authored a rapid assessment report on the impact of COVID-19 on young women living in 22 informal settlement areas in India, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. Authored a primer for 16 Days of Activism call to action for the advancement and implementation of ILO C190 and the Beijing Platform for Action highlighting the plights of the young women working in the informal sector.

    Consultant – Expert in feminist participatory action research training in India (October 2019 -March 2021)
    Designed, developed, and facilitated offline and online training for participatory data gathering and analysis methods and campaign tools for evidence-based advocacy on the impact of COVID-19 on young women living in urban settlements in three cities in India. Authored FPAR report summarising the findings and outcomes of the programme.

  • 2020-2021

    Asia Pacific Forum On Women, Law & Development (APWLD), Chiang Mai, Thailand

    CONSULTANT (VARIOUS PROJECTS)

    Consultant – Annual report 2020 (March - July 2021)
    Authored APWLD’s annual report capturing the organisation’s major achievements in 2020 including challenges and lessons learnt.

    Consultant – Land FPAR country briefs and regional report (August 2020 - March 2021)
    Authored 10 country briefs and a regional report based on FPAR reports submitted by APWLD’s Breaking Out of Marginalisation (BOOM) programme partners on the issues of women’s access to land and natural resources.

    Consultant – COVID-19 research and database (June - July 2020)
    Undertook desk research to collect, categorise and map data related to policies and measures put in place by governments to address COVID-19 crisis, as well as International Financial institutions in countries in Asia and the Pacific.

    Consultant – Women’s Global Strike Campaign website (March - April 2020)
    Provided technical support for managing the Women’s Global Strike Campaign website including maintenance of the virtual server on Digital Ocean platform and WordPress content management.

Work Related to Climate/ Environmental Issues

  • March 2021-August 2024

    Plan International/ Edith Cowan University, Australia

    CONSULTANT – EXPERT IN FEMINIST PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH (FPAR) TRAINING

    Support the Pacific Girls in a Changing Climate project in Kiribati with developing and facilitating online/ offline training modules for feminist participatory data gathering and analysis methods. 

  • August 2022–Present

    Women’s Environment And Development Organization (WEDO), New York, USA

    CONSULTANT – TECHNICAL GUIDANCE AND DATA MAPPING

    Provide technical guidance and data mapping to compile and review existing data and research at the nexus between gender and the environment for the Gender and Environment Data Alliance.

  • March - September 2022

    ActionAid International, Global

    CONSULTANT – LEAD RESEARCHER, FEMINIST CLIMATE RESEARCH

    Led feminist research into climate change impacts and responses in four countries in Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia) focusing on the lived experiences of women on the front lines of the climate crisis, how they are organising and responding to the challenges they are facing and how loss and damage is materialising at the local level. Research methodology includes literature review, primary data collection, analysis, and outputs.

  • March - December 2022

    Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Chiang Mai, Thailand

    CONSULTANT (VARIOUS)

    Consultant – Position paper on indigenous women and water governance (Mar–Dec 2022)
    Developed a position paper for on Indigenous women’s role on water governance in the context of the climate crisis, environmental degradation, and harmful development practices based on desk research and four sub-regional consultations with AIPP members.

    Consultant – Intersectionality Guidebook (Dec 2022)
    Developed and An Intersectionality Guidebook for Social Movements Organisations in Asia and the Pacific for Forging Intersectional Feminist Futures (FIFF) Consortium.

    Consultant – UN submission writing (Mar 2022)
    Authored AIPP’s report on violence against Indigenous women and girls in the context of the climate crisis, including environmental degradation and related disaster risk mitigation and response for submitting to Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes, and consequences (SR VAW).

  • October 2014 - February 2020

    Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law & Development (APWLD), Chiang Mai, Thailand

    RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS OFFICER/ ASSOCIATE

    Managed the organisation’s research publications, co-developed the organisation’s communications strategy, lead the production of short video documentaries, and facilitated events and training workshops.

Work Related to Women's Funds/ Philanthropy

  • August 2022–August 2024

    Porticus/ Closer Than You Think, Netherlands/ UK

    CONSULTANT & CO-AUTHOR OF "EXPANDING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF EVIDENCE FOR MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION"

    Co-design and implement an investigative enquiry into the evidence base for meaningful participation of diverse communities and groups in funders' activities. This includes conducting a literature review, develop a think piece on evidence, and co-create a roadmap for building the evidence base to promote meaningful participation in philanthropic spaces. The study aims to contribute to the much needed evidence-base by compiling existing evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of participatory approaches, in both social development initiatives and philanthropic practices.

  • Aug–Dec 2023

    Korea Foundation for Women, South Korea

    RESEARCH CONSULTANT

    Conduct a landscape study for three women's funds - KFW, HER Fund, and SAWF IN - to develop compelling narratives and gain support for their work. The study will explore the evolution of the funds, their current operations, and future strategic directions, providing insights to navigate the changing landscapes of feminist movement building work and facilitate sustainable support from diverse stakeholders.

  • Jan–Jun 2022

    Elevate Children Funders Group, Global

    CONSULTANT – DATA ANALYST

    Undertook qualitative data analysis for developing a Funders’ Toolkit on Child and Youth Participation for exploring how to best support child and youth participation in grant-making and promote participation within funders’ organisations.

  • March - September 2022

    Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P), Asia & Pacific

    CONSULTANT – RESEARCHER/ DATA ANALYST

    Co-authored a 'Grants Analysis Report' identifying key areas of interest and analysing the available data for the UAF A&P’s grants to assist the Learning Facilitator, Grants and Resource Mobilisation teams to better understand the contexts and crises in the region to improve effectiveness of grant-making.

Other work

  • December 2010 - September 2014

    Coffey International Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    MIS MANAGER, AUSTRALIA AWARDS SOUTH ASIA PROGRAMME

    ▪ Analysed business processes, gathered business and functional requirements and successfully project managed the development of South Asia Scholarships Information Management System (SASIMS).
    ▪ Developed an improved survey system for the programme using an open source technology and managed and analysed the collected data to generate ad-hoc reports for M&E.
    ▪ Re-designed, deployed and maintained the program’s website in accordance with the communication and branding guidelines.
    ▪ Designed, developed and launched the program’s intranet SharePoint 2010 site.
    ▪ Oversaw the programme’s IT network in five countries to ensure smooth IT operation and liaised with the offshore corporate IT office as necessary for network maintenance.
    ▪ Directly supervised the IT Support Officer.

  • February 2009 - November 2010

    JOBS-ICT Private Limited (JIPL), Dhaka, Bangladesh

    IT PROJECT COORDINATOR

    ▪ Analysed the system applications and recommended suitable IT solutions to improve the JIPL’s Human Resources management system.
    ▪ Coordinated the planning, design, implementation, and testing of JIPL’s enhanced online job portal in collaboration with an external software development team.
    ▪ Recruited and supervised a web development team of five professionals.
    ▪ Developed a new company website in accordance with the new branding guidelines.
    ▪ Led the effort of forgoing new business partnerships with foreign agencies as part of the sustainability strategy to move towards reduced dependency on the local market.

  • December 2005 - November 2006

    United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Rangamati, Bangladesh

    ICT ASSISTANT, CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS DEVELOPMENT FACILITY (CHTDF)

    ▪ Participated in software development projects as a programmer for building Security Information Management System (SIMS), District & Central Community Empowerment Project Component Monitoring System, and District & Central Quick Impact Fund Tracking System.
    ▪ Undertook data analysis to produce ad-hoc reports to assess or provide evidence on the impact of interventions.
    ▪ Performed IT administrative duties such as software and hardware troubleshooting, network administration and web support.
    ▪ Provided ICT support and user training for the UNDP’s stakeholders including partner NGOs, local governance institutions and other UN agencies.

Publications

Books/ Book Chapters
  • Chakma, T., Godden, N. J., Naidu, K., Sinumlag, A., & Paw, N. H. L. (2023). Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) for Transnational Feminism in Asia. In M. Call-Cummings, M. Hauber-Özer, & G. P. Dazzo, The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Participatory Inquiry in Transnational Research Contexts (1st ed., pp. 9–27). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003207672-3
  • Godden, N. J., Chakma, T., & Naidu, K. (2023). Feminist Participatory Action Research: A methodology for ecosocial justice. In R. Forbes & K. Smith (Eds.), Ecosocial work practice (pp. 123–134). NASW Press. https://naswpress.org/product/53675/ecosocial-work
  • Chakma, T. and Taguiwalo, J. (2019). APWLD Herstory 1986-2017 – Celebrating over 30 years of advocacy, activism and movement building to advance women’s human rights in the Asia Pacific Region. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD).
Journal Articles
Reports/ Policy Papers
Training Manuals/ Toolkits
Podcasts

Conferences

Panel Speaker

  • 4 April 2023

    Ecological Justice and Social Work Conference (Online)

    by the Institute for Social Work and Ecological Justice and Adelphi University

    Topic: Ecosocial Work Practice book chapter 10: Feminist Participatory Action Research: A methodology for ecosocial justice

  • 31 March 2022

    Community of Practice: Place-based Research Action (Online)

    by Sydney Policy Lab, University of Sydney, Centre for People, Place and Planet, Edith Cowan University, and Centre for Just Places, Jesuit Social Services

    Topic: Feminist Participatory Action Research mobilising for social justice

  • 12 November 2021

    26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 (Online)

    by the Australian Association of Social Workers

    Topic: Activism for gender equality and climate justice through Feminist Participatory Action Research

  • 1 July 2021

    Research for Development Impact Network Conference (Online)

    by RDI Network

    Topic: Feminist Participatory Action Research for Climate Justice 

  • 22 January 2021,

    5th World Conference on Qualitative Research (WCQR2021) (Online)

     by Ludomedia and the University of Barcelona

    Topic: Feminist Participatory Action Research: A methodology of research and activism

  • 10 December 2020

    MenEngage Ubuntu Symposium (Online)

    by MenEngage Alliance

    Topic: Climate Crisis, Men and Climate Justice (session 1): Voices from women and girls leading the feminist Climate Justice Movement 

Scholarships & Awards

  • Scholarship recipient (partial), Ewha Womans University 2020-2021, Master of Arts in Asian at the Women’s Studies Asian Center for Women’s Studies, Ewha Womans University, South Korea.
  • Women Deliver Conference Scholarship, 2016, Women Deliver.
  • 9th Ewha Global Empowerment Programme, 2016, Asian Center for Women’s Studies, Ewha Womans University, South Korea.
  • UNAOC-EF Summer School, 2013, United Nationals Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), New York, USA.
  • Australian Alumni Excellence Awards for Young Alumni, 2012, Australian Trade Commission Bangladesh.
  • Asia 21 Young Leader, 2012, Asia Society.
  • Carnegie Mellon AusAid Scholarship recipient (full), 2008, DFAT Australia, for Master of Science in Information Technology Management at  Heinz College Australia, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
  • DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) Stipend Award for outstanding commitment in extracurricular activities, 2004, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany.
  • UWC full scholarship recipient 2000-2002, for International Baccalaureate Diploma, United World College of the Atlantic, South Wales, United Kingdom.

Contact me

Send Me a Message

    trimita@fparacademy.com
    Currently based in Seoul, South Korea