February 11, 2026
11am Central (see the time in your time zone)
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Conversation
Join us for a Witness and Grace conversation, presented in partnership with Sisters Rising Worldwide. Together, we’ll explore Out of the Shadows, Global Sisters Report’s series on violence against women, with insights from Chris Herlinger, Global Sisters Report’s international correspondent, who covered the stories. Sister Irene O’Neill, founder and president of Sisters Rising Worldwide, and Sister Kayula Lesa, leader of Talitha Kum Zambia, will share how Sisters are leading courageous, community-based responses to human trafficking and gender-based violence.
Soli Salgado, Global Sisters Report editor, will facilitate the session.
Resources
Presenters
- Chris Herlinger is the international correspondent for Global Sisters Report. He just returned from a reporting trip to Ukraine with photojournalist Gregg Brekke. Chris also went to Poland and Ukraine in November, and to Poland just weeks after the war began last year, to report about refugees and how sisters were assisting them.
- Sister Kayula Lesa, a member of the Religious Sisters of Charity in Zambia, Africa, runs Talitha Kum Zambia (TAKUZA), a national network of religious women congregations working to address human trafficking. She has served on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an Advisory Body to the Pope, and has worked with Jesuit Refugee Service and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection. She is a trainer and advocate for issues related to migration, displacement, safeguarding, and human trafficking.
- Sister Irene O’Neill, CSJ, Ed.D, is the founder and president of Sisters Rising Worldwide, a global nonprofit connecting 650,000 Sisters through its innovative PeaceRoom platform to the resources they need to help the world flourish. Drawing from her decades of experience in education and nonprofit leadership, Sister Irene envisioned the PeaceRoom to foster global collaboration among Sisters addressing the root causes of poverty. Through this work, she ensures the Sisters’ efforts are supported, their strategies shared, and their impact amplified. Under her leadership, SRW has supported 140+ Sister-led programs addressing poverty, human trafficking, and violence across 49 countries, impacting more than 340,000 vulnerable lives. Sister Irene holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and resides in St. Paul, Minnesota.