Fellow: Cristal Banagan Grant Year: 2019 Location: West Contra Costa County, California, United States Organization: Girls Inc. of West Contra Costa County Project Title: Girls Speak 2019! Project Summary: A Girls Inc. national research report indicated that 1 in 4 young women experience sexual assault before the age of 18. Nearly half (48%) of 7th-12th-grade students reported experiencing sexual harassment in … Read More
Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission – Sanctuary and Support Services
Fellow: Jennifer Cruz Grant Year: 2019 Location: Fresno, California, United States Organization: Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission – Sanctuary and Support Services Project Title: Equal Access to Transgender Healthcare in Fresno, California Project Summary: The State of California has non-discrimination laws that should protect the rights of transgender people, however in Fresno, there is little oversight of the laws’ implementation, particularly … Read More
Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission – Central Valley Against Human Trafficking
Fellow: Sarah Johnston Grant Year: 2019 Location: California, United States Organization: Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission – Central Valley Against Human Trafficking Project Title: State of California Human Trafficking Advisory Board Project Summary: The U.S. Department of State estimates that 14,500-20,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year, which does not include victims who are trafficked within the country. … Read More
Young Women’s Freedom Center
Fellow: April Grayson Grant Year: 2019 Location: California, United States Organization: Young Women’s Freedom Center Project Title: Women’s Oversight Committee Project Summary: Within the criminal justice system there are no gender-specific or gender-responsive resources to support the dignity and quality of life of women. California currently has the largest women’s prison in the United States and women have become the … Read More
Rising Up for Youth
In July 2019, Rise Up brought together 22 young leaders from Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Mississippi, and Louisiana here in the San Francisco Bay Area to strengthen their leadership, build capacity, and launch game-changing initiatives to advance sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice (SRHRJ) for young people in their communities. As Rise Up’s third cohort of Youth Champions, this … Read More
Tyler Harden
United States – Mississippi Tyler sees the barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in her community and wants to create a space that centers Black femme in Mississippi as leaders, allowing them to control the narrative of their sexual and reproductive health. She works for Planned Parenthood Southeast and is creating a platform to elevate and … Read More
Suyash Khubchandani
India As a medical student, Suyash saw there was a gap in the medical curriculum with the over-medicalization of sexual and reproductive health and the information needed for abortion providers to offer realistic, compassionate care for their patients. Suyash then cofounded India Safe Abortion Youth Advocates, a network of medical students working to promote women’s right to safe abortion. Suyash … Read More
Selamawit Mersha
Ethiopia Selamawit is committed to leading youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through a program called ‘Get Up Speak Out’. She addresses youth SRHR challenges through education, information, services, meaningful youth participation, and works to create an enabling environment for youth SRHR. She works for Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD) and is dedicated to training young people … Read More
Sarmad Soomar
Pakistan Sarmad Muhammad Soomar is a licensed registered nurse and currently works under the domain of research at the Department of Psychiatry in Aga Khan University, Pakistan. Sarmad is passionate about integrating human sexuality into healthcare curriculum and about inclusion and justice in sexual health and rights. He works with gender diverse people, adolescents, refugees, disabled people, and men. Sarmad … Read More
