Caroline Peters

What does your company do?

The Callas Foundation is a feminist-led, community-rooted organisation working to end gender-based violence (GBV) on the Cape Flats in South Africa. Our core mission is to restore dignity, promote justice, and build community resilience through a combination of practical support, advocacy, education, and social innovation. We provide court support for survivors of GBV and families of femicide victims, rights awareness and GBV First Responder training for women in community kitchens, and psychosocial support to clients. Our unique integration of food security and justice initiatives—through our Western Cape Community Kitchen Network—ensures that survivors and vulnerable households have safe spaces and access to basic needs, while embedding empowerment and healing in everyday community life. In addition, we run the BBB (Building Bonding Beyond) Programme, engaging boys in dialogue around identity, consent, and positive masculinity, and have launched Human Rights Clubs in schools to build leadership among young people. Our work with women in conflict with the law advocates for non-custodial, community-based solutions. Through all our programs, we challenge harmful gender norms, promote systemic change, and cultivate hope in spaces that have historically been neglected.

What is your biggest success?

My greatest achievement has been founding the Callas Foundation and building it into a trusted feminist organisation that stands with survivors of gender-based violence when others turn away. On the Cape Flats, where trauma, poverty, and systemic neglect collide, we’ve created safe spaces that restore dignity and hope—especially through our court support programme, our innovative community kitchen network, and our BBB boys’ programme. One moment that stands out is when a survivor I supported as a traumatised teenager walked into our office years later as a confident professional, thriving and safe. That reminded me why we do this work. From shaping legislation to leading community responses, to being called “Aunty Calla” by children I’ve helped protect, my greatest achievement is not a single event—it’s the daily commitment to justice, healing, and change, one woman, one child, one kitchen, and one community at a time.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

My biggest hurdle has been working to restore hope and justice in communities where violence has become normalised and support systems are failing. As a survivor of gender-based violence myself, leading the Callas Foundation means navigating personal triggers while carrying the trauma of others—daily. Securing sustainable funding for grassroots, women-led work is another ongoing challenge. Despite the impact we make, we are often overlooked in favour of larger organisations with more visibility. There have been times when I’ve had to choose between paying my own bills and showing up in court for a survivor who had no one else. Yet, I persist. Because every hurdle is a reminder of why the work matters—why silence is not an option. Turning pain into power, and injustice into action, has been the hardest and most important journey of my life.