Project Resist Founders
Who We Are
Project Resist draws on decades of front line experience of its two key founding members, Pragna Patel and Rosie Lewis. We have a long history of conducting pioneering casework, policy work and campaigning work in support of women’s right to justice and self-determination. Our focus is particularly on violence against women and girls and related issues such as racism and social, economic and political discrimination and inequality.
Pragna Patel: Co-Founder & Co-Director
Pragna Patel is the co-founder and co-director of Project Resist. She is the former director and founding member of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS) advocacy and campaigning centre where she worked from 1982 to Jan 2022 with a break in 1993 when she left to train and practice as a solicitor. Over those 40 years, she led SBS in some of its most important cases and campaigns on gender-based abuse, immigration and religious fundamentalism. She was also a founding member of Women Against Fundamentalism, and she has written extensively on race, gender and religion. She continues with her work in these areas at Project Resist. Pragna is a member of Feminist Dissent.
Rosie Lewis: Co-Founder & Co-Director
Rosie Lewis is the co-founder and co-director of Project Resist. Rosie Lewis’s work, writing and politics are informed by her roots in anarcha-socialist punk DIY music, collectivist organising and activism. She has over two decades of advocacy and movement building experience with minoritised and migrant women, children and young survivors of violence and abuse as well as women subject to detention and incarceration. This includes working in frontline advocacy and management roles, and developing a wide range of women and children’s VAWG services. Rosie has also worked in national social and cultural policy, research, training and consultancy roles. She has recently attained her Doctorate in Philosophy from Durham University.