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The Women’s Foundation of California thanks the speakers, mentors, and supporters that made the 2007-2008 Women’s Policy Institute such a success?
Women's Policy Institute Director
Marj Plumb, Plumbline Coaching and Consulting, Inc.
Elected Officials
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass
Senator Sheila Kuehl
Assembly Member Sally Lieber
Assembly Member Fiona Ma
Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg
Assembly Member Alberto Torrico
Mentors
Kathy Mossburg, Kathleen Mossburg & Associates
Michael Herald, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Katie McCall, Women’s Community Clinic
Manjusha Kulkarni, National Health Law Program
Karen Shain, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
Vivian Huang, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
Special Advisers and Allies
Elmy Bermejo, State and Consumer Services Agency
Lennies Gutierrez, Office of Assembly Member Alberto Torrico
Catalina Hayes-Bautista, Office of Assembly Member Fiona Ma
Tam Ma, Office of Senator Sheila Kuehl
Charlotte Maxwell Newhart, Charlotte Maxwell Newhart & Associates
Marcus McKinney, Office of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass
Michael Moynagh, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Cathy Senderling, County Welfare Directors Association
Elise Thurau, Office of Senator Carole Migden
Nicole Vazquez, Assembly Budget Committee
Mary Wiberg, California Commission on the Status of Women
Speakers
Emily Austin, California Women’s Law Center
Ann Marie Benitez, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Kim Carter, Time For Change Foundation
Nancy Chen, Alliance for Justice
Curt Child, Assembly Human Services Committee
Iris Diaz, Berkeley Media Studies Group
Deborah Doctor, Protection and Advocacy
Ben Ebbink, Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
Amanda Feinstein, Walter and Elise Haas Fund
Jessica Fields, San Francisco State University
Diane Fishburn, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn LLP
Elizabeth Fuller, Legislative Women's Caucus
Becca Gonzales, California Budget Project
Inez Gonzalez, National Hispanic Media Coalition
Elina Green, Long Beach Alliance for Children With Asthma
Gail Gronert, Office of Assembly Member Fabian Nuñez
Liz Guillen, Public Advocates
Sonja Herbert, Berkeley Media Studies Group
Elizabeth Hill, Legislative Analyst’s Office
Wendy Rae Hill, California Chapter of the NASW
Vanessa Huang, Justice Now
Tammy Johnson, Applied Research Center
Angela Johnson Meszaros, California Environmental Rights Alliance
Jennifer Kent, Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Charles Klein, National Sexuality Resource Center
Kathy Kneer, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Susan Lapsley, Office of Administative Law
Barbara Masters, The California Endowment
Beth McGovern, California Commission on the Status of Women
Nayantara Mehta, Alliance for Justice
Kathy Mossburg, Kathleen Mossburg & Associates
Laura Niznik, California Women Lead
Rachel Otte-Michelin, California Women LEAD
Giannina Perez, Children Now
Anita Rees, LIFETIME
Layla Razavi, California Immigrant Policy Center
Jean Ross, California Budget Project
Ana Sandoval, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Trudy Schafer, League of Women Voters of California
Gretchen Schoenstein, EMERGE
Cathy Senderling-McDonald, County Welfare Directors Association of CA
Valerie Small Navarro, American Civil Liberties Union - Legislative Office
Shannon Smith-Crowley, Legislative Advocate
Heidi Strupp, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
Diane Takvorian, Environmental Health Coalition
Zabrae Valentine, California Forward
Caitlin Vega, California Labor Federation
Tracy Weitz, ANSIRH
Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics
Diane Willmott, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
Anthony Wright, Health Access California
2007-2008 Women's Policy Institute Fellows
We are pleased to annouce the selection of thirtyoutstanding women working in environmental health, reproductive rights, economic development and justice, criminal justice and family well-being from all over California were chosen to participate in the 2007–2008 Women's Policy Institute.
Nancy Abdul-Shakur, Literacy for Environmental Justice
Marilyn Bamford, Families First, Inc.
Libby Benedict, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
LaDawn Best, Realistic Education in Action Coalition to Foster Health
Susan Castagnetto, Women & Criminal Justice Network
Strela Cervas, Pilipino Workers' Center
Xiomara Corpeño, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Baylee DeCastro, American Association of Women’s Health Programs
Caroline Farrell, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Michelle Freeman, Time for Change Foundation
Preeti Kulkarni, Connections for Children
Fabiola Lao, Latino Issues Forum
May Lee, Asian Resources in Sacramento
Jody Leibman, California Family Health Council Inc. -Los Angeles
Anna Lindberg, Survivors International
Andrea Cristina Mercado, Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Mariah Messer, AFFIRM Project
Laura Moser, Families First, Inc.
Diahnna Nuñez, Fund for Santa Barbara
Veronica Olmos McDonnell, Central City Neighborhood Partners
Guadalupe Rodriguez, Women's Health Rights Coalition/ACCESS
Marlene Sanchez, Center for Young Women's Development
Jill Shenker, Women’s Collective of La Raza Centro Legal
Lynsay Skiba, Justice Now
Gabriela Valle, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Chela Vazquez, Pesticide Action Network North America Regional Center
Sumayyah Waheed, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Patricia Washington, Lambda Letters Project
Micheline Wilcoxen, Community Technology Organizing Consortium
MaiKa Yang, Stone Soup Fresno
2007-2008 Women's Policy Institute Policy Projects in Review
Reproductive Justice Team
The Reproductive Justice team worked on two bills that link reproductive health with environmental health. Both of these efforts reflect women’s right to bear and raise healthy children.
SB 1712, Migden would have prohibited the sale of lipstick contaminated with lead, a potent neurotoxin linked to a variety of health and reproductive issues including learning, language, and behavioral problems, infertility and miscarriage.
AB 2694, Ma would have banned the manufacture or sale of any children’s product containing lead including toys, foods, clothing or any other product intended for children under 12 years old.
Update: Both of these bills passed through the first house of the legislature and raised awareness about the ongoing danger of lead exposure from everyday products. Neither bill passed this year, but advocates and lawmakers plan to reintroduce the measures in 2009.
Environmental Justice Team
The Environmental Justice team advocated for the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal–EPA) to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Cal–EPA Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, comprising members from government agencies, environmental groups, environmental justice groups, community groups and industry. In 2003, this diverse group reached consensus on over 100 environmental justice recommendations ranging from public participation to cumulative impacts to the precautionary principle.
Criminal Justice Team
The Criminal Justice team is working on a bill to prevent the breakup of families due to imprisonment by increasing the chance that children will be able to reunite with their mothers after the mother is incarcerated.
AB 2070, Bass would give social workers more discretion to extend the timeline before parental rights are terminated in the case of a parent’s incarceration and would expand the reunification services available to families following incarceration.
UPDATE: AB 2070 was signed into law on September 28, 2008!
Family Economic Security Team
The Family Economic Security Team is working to protect the invisible victims of the foreclosure crisis: tenants who lose their homes through no fault of their own.
AB 2586, Torrico, sponsored by the Western Center on Law and Poverty, would introduce various protections for tenants in the case of foreclosure, including requiring notification of impending foreclosure and eviction, maintenance of utility service and a guarantee that tenants receive their security deposits if they are forced to move.
UPDATE: AB 2586 passed the California legislature but was vetoed by the governor in September 2008.
Economic Justice Team
The Economic Justice team is working on policies to protect the rights and improve conditions for California’s low-wage household workers. The team is working with state agencies to improve enforcement of existing laws that protect workers’ rights and with the state legislature to educate policymakers about the working conditions and rights violations that low-wage, immigrant and household workers currently face.
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