Advancing Reproductive Justice: Defending Abortion, Bodily Autonomy & Democracy
This session will build off of conversations held at last year’s Bioneers Conference about the relationships between the Environmental Justice and Reproductive Justice movements. The war on Mother Earth is rooted in the war on the bodies of women and gender-non binary people’s bodily autonomy, which is accelerating as the dying patriarchal cultural system feels threatened and lashes out ever more desperately. But, as people rise up to defend abortion access, reproductive rights and justice, the deepening collaboration between the environmental justice and reproductive and birth justice communities is helping us unite to defend the rights to bodily autonomy and self-determination. Come hear from reproductive health justice leaders working to defend access to abortion and reproductive healthcare and to push back the overall attack on democracy we are facing. Hosted by: Taj James. Facilitated by Eveline Shen, former director of Forward Together and founder/President of Leading Courageously. With: Elisa Batista, Campaign Director, UltraViolet; Mariko Miki, Interim Executive Director at If/When/How; Cynthia Gutierrez, Program Manager for UCSF’s Hub of Positive Reproductive and Sexual Health (HIVE) and Team Lily programs.
The Marsh Theater
March 28th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm
Panelists
Elisa Batista
Campaign Director
UltraViolet
Elisa Batista, the Content Director and a Campaign Director with UltraViolet (an organization dedicated to ending violence against women, increasing their and their families’ economic security and ensuring they all have access to full, affordable healthcare), was previously Campaign Director for MomsRising.org, a million-volunteer grassroots organization, helping spearhead the organization’s immigration campaign and launching MamásConPoder.org, a community of civically engaged Spanish-speaking and bilingual mothers. Elisa is also a bilingual journalist and award-winning digital influencer who co-founded the popular parenting community, MotherTalkers.
Eveline Shen
Leading Courageously
Founder and President
Eveline Shen is an award-winning leader and principal at Leading Courageously, where she supports BIPOC women, trans and non-binary leaders to step into their power. A key leader in the Reproductive Justice Movement for over two decades, she served as Executive of Forward Together for 22 years, but is now focused on teaching the Courageous Operating System, a framework she developed to help leaders of color face challenging situations with courage, confidence and strength. Eveline has created numerous experiential trainings that have engaged hundreds of mostly BIPOC leaders and activists, domestically and globally, and is the author of the forthcoming: Choosing to Lead Against the Current.
Mariko Miki
Interim Executive Director
If/When/How
Mariko Miki, an attorney, is the Interim Executive Director at If/When/How, a legal services and advocacy organization that seeks to help people in crisis, reshape the law, and build a national network of legal professionals working for reproductive justice. Mariko, who has been with If/When/How for 14 years, launched that organization’s Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program and established its Repro Legal Defense Fund.
Cynthia Gutierrez
Program Manager
UCSF's Hub of Positive Reproductive and Sexual Health (HIVE)
Cynthia Gutierrez, an Oakland-based, award winning first-generation Indigenous Nicaraguan/Salvadoran reproductive justice organizer, full spectrum doula, cultural strategist and writer is currently Program Manager for the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Hub of Positive Reproductive and Sexual Health (HIVE) and Team Lily programs, as well as an abortion storyteller with We Testify. Cynthia also serves on the boards for ACCESS Reproductive Justice, SisterSong, and Ineedana; and her work at the intersection of reproductive, disability and environmental justice has been featured in many leading media, including: The New York Times, The Lily, Elle Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Rewire News Group, etc.
Taj James
