Professional Experience:
Marion Bernadette G. Cabrera has been involved in gender and development work, for the past 25 years, with Philippine-based and regional non-government organisations, namely: Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Isis International, Manila and Institute of Women’s Studies Foundation Inc. (IWS), St. Scholastica’s College, Manila (SSC). In these organisations she held various positions as training coordinator, deputy executive director, teacher, programme manager, officer, coordinator, manager and action researcher. In these capacities she was able to hone her capacities and skills in feminist analysis, management, participatory methodologies for training and action research.
Her extensive experience in capacity building work in alternative and formal settings comes from coordinating and facilitating innovative and longstanding courses such as the Feminist Legal Theory and Practice (APWLD); Isis International’s Activist School on Feminist Development Communications (Isis International); Intercultural Course on Women and Society (three month intensive course on women’s studies for women based in the Asia, Pacific and African Region), Trainers’ Training on Feminist and Education Work for Women in the Philippines (one-month course for gender and development workers in the Philippines) with IWS. In these she exercised participatory training methodologies, group processing while ensuring a safe learning and multi-cultural environment. These long- and short-term capacity building programme in turn helped strengthen the knowledge and capacities of women development and human rights workers from different parts of the Philippines, Asia Pacific and Africa in feminist analysis, participatory training, legal analysis and strategizing, development communications and people-oriented development.
Having served as Executive and Human Resource Officer, Deputy Executive Director and Programme Manager has sharpened her capacities and skills in institutional management making her a capable administrative manager versed in the different areas of management – human resource development, organizational and programme development, and financial management. She is also quick to learn the ropes of the job that enables her to work with minimal supervision, takes initiative in what needs to be carried out, and has a quick yet mindful way of handling crisis and stressful situations.