2023-24 UCRJ Steering Committee
Samantha Auerbach, PhD, WHNP-BC
​
Sam (she/hers) is a sexual and reproductive health Nurse Practitioner with clinical experience in contraceptive and abortion care. She is currently the ACTIONS postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, where her research focuses on upholding reproductive autonomy by supporting abortion and contraceptive decision-making in the context of increasingly restricted avenues to care, and working to increase the availability of nurses in abortion care. She is committed to championing reproductive justice in our community, and aims to highlight the various ways in which this movement intersects with other movements for justice, including racial justice, environmental justice, immigration justice, and more.
Rev. Sally Fritsche
Associate Minister
Unitarian Church of Urbana-Champaign
Rev. Sally Fritsche is a Unitarian Universalist minister, ordained in June 2020, and serving a congregation in Urbana, IL. Her faith calls her to honor the dignity and autonomy of all people, which means fighting for universal access to birth control, comprehensive sex education, and abortion care. She is grateful to be surrounded by other community leaders and people of faith in this vital effort to defend reproductive justice in all its forms.
Nicole Frydman
Director of Operations
Uniting Pride
Nicole Frydman (she/they) started her activism journey at a young age, going with Mom to picket lines, rallies, and protests, and to knock doors for worthy candidates. Inspired by those experiences, they started a group at her junior high school called "Kids Who Care" and hasn't stopped this kind of work since. Nicole firmly believes bodily autonomy should be sacrosanct. They also know that Reproductive Justice is interwoven and intersectional. It cannot and should not be separated from the ongoing work all marginalized communities are doing in the fight for freedom and equality. Stripping these rights away is just one more tool to keep power concentrated in one place with one group, and Nicole will do everything in her power to fight that. They're grateful to be invited to do this work with this program and with these incredible people.
Tuyet Mai Hoang
Assistant Professor
School of Social Work
Dr. Tuyet Mai Hoang’s research focuses on the intersection between perinatal mental health and the navigation of reproductive and contraception services using community-engaged and patient-centered approaches. Her research agenda aims to increase culturally sensitive services and reduce racial mistreatment for People of Color in seeking reproductive services. As a Woman of Color, mother, and first-generation student, Dr. Hoang’s overarching research goal is to address systematic health disparities by improving delivery of and access to culturally responsive reproductive and contraception services for People of Color.
Jeannie Ludlow
Professor
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Jeannie Ludlow, Ph.D., is Professor of English and director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Eastern Illinois University where she teaches feminist and queer theories, reproductive justice, and American literatures by women and BIPOC authors. In gratitude to everyone who helped her have a positive, healing, and legal abortion experience, Jeannie has worked as an abortion patient advocate and peer counselor at multiple clinics since 1996. Jeannie’s scholarship applies what she’s learned in clinics to literary, artistic, and popular culture expressions of abortion and abortion stigmatization. She is also on the Board of the Abortion Conversation Projects, a national organization that promotes and supports open, honest, and sometimes difficult conversations about abortion and reproductive justice.
Stacey McKeever
Regional Dir. of Operations
Planned Parenthood of Illinois
Stacey McKeever (she/her) is Regional Director of Clinical Operations at Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL), where she directs PPIL's central and southern Illinois health centers, as well as its telehealth program. Stacey has over two decades of experience in non-profit program management, with a strong background in the healthcare and higher education sectors.
Isis Rose
Co-Founder/Exec. Director
BIPOC for Better Birth
Isis (she/her) is a student midwife, doula, lactation counselor, and anthropologist. After researching birth justice in graduate school and planning home births, Isis became a passionate supporter of midwifery and out-of-hospital-birth. She currently studies at Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery with plans to become a licensed, certified professional midwife.
Karen Tabb Dina
Professor
School of Social Work
Dr. Karen Tabb Dina’s current research agenda focuses on identifying risk factors for morbidity and mortality among perinatal women and clinical factors to improve minority health. Dr. Tabb Dina is also an expert collaborator for the Global Burden of Disease Study where she assists in estimating population morbidity and mortality for 188 countries.
Ainslee Wong
Undergraduate
Clinical Psychology
Ainslee (she/her) is a senior studying Clinical/Community Psychology. After completing her bachelor's degree, she plans to pursue a PhD in Social Work. Her research interests focus around racial disparities in healthcare, intersectionality as a framework for research on diverse populations, and the impact of changing healthcare policies on the maternal health experience. As a passionate supporter of reproductive justice, she created her own student organization to inspire advocacy for human rights, educate students on the reproductive justice framework, and collaborate with other organizations to better the community.
Amelia Dolly
UCRJ Spring 2024 Intern
​
Amelia is a senior majoring in Gender and Women's Studies. Her undergraduate thesis explores Reproductive Justice in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans on pursuing a career in reproductive rights advocacy and law. Seizing opportunities to contribute to her community, help educate her peers, and work with local advocacy groups, Amelia hopes to be a part of dismantling gender-based oppression and aiding individuals who face this adversity.