NWLC Launches Fellowship to Advance & Protect Women and LGBTQ Rights in the States

Washington, DC — The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) launched the State Gender Policy Collective Fellowship, an 18-month program that brings together state policymakers and advocates from across the country to advance gender justice at the state level.

Throughout the 18-month program, fellows will continue to strengthen their skills by learning from and workshopping with their peers around urgent gender justice issues, including how gender justice intersects and cuts across a variety of movements.

“The State Gender Policy Collective Fellowship launches at a critical moment, as attacks on the rights and well-being of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people continue to escalate nationwide,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “States are on the frontlines of the fight for gender justice, and they are already leading progress by protecting their communities from abortion bans and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, advancing their own equal pay protections, and investing in child care and Black maternal health policies. We are thrilled to be working with state policymakers and advocates to harness our collective power to restore our democracy in advancing gender justice.”

The Fellowship is part of the State Gender Policy Collective, which seeks to deepen and expand policy, research, and communications support — and cross-state collaboration — for state policymakers and leaders advancing gender justice across all states.

The inaugural fellowship cohort includes:

  • South Carolina: Senator Tameika Isaac Devine, Ashley Crary Lidow (Women’s Rights & Empowerment Network)
  • Georgia: Representative Lydia Glaize, Jasmine Bowles (9to5 Georgia)
  • Florida: Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith,  Jon Harris Maurer (Equality Florida)
  • Maryland: Delegate Emily Shetty, Kali Schumitz (Maryland Center on Economic Policy)
  • Virginia: Delegate Katrina Callsen, Narissa Rahaman (Equality Virginia)
  • Colorado: Representative Elizabeth Velasco, Vanessa Martinez (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR))
  • Nevada: Assemblymember Cecelia González, Jagada Chambers (Mass Liberation Project Nevada)
  • North Carolina: Senator Sophia Chitlik, Tracy Wright (North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault)
  • Pennsylvania: Tausha Bonner-Johnson (New Voices for Reproductive Justice)
  • Michigan: Representative Natalie Price, Anne Kuhnen (Michigan League for Public Policy)

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