When Bridget Moix began her tenure as general secretary in January 2022, she came back to an organization she knows well. An alumna of the Young Adult program, she has also worked on staff as a lobbyist and served as clerk of FCNL’s governing body, the General Committee.
Even having been around FCNL for many years, Bridget acknowledges she has a lot to learn—about the ways that FCNL has grown in scope, power, and long-term sustainability. She supports a staff of 63 and also leads two additional FCNL-affiliated Quaker organizations: Friends Place on Capitol Hill and the FCNL Education Fund.
Bridget’s first day as General Secretary coincided with escalating threats of war between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, followed a month later by the Russian invasion. She says that the irony of this tragedy is that it helps her see she is where she is supposed to be: in this community doing the work she is called to do. The fact that FCNL’s “War Is Not the Answer” message is still relevant, she says, shows why FCNL’s persistence on insisting there are other ways to approach conflicts is so important.
Bridget brings to this work extensive experience in peacebuilding and listening to the needs of communities most affected by violence. She has worked on international peace and conflict issues for 25 years, with a focus on U.S. foreign policy. Most recently, she spent six years as the head of the U.S. arm of Peace Direct, an international organization that supports local peacebuilders to take grassroots action to prevent violence.
As a lobbyist at FCNL, Bridget developed FCNL’s peacebuilding program and co-founded the Prevention and Protection Working Group, a coalition of more than 250 human rights, anti-genocide, and peace groups that FCNL still coordinates.
That focus, and her deep connection to Quaker faith, are evident already in Bridget’s approach to this work. She leads with energy and hope, while also acknowledging the difficulty of staying positive when working on weighty issues. Bridget has started a practice each week of sharing a query with staff that she is sitting with as she considers the alignment of work and values.
Amid the world’s uncertainties, she recently asked, “What are the possibilities and challenges that are offered to us and our work by our present moment? How do we embrace them with courage, faith, hope, and love?” And “How are Quaker values and testimonies present in our organization and the work we do? What do they mean for me in my own work?”
These queries also are a window into work ahead for FCNL: to listen to those most affected by the policies FCNL advocates for, both within and outside of our existing community; to live more fully into our Quaker values by embracing a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist future for FCNL; and to think creatively and boldly about what role FCNL can play in healing the divides in our country and strengthening our democracy.
Another question she is considering: “How can I be more ‘proximate to the pain?’ How can we bring our work in closer relationship to, and be guided by, those who are living the problems we seek to address?”
In addition to asking questions, Bridget has been busy getting to know FCNL supporters, policy makers, colleagues, and advocates. She considers this relationship-building one of the best parts of the job.
“I know some people through serving on FCNL committees, but now I get to know people involved with the organization in new and deeper ways,” she said recently. “It’s amazing to me that it’s my job to get to talk to people about how much they appreciate and value FCNL’s work.”
Even experienced peacebuilders face challenges, however. Speaking about her two sons, who are now becoming teens, she recalls “a colleague working in peace and conflict once told me that raising two boys would challenge every peacemaking skill I have. He was right! My boys Pablo and Santiago are my greatest blessing in life, and they remind me every day that building a just and peaceful world begins at home.”
We are pleased that Bridget has returned to FCNL as General Secretary to lead this organization in the next stage of its evolution to advance the world we seek. Welcome, Bridget!
