WRC is honoured to share this beautiful and fitting tribute to our warrior sister in the struggle, Michelle Springer-Benjamin, at Women and Girls Network (WGN).

WRC was proud to present her lifelong partner with an In Memoriam Audre Lorde Award for Women’s Sector Leadership at our annual conference on June 25th 2025, in recognition of Michelle’s unwavering commitment to women’s liberation and her lifelong work in service of our collective freedom.

May she rest in eternal peace.

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13 June 2025

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

We are deeply saddened to share the news that our beloved co-founder and Head of Training, Michelle Springer-Benjamin, passed away just over 2 weeks ago.

This news has come as a huge shock to all of us at Women and Girls Network (WGN) and across the wider sector. Michelle’s lifelong legacy has been her unwavering commitment and service to survivors of violence, abuse and all forms of oppression and injustice. Michelle was an integral part of our organisation. As a Black Intersectional Feminist, she has been instrumental in shaping the roots and foundations of which WGN is built upon. Her vision, dedication and care shaped the heart of our work. She helped build not just an organisation, but a culture rooted in purpose and compassion.

Her grounding as a social worker, therapist and trainer combined with her political and spiritual wisdom created training that has ensured consistent excellence over decades of delivery. Thousands of individuals who had had the privilege to be trained by Michelle have provided testimonies of the profound and life changing experience these sessions had, in relation to not only their professional practices but also their personal lives. Her legacy is profound and far-reaching and we are aware that this is not only a deep loss for WGN but for those who she worked for and alongside in the wider movements of social justice.

Michelle was so much more than her title. She was one of our founding ancestors, a pillar of our team, a cornerstone of our mission and a constant source of wisdom. To be in a room with her was a living embodiment of unconditional love, warmth, encouragement, generosity and inspiration. Her vibrancy was up-lifting, and we walked away feeling and knowing what it was to be truly seen by another. Michelle brought life to practices rooted in ancestral knowledge creating spaces of learning that centred embodiment, ritual, storytelling and sound. She wove music into our spaces not just as background, but as medicine.  She used music to call us back to ourselves, to one another, and to spirit.

Her impact on our work and on all of us personally is immeasurable. Her legacy will live on through every individual and organisation she helped shape.

To honour Michelle’s memory and the incredible contribution she made, we will be taking some time to grieve, reflect and begin healing, therefore we ask to be patient with us in our response to any requests and communications.

Michelle was a phenomenal Woman: A light bearer, storyteller, teacher and dreamer. We honour our Founder, Matriarch, Sistah, Friend, Warrior, Elder.

She will be remembered with deep admiration, love and respect by all who had the privilege of knowing and working with her. Please hold her family and beloved lifelong partner Akima in your hearts, prayers and thoughts.

 
In Sisterhood, Gurpreet Virdee, CEO of Development at Women and Girls Network