Access - Women's Health Rights Coalition
A Message from the Board of Directors
This past year has been a year of opportunity and change for ACCESS. We bid a bittersweet farewell to a memory-filled office we occupied since ACCESS’ founding days and moved into a thriving, up-and-coming Uptown Oakland location full of energy and possibility. We played an instrumental leadership role in raising the voices and stories of women into the health care reform debate and vigorously advocated for affordability, immigrant inclusion and comprehensive reproductive healthcare coverage for all women. Our bilingual Reproductive Healthline continues to address the day-to-day challenges faced by hundreds of women each month, connecting them to information, referrals and patient advocacy on a full range of sexual and reproductive health care needs. In keeping with our commitment to building the power of young women and girls, we launched our new community action initiative, the Reproductive Justice Training Program, which seeks to cultivate a new generation of leadership in the reproductive justice movement by training young women and women of color to serve as patient advocates, spokespeople and volunteers for our caller-partners.
We were deeply saddened to say goodbye to our visionary leader, Destiny Lopez, but look forward to the prospect of future collaborations with her in her new position as Director of Latino Engagement at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In her stead, we welcomed a new Executive Director, Erika Scott, who brings with her a longstanding commitment to social justice and advocacy on behalf of women. We are confident that Erika will continue to fulfill ACCESS’ mission and lead us through this period of new beginnings.
Most recently, Erika advocated on behalf of workers as a plaintiff side attorney, utilizing State and Federal anti-harassment and discrimination laws to pursue justice for employees in sexual harassment, discrimination and wage and hour lawsuits. Erika previously worked in the field of direct advocacy at Legal Aid of Marin where she ensured that her clients were able to access public benefits and negotiate the often confusing realm of public housing assistance and Medicare eligibility for elder clients.
In addition, Erika has a deep passion for the issues of reproductive health and has served in a variety of volunteer and leadership capacities within the reproductive justice movement. Erika founded the Golden Gate University School of Law chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice and trained young women leaders to carry on the mission of the organization after her departure. GGU’s LSRJ chapter remains today one of the most active LSRJ chapters in the nation. Erika has also served as an escort for Planned Parenthood Golden Gate and assisted NARAL Pro-Choice California in both fundraising and policy work. Prior to becoming Executive Director, Erika served on the Board of Directors of ACCESS and is the current Internal Chair of the Good Ol’ Girls, a professional network for progressive women. Erika holds a B.A. in Women’s Studies from U.C. Santa Cruz and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law.
Please join my in welcoming Erika to our staff. On behalf of ACCESS, we thank you for your continued support of our work on behalf of the women and girls in California.
Warm regards,
Reichi Lee
Board Chair