You’re Invited to Weavings, Leaders Shaping the Future

Amber Garcia

Amber Garcia was born in Denver and raised in Boulder, Colorado. They studied Ethnic Studies and Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). Their passion for human rights and justice has shaped their adult career and defines their purpose. Amber’s political home is in the Reproductive Justice (RJ) movement where they have been fighting for bodily autonomy and liberation for over a decade. Their work in the broader social justice movement includes working with community partners on policies to provide drivers licenses for undocumented folx and increasing the minimum wage for all Coloradoans. A student of mentorship themselves, Amber is dedicated to cultivating and supporting leadership development opportunities at Women’s Voices for the Earth and is consistently inspired by the powerful impacts community leaders create both locally and globally. Amber is a dedicated movement builder at state and national levels through interconnected networks of individuals, organizations, and coalitions. They are a part of the North Star Network, an alum of the Rockwood Reproductive Rights, Health, and Justice fellowship program, a student of somatic healing, and a 2021 Transformative Leadership for Change (TLC) fellow. They envision a world where we have liberation for all people and that each one of us is able to fully embody and use our power to build a sustainable and collective future.

Angel Carrasco

Angel is a film and history student at UC Berkeley originally from Los Angeles, CA. Their work has heavily focused on supporting the youth through tutoring, organizing, and teaching. Besides teaching, they believe that the connection between social justice and art is crucial to make changes. They are a photographer, poet, and filmmaker. 

Their work with WVE has helped them learn about issues that are not talked about. This has inspired them to work on outreach that emphasizes the importance of including and highlighting all marginalized people in organizing for a better world. 

Isabela Leonor Rosales

Isabela is a second year doctoral student in the study of Religion at the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology with a certificate in Latinx Studies. Both on and off campus, she engages in community organizing and equity advocacy work, specifically with Latinx and gender-inclusive communities and organizations. Isabela particularly enjoys facilitating group dialogues surrounding Identity, Privilege, and Oppression within the classroom and outside of academia. In 2020, Isabela was hired as a Menstrual Equity Organizing Fellow at Women’s Voices for the Earth and worked and learned with fellow menstruators to destigmatize the ways in which we, as a society, talk about menstruation. The transactional learning experience in the classroom as well as in community organizing settings is what brings Isabela back to these professional and personal experiences over and over again. She constantly seeks people and organizations with whom to learn how to better show up in our communities and encourage human flourishing. She is grateful to share her experiences with the hope that she can inspire others to engage in personal consciousness raising work so we can continue to honor ourselves and love the differences in others.

Emily Baedeker

Emily Baedeker is a hairstylist, small business owner and a mom. She has been working in the beauty industry for over 20 years. About 10 years ago, after the birth of her son, she returned to work in the salon and found that the chemicals being used were making her sick. She also started to realize that if these chemicals were making her sick, they probably weren’t very good for our planet either. She immediately began to speak out about the dangers of the products used in hair salons. Since then she has worked to educate stylists and customers about these harmful chemicals. Emily believes that beauty professionals deserve to work in a safe environment because no one should have to sacrifice their health and well-being to make a living. 

Aimée R. Thorne-Thomsen

Aimée R. Thorne-Thomsen, MPA, is a long-time reproductive justice activist who focuses on advocating with and for women, communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people and young people. She recently launched Guerrera Strategies, LLC, a woman-of-color lead strategic consulting firm with other women of color from progressive movements. Prior to that, she served as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships of Advocates for Youth, where she oversaw and coordinated the development, implementation and evaluation of Advocates’ strategic partnerships with youth activists and organizations in allied social justice movements. Aimée was also Interim Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and Executive Director of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP). She is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and a member of the Board of Directors for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program. Aimee has spoken throughout the country in places like the National Abortion Federation Conference, the Women’s Convention, NOW National Conference, Netroots Nation, Center for American Progress and Facing Race, and her writings and blogs have appeared in Women’s e-News, Daily Kos, Feministing, Feministe and Rewire , among others. A proud Boricua, Aimée received her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Master of Public Administration from the City University of New York. Aimee believes strongly in working alongside and in support of young people and community leaders, providing them the information, tools and other resources needed to advocate for themselves and their communities.