Take Five with Cecilie Kern

In our latest interview, where we invite you to get to know the staff of Mercy International Association, we feature Cecilie Kern, Mercy Global Action’s Global Policy and Research Advocate.

Cecilie sat down with MIA's Head of Communications, Brenda Drumm to respond to our Take Five Questions.

Brenda: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and where you are in the world?

Cecilie: I’m originally from California and currently live in New York City. Since 2014, I’ve represented communities of women religious at the United Nations, focusing on advocacy related to gender equality, human rights, human mobility, and climate justice. A lot of my work and research has centered on migration policies, especially how we protect and support refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations across the migration cycle. I’m not a migrant myself, but my family is from the borderland between the US and Mexico, and I’ve always been fascinated by the mixing and shifting of identities, cultures, and histories in border regions. My family history has deeply shaped my interest in questions of belonging, justice, and the protection gaps within the international human rights framework.

Before moving into UN advocacy, I worked as an immigration paralegal at a non-profit in Washington, DC, accompanying migrants, refugees, and their families through the US immigration system and advocating for compassionate and comprehensive immigration reform. I carry that experience into my work today, keeping my advocacy and policy efforts closely connected to the lived realities and relationships behind the issues.

Outside of work, my favourite hobby is playing video games. I really cherish how games bring people together, create space for immersive storytelling, and open our imaginations to new perspectives and possibilities. I love how playing together can foster empathy, spark conversations about big issues, and help us imagine, create, and problem-solve.

Brenda: Can you share some details of your role with Mercy Global Action?

Cecilie: In my role as MGA’s Global Policy and Research Advocate, I help bring the voices and experiences of Mercy communities around the world into global policy spaces - especially at the United Nations. My work focuses mainly on two interconnected justice issues: the degradation of Earth and the displacement of persons. I lead research to explore the root causes of these challenges and use those findings to inform Mercy’s advocacy at the UN and in international coalitions. The goal is always to ensure that global decisions reflect the realities of the people and ecosystems most affected by injustice.

At the UN, I represent the Sisters of Mercy through our consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. That means participating in policy discussions, contributing to joint statements, and organizing events that highlight Mercy perspectives on issues like climate change, migration, homelessness, gender equality, and human rights. A big part of my work is also about connection - linking Mercy networks across countries, offering resources and support to emerging leaders, and helping ministries translate global policy into local action and vice versa. While it’s slow, long-term work, it’s incredibly rewarding to see grassroots stories shape international dialogue and drive real change.

Q3: What's coming up for you this year on the MGA front?

Cecilie: There’s always a full calendar of issues, meetings, and global developments that keep us engaged, but two major UN gatherings stand out as key priorities for Mercy Global Action this year.

A major focus in the first half of 2026 will be the International Migration Review Forum, which is a key moment to assess how countries are implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. We’re deeply involved in the civil society process leading up to the IMRF, working through the NGO Committee on Migration and the Resist, Reclaim, Realise campaign to push for migrant justice, accountability, and the protection of human rights throughout the migration cycle. It’s also a great opportunity to bring in Mercy experiences from ministries that accompany people on the move, making sure those realities inform global policy discussions. In a time when migration policy and international cooperation are increasingly shaped by political tension and fear, it’s crucial that we continue to center human rights, dignity, and compassion in every conversation.

Alongside that, I’ll be helping to coordinate Mercy Global Action’s engagement in the 2026 UN Water Conference in December. Water justice has always been central to Mercy Global Action’s advocacy. We will build momentum for the Water Conference by reviewing Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation at the High-Level Political Forum in July. We’re preparing through the Mercy Water Justice Coalition – bringing together Mercy water leaders around the world to spotlight how Mercy ministries are advancing the right to water, demonstrating the links between water and climate change, and honouring the moral and ecological dimensions of water stewardship. It’s an exciting year of connecting global processes with Mercy’s on-the-ground work for systemic change.

Brenda: Can you speak to us about the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women at the UN and the role of MGA?

Cecilie: The upcoming Commission on the Status of Women is always an important moment in the UN calendar, and this year’s priority theme on access to justice feels especially relevant to Mercy Global Action’s work for women and girls at the margins. In many of the contexts where Mercy is present, women and girls who experience gender-based violence struggle to have their rights recognized and their cases heard, and those who defend human rights or protect their lands and environments can find themselves criminalized rather than protected. CSW offers an important space to shine a light on these realities and to call for legal systems, institutions, and policies that genuinely safeguard the dignity, safety, and participation of women and girls, especially those living in poverty or on the frontlines of conflict, climate change, and displacement. We contribute directly to the CSW discussions through our official written statement, which sets out Mercy’s perspective on access to justice and highlights the experiences of women and girls across our global network. We also organize parallel events during the session, creating spaces where Mercy voices can be heard alongside other grassroots and faith-based advocates.

The CSW is also a key opportunity for Mercy Global Action to connect our advocacy with the energy and leadership of women from around the world. Participation during the CSW is a vital component of the Mercy Global Action Emerging Leaders Fellowship. During CSW, our Fellows and the wider Mercy network engage in events, dialogues, and networking spaces where they can share their experiences, learn from other movements, and build relationships with women driving change in their own contexts. In that sense, CSW isn’t just a meeting - it’s a community-building moment, where Mercy’s global perspective on justice meets the creativity and courage of women advocates working for a more equal world.

Brenda: What is your favourite quote and why?

Cecilie: A book I return to again and again is “Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power” by Rebecca Solnit. She says, “Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope.”

I love this quote because it treats hope not as naïve optimism, but as an active choice to stay engaged even when outcomes are uncertain. It reminds me that we’re not guaranteed success in our justice work, but we are responsible for showing up, acting in solidarity, and keeping open the possibility that things can change.

In the context of Mercy Global Action, this understanding of hope is very grounding. Much of our work is about confronting painful realities: ecological destruction, forced displacement, and systemic violence, especially against those already marginalized. Solnit’s words help me hold together realism and conviction - to be honest about the scale of the challenges while still believing that collective action, especially led by affected communities, can shift systems. This way of thinking about hope also resonates deeply with Catherine McAuley, who wrote, “While we place our confidence in God, we must act as if success depended on our own exertions.” Like Solnit, Catherine didn’t treat hope as a guarantee of results, but as a call to keep taking the next practical, merciful step. For me, Solnit’s words feel like a contemporary expression of Catherine’s conviction that our confidence in a more just and compassionate world has to be lived out through concrete action, attentive to small signs of change, quiet victories, and the everyday courage of people who resist despair.

ENDS

Thanks Cecilie for your generous sharing - it's been great to let our Mercy Family get to know you a little bit more.