Ronelle King

Ronelle King is the Executive Director of Life In Leggings: Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-based Violence. She is an Afro-Barbadian, multi-award-winning gender rights activist. In 2016, Ronelle created the hashtag #lifeinleggings and started a viral social media campaign that empowered Caribbean women who were survivors of abuse to share their experiences, find solidarity, and raise awareness about the prevalence of gender-based violence in the region. The hashtag led to the creation of Life in Leggings: Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-Based Violence, a youth-led organization that aims to eradicate rape culture and regional occurrences of violence against women and girls.

As Executive Director, Ronelle has since created and executed several successful initiatives. Notably, the Reclaim Our Streets: Women’s Solidarity March, the region’s first simultaneous and largest civil society-led grassroots march against street harassment and other forms of gender-based violence that make public spaces unsafe for women and girls, as well as the award-winning Pink Parliament mentorship program, which works with young women and girls to increase women’s participation in politics and decision-making spaces.

Most recently, Ronelle graduated from the Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University’s 2023–24 cohort. During the fellowship, she developed a program on gender and climate to explore the intersection between the environmental crisis and gender-based violence.

Additionally, Ronelle serves as a UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals within the United Nations’ Youth Affairs Office. Through her work, she has been a driving force in highlighting key issues pertaining to gender rights, youth development, and the protection of marginalized communities. She views her work as helping to create an inclusive, sustainable, and equitable region for all.