The Women’s Foundation of California is proud to introduce you to the 2017-2018 class of Women’s Policy Institute-State fellows.
More effective than a single lobby group, our Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) amplifies the voices of women and trans people throughout our state, training them to be policy advocates and champions for gender justice. WPI fellows reflect the geographic, racial and ethnic diversity of California as well as the different types of organizations in the nonprofit sector. Our fellows work on a range of issues impacting their communities, creating a multi-issue network that encompasses the breadth of the social justice movement.
“The staff and Board of the Women’s Foundation could not be more thrilled to welcome the 2017-2018 class of Women’s Policy Institute-State, our capstone program at the Foundation,” said CEO Surina Khan. “Our guiding vision is a world where community leaders are empowered to develop solutions. We look forward to supporting their efforts this year and beyond.”
The Women’s Policy Institute-State Class of 2017-2018 is one of the most diverse in WPI history: 80% of fellows identify as people of color, a third are queer or identify as something other than heterosexual, and nearly half are based in Southern California. This year’s fellows range in age from 21 to 53. The cohort is made up of teams working in the issue areas of criminal justice, economic justice, health, reproductive justice, and trauma justice. A sixth team is focused on SB 320, the two-year reproductive equity bill that originated in the WPI-State 2016-17 fellowship year. Learn more about SB 320 and the Just CARE: Campus Action for Reproductive Equity campaign.
This is the 15th class of the Women’s Policy Institute-State. Over the course of the last 14 years, past fellows have worked in teams to help pass more than 32 bills into law. These bills make it easier for transgender prisoners to change their gender marker on official documents, require overtime labor protections for domestic workers and expedite the processing of food stamp benefits for protected domestic violence survivors, among other policy wins.
The 2017-18 WPI-State fellowship year launched in September 2017. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date on the Class of 2018 and each team’s policy project.