Rooted in Justice,
Built on Sisterhood

How it started

The Bonobo Sisterhood Alliance began with a simple, radical idea: we can protect one another—and in doing so, change everything. Founded by legal scholar and activist Diane Rosenfeld, the Alliance draws from the social behavior of bonobos, our closest primate relatives, who have eliminated sexual violence through female solidarity. Our work is rooted in feminist legal theory, collective self-defense, and real-world organizing. We’re building a world where no one faces harm alone.

A woman (Diane L. Rosenfeld) with curly blonde hair smiling outdoors, wearing a black turtleneck, with green trees and a cloudy sky in the background.

Diane L. Rosenfeld, CEO and President

About Diane

Diane L. Rosenfeld is a legal scholar, fierce advocate, and the founder of the Bonobo Sisterhood Alliance. Diane is the founding Director of the Gender Violence program at Harvard Law School where she is a lecturer on law. Her groundbreaking book, The Bonobo Sisterhood: Revolution Through Female Alliance, offers both a vision and a strategy for disrupting patriarchal violence. Drawing inspiration from bonobo primates—who organize to protect one another and maintain peace—Diane lays out a bold, actionable model for collective self-defense.

Ellen Krause-Grosman

Ellen Krause-Grosman brings a wealth of experience in advocacy, leadership, and organizing to help grow the Bonobo Sisterhood. She has deep ties to the empowerment self-defense community. As the first Executive Director of ESD Global Inc. she led the development of an international ESD teacher training program which provided violence prevention education to 6,500+ people in 50 countries. 

Ellen Krause-Grosman, Executive Director

Our Board

  • Close-up portrait of a woman with long dark hair, wearing a black blazer, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.

    Cari S. Simon

    Senior Attorney & Policy Expert, The Fierberg National Law Center

  • A smiling woman with long dark hair, wearing a navy blazer over a white shirt.

    Brianna Banks

    Associate Attorney
    Gibson Dunn

  • A woman with dark blonde hair in a messy updo, wearing a pink shirt, standing against a beige wall.

    Cindy Kahn

    Consultant to Nonprofits
    & Family Foundations

  • “Rosenfeld’s tour-de-force takes the power of female alliances to a higher level. The gift of this book is that it gives us hope.”

    Valerie Jarrett, New York Times bestselling author of Finding My Voice, and former senior advisor to President Barack Obama

  • “Diane's book describes The Bonobo Sisterhood. It is a sisterhood to whom I owe my justice, success, and healing today.”

    Amanda Nguyen
    Founder of Rise, 2022 TIME Woman of the Year

  • The Bonobo Sisterhood shows us that the way to disrupt patriarchy is by demonstrating that safety, security, and strength can exist among women.”

    Fatima Goss Graves
    President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center,
    Co-Founder of TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund