Announcing Our Five New Young Women's Leadership Council Members


The Young Women's Leadership Council is very excited to announce that we have accepted five new members onto our council. We conducted an intensive recruitment process over the summer months, during which we received applications from 97 incredible candidates. Needless to say, the council had a tough summer reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and making some grueling decisions. In the end, we chose five amazing young women who add a variety of perspectives and experiences to our current council. 

Myra Duran is a 21 year old student at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. She has demonstrated her love for activism, the power of voice, and women's rights through internships at the Dolores Huerta Foundation and the Gabriela Network, as well as on campus through the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. More about Myra

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nina Jacinto, 24, is a racial justice blogger for WireTap Magazine, contributing bi-weekly posts on issues that specifically affect people of color in the United States, on topics varying from healthcare and the economy to Oprah's collaboration with KFC. She graduated from Pomona College in 2008. More about Nina

Courtney Hooks, 19, is a junior at Hampshire College, where she studies Human Rights and Social Justice with a focus on Reproductive and Gender Justice. She has worked at HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) in Washington, DC, as an Outreach Service and Syringe Exchange Specialist (a.k.a. syringe exchange ninja) and at Justice Now in Oakland, California as a Legal Advocate and Human Rights Documenter, Researcher, and Writer. More about Courtney

Jade Fair is a 19 year old born-and-raised California girl who spends her time thinking about people of color centered feminism and self-determination for children. She works part time as a preschool teacher at a community-based co-operative school, and is also a full time student pursuing a degree in anthropology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. More about Jade

Mia Giardina is a 20 year old senior at Smith College, majoring in the Study of Women and Gender with a focus on Queer Studies and Women, Race and Culture. She identifies as a gender-queer activist and feminist dedicated to anti-racism, the reproductive rights movement and equal access to work, food, education, love and all of those things which make life worth living. More about Mia

We are excited to begin working with these women and continuing our strong dedication to reproductive justice issues. They join our current Council members Tiffany Jules, Willo Radgens, Lani Blechman, Nicole Clark, Shelby Knox, Lindsay Swisher, and Nondace Garrett. You can find more information about all of our Council members on our website. And last but not least, the Council is saying goodbye to Lauren Mitchell, who has been a member since 2006. Look for an article from her about her experiences on the Council in the next issue of the PEP newsletter.