2009-2010 Women's Policy Institute

2009-2010 Women's Policy Institute Fellows!

We are pleased to announce the selection of twenty-three outstanding women working in environmental and reproductive justice, economic justice, criminal justice and elder women’s issues from all over California for the 2009-2010 Women’s Policy Institute. 

Ashley Boyd, MomsRising.org
Elvira Castillo, Los Angeles Department of Community and Senior Services
Juana Rosa Cavero, Pacific Institute for Women’s Health
Jenny Chung, Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Terry Dodge, Crossroads, Inc.
Marci Fukuroda, Rainbow Services Ltd.
Beatriz Garcia, Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy
Kim Gilhuly, Human Impact Partners
Lucia Gonzalez-Schlosser, Dolores Huerta Foundation
Julia Goodman, MomsRising.org
LeaJay Harper, Center for Young Women’s Development
Hannah Hill, Women’s Foundation of California
Brooke Hollister, University of California, San Francisco
Saima Husain, South Asian Network
Kim Irish, Younger Women's Task Force, San Francisco
Jessica Jew, LA Health Action
Leane Marchese, ElderHelp
Aaliyah Muhammad, All of Us of None
Julia Tal Caplan, California Senior Leaders Alliance
Traci Townsend, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Aditi Vaidya, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Jocelyn Vivar, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Alicia Walters, ACLU of Northern California

We are also happy to announce the mentors for this year’s class. Without their experience, expertise, and guidance the Women’s Policy Institute would not be possible.

Karen Shain, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Mike Herald, Western Center on Law and Poverty
Beth McGovern, California Commission on the Status of Women
Lacy Serros, Tides Center
Chione Flegal, PolicyLink

2010 Women's Policy Institute Bills 

We are thrilled to announce new and exciting legislation supported by the 2009-2010 Women’s Policy Institute Fellows. Fellow are busy preparing for policy committee hearings, lobbying legislators and building their base of support. Please take a moment to learn about each team’s bill and help champion their efforts.

Reproductive Justice & Environmental Justice Team
AB 1963 (Nava, D – Santa Barbara), ‘Tracking Pesticide Poisoning in California’, will ensure accountability of the currently mandated Cholinesterase Medical Supervision Program, which establishes mechanisms to ensure that farmworkers be tested and protected from overexposure to pesticide contamination. Nearly three decades after this program was enacted, it has become outdated due to a reliance on obsolete reporting methods. AB 1963 will require that laboratories participating in the Cholinesterase Medical Supervision Program electronically report test results to the CA Department of Pesticide Regulation and other relevant state agencies that can protect farmworkers from overexposure to OPs. In this way, state officials will have the resources to be able to monitor the effectiveness of the program. This bill is a simple way for the state to evaluate and strengthen protections to a vital workforce in California.

Criminal Justice Team
AB 1900 (Skinner-D, Berkeley) protects the health and safety of incarcerated pregnant women by requiring that statewide standards are established for how they are restrained during transportation to and from state and local correctional facilities. Shackling pregnant women puts their health at risk and restraint policies must be standardized. Currently, nearly two-thirds of county jails shackle pregnant women in ways that could cause miscarriage or other injuries. AB 1900 requires the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) to set standards for how pregnant women are restrained. This will protect financially-strapped counties from being sued and ensure the health and safety of one of our most vulnerable populations.

Economic Justice Team
SB 1084 (Liu, D – Pasadena) ‘California Task Force on Economic Security’ will create a two-year, bipartisan Task Force to increase economic security and reduce poverty among Californians. The Task Force will include representatives from multiple stakeholder groups, including the legislature, state agencies and public. Through a collaborative effort, Task Force members will inventory state programs aimed at reducing poverty and issue politically viable and fiscally responsible policy recommendations that will improve economic security outcomes from state programs. SB 1084 offers state leaders a unified blueprint from which to focus efforts to increase economic security and it generates the public will necessary to enact these policy changes.

Elder Issues Team
AB 2114 (Beall, D-San Jose) the ‘Elder Economic Dignity Act of 2010’ will require the state’s Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to use the Elder Index when developing their mandated area plans. The utilization of the Elder Index in this planning effort will eliminate the need for costly, and often cumbersome, independent research using  various measurement tools. In addition, the proposed legislation will require the AAAs to use the Elder Index to assess progress towards economic security for participants in senior employment programs.