Staff
Marwo Abdi, Support Coordinator
Marwo Abdi is an Eastern African woman. She was born in Somalia and grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya. She has been an uninvited visitor living on the territory of the Lekwungen and WSÁNEĆ peoples for almost ten years. After living in a refugee camp for many years she was able to receive a scholarship to the University of Victoria where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. While living in the refugee camp Marwo did extensive advocacy work around gender-based violence and girl’s access to education. Marwo is passionate about social justice issues facing us in today’s world. She is extremely excited about being the Support Coordinator at the Anti-Violence Project and doing work around gender based violence and supporting survivors and people who have caused harm, while creating communities of care and consent.
Kemi Craig, Outreach Coordinator
Kemi is a cisgender woman of African descent raised in the Cherokee and Catawba territories (aka North and South Carolina). She has been an uninvited guest in Lekwungen and W̱ŚANÉC territories since 2002 working with artist-run centres and advocacy groups such as CineVic, the Students of Colour Collective, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and CFUV Radio. Kemi has an extensive background in using media art and movement as tools for promoting social justice, with a lens on gender and racialization. Kemi is excited to be working with AVP and is dedicated to building relationships through community events!
Paloma Ponti, Education Coordinator
Born and raised on the territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, Paloma (she/her) is a cisgender settler woman. As a white presenting person of “mixed-race”, Paloma often struggles to locate herself in ways that both acknowledge her Colombian roots and her own white privilege, and is constantly to deepening her learning about this. In 2016, Paloma joined the AVP staff team and served as the Volunteer Organizer for two years before becoming the Education Coordinator. Paloma recently completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Gender Studies and Social Justice Studies at UVic but continues to expand her understanding of systems of oppression and creating social change in her work at AVP. When not working, Paloma loves weaving, knitting and attempting to play the ukulele.