Harley Wishart is the Power and Voice Lead for The Democracy Network. She is building a new project, Power and Voice: with a specific focus on structural and systemic inequalities, how they inhibit democracy, and how we can work in solidarity to deconstruct them. This project will be co-created with community organisers, grassroots activists and civil society organisations interested in how economic inequalities and intersecting forms of discrimination impact people's ability to exercise their civil and political rights - and how we can rebuild political systems together that put people first.
Harley has a decade of experience of working on inequality issues in the NGO sector. At Oxfam, they led work to strategically integrate an intersectional feminist approach to the campaigns and policy work of INGOs. In this role Harley developed and produced 'The Inclusive Language Guide' to support people to write about their work in ways that reflect the values and language of social justice movements for gender equality, decolonisation, racial justice, disability rights and LGBTQIA+ liberation. The ILG went viral on publication, and generated an overwhelming volume of positive feedback from feminist activists, advocates and changemakers around the world, demonstrating value and global uptake across the social justice space.
Prior to this she worked at Amnesty International; supporting campaigns including advocacy for the Refugee Family Reunion Bill and to save the Human Rights Act, and Practical Action; supporting access to energy for people living in poverty. They are also an activist and have campaigned and volunteered across feminist and queer spaces, and to provide direct support to refugees and asylum seekers.
Harley is also a doctoral researcher at the University of Brighton; building on their MA in Human Rights to undertake PhD research on the impact of anti-protest legislation in the UK. Their research project is funded by the ESRC and seeks to investigate whether new laws to limit the impact of protests have created a 'chilling effect' on the willingness of activists to participate in public demonstrations; and in particular, if they have created a discriminatory impact on racialised groups and people experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination. Harley is also a member of the international Resistance Studies Network.