NARAL’s Youth Leadership Summit Empowers High School and College Students
SEATTLE, WA – Over 75 high school and college students participated in NARAL Pro-Choice Washington’s Youth Leadership Summit on Saturday, November 3, at the University of Washington. They participated in workshops and panels on the pro-choice movement and the fundamentals of organizing. Panelists included NARAL staff members, politically active students, and leaders in the reproductive health, social justice, and arts communities. “The Summit gives students the information and tools they need to make a difference in their communities,” said Sasha Cousineau, director of volunteer and youth programs at NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and the event organizer. “This event, and the number of young women and men that you see here today makes clear that younger people do recognize the threats to reproductive rights and they are eager to find out how they can get involved,” Cousineau added. Zoë Kaiser, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Students for Choice high school intern said, “It can be hard to know how to get involved as a teenager. That’s why I am so excited to be at NARAL’s Youth Summit, to learn more about what’s out there for me to do.” Topics covered at the Summit included: - Skills for talking about choice, being an activist, and mobilizing peers
- Why Washington State gets an A+ for access to reproductive health and rights and how to keep it that way
- Strategies and language used by the anti-choice movement
“It is our goal to educate and engage youth to get involved in the pro-choice movement now, as well as in the years to come,” Cousineau said. “The only way to safeguard the right to choose for future generations is to reach out to young people today.” Participants included pro-choice students; members of the NARAL Pro-Choice Washington staff; Jodi Bernstein, sexuality educator with Planned Parenthood of Western Washington; Heather Corinna , founder of Scarletletters.com; Kevin Miller of the Men’s Network Against Domestic Violence; Laura "Piece" Kelley, a spoken word poet, hip-hop artist and arts educator; Johanna Bender, a volunteer attorney with the Northwest Women’s Law Center; Kristina Logsdon of Progressive Majority; Tiffany Devoy, former president of the Community Abortion Information and Resource (CAIR) Project; Christa Bell, a feminist folk poet, performance artist and cultural activist; Callie Shanafelt, Executive Producer of “Voices of Diversity” on KBCS 91.3 FM; Eboni Colbert, Co-Executive Director at Communities Against Rape & Abuse (CARA); and Ann Kim Novakowski, Co-Chair for the Seattle Chapter of the National Asian and Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the leading grassroots pro-choice advocacy organization in Washington State. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington works to protect every woman’s right to access the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America. # # #
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