International Women's Day is a time to celebrate!
Co-hosted by: SFNOW, CodePink, Planned Parenthood, Trust Women, World Can't Wait & the Bay Area Coaltion for Reproductive Rights.  "Like" us on Facebook! BUY TICKETS HERE! Or watch it live streamed here at 7:20pm PST! From the Bay Guardian music blog: 03.07.12 - 11:57 am | Soojin Chang | (0)
From bhangra to Brazilian horns: Celebrate International Women's Day at Yoshi's International Women’s Day has been around to raise consciousness and support women’s rights since the early 1900s, and this year the party happens Thu/8. Tomorrow morning, people across the Bay Area will be rising up to join women-led demonstrations like Women Occupy and Rally Against Sex Discrimination and Sex Harassment to show our support for the XX-chromosoned all around the world. But after the daytime marches and the protests, Yoshi’s San Francisco Jazz Club invites us all to end the night at International Women’s Day’s official after party — an evening of notable speakers and intimate performances benefiting two upcoming events, Earth Day and Peace Day.
March 8 has become established as the annual date to globally recognize gender issues and celebrate feminism. The United Nations’ official 2012 theme for the day is “Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and Poverty,” and tomorrow night’s celebration at Yoshi’s should evoke that message -- seasoned in local context and jazzy flavor. Patricia Maginnis, a long-loved activist and cartoonist, is one of the most esteemed feminist pioneers whose work helped the fight for safe, accessible abortions. She helped establish the Association to Repeal Abortion Law in California in 1966, and helped 12,000 women find abortions outside the country by 1969. Maginnis continues to make active contributions to spreading awareness of women’s rights, and will be speaking at Yoshi’s about the latest feminist issues concerning contraception and cosmetic safety. Big Brother and the Holding Company headlines tomorrow night’s stunning bill of SF-based musicians. It was Janis Joplin’s original band, and its experimental and raw sounds played a significant role in establishing San Francisco’s psychedelic music scene. Non Stop Bhangra, a monthly bhangra dance night in San Francisco that blends traditional Punjab folk and dance music — will also be bringing the party to Yoshi’s. The diverse line up will also feature Brazilian horn-driven funk band, Mondo Loko, sexy and soulful genre-bender Valerie Orth, soul-rock musician and former classical opera singer Pamela Parker, the soulful melodies of the harmonic powerhouse Lesley Grant, and the versatile, exotic vocals of Ziva. International Women’s Day Celebration Thu/8 8 p.m., free for lounge-only; $35 for main stage access Yoshi’s San Francisco Jazz Club 1330 Fillmore, SF (415) 655-5600 www.yoshis.com About our performers... Janis Joplin’s Original Band
“Big Brother and the Holding Company was a prime example of a band where the chemistry was right, where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. You cannot buy or manufacture the natural feeling that was in that band. Big Brother played from the heart and soul with the goal of achieving a direct connection with the innermost feelings of the audience.”Big Brother & The Holding Co. - Sam Andrew Evolving out of the San Francisco rock scene of the mid-1960s, Big Brother was in the forefront of the psychedelic music movement. The band was formed by Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, James Gurley and Chuck Jones in San Francisco, in a Victorian mansion-cum-boarding house owned by Peter’s uncle at 1090 Page Street in the Haight Ashbury section. 1090 Page became the site of Wednesday night jam sessions for local musicians. During the summer of 1965, Sam Andrew began to frequent 1090 Page Street and before long he and Peter Albin had formed a band. Originally called the Blue Yard Hill, with various members floating in and out, Big Brother became a reality in September of that year. The name was selected by legendary concert promoter Chet Helms from a list of names that the band was reviewing for consideration. “Big Brother” was near the top of the list and “The Holding Company” close to the bottom; with a decision to combine the two, Big Brother and the Holding Company was born. They played their first official gig in January 1966 at the Open Theater in Berkeley. Within a short time they became the house band for Chet Helms at the Avalon Ballroom and began to develop a loyal following of fans. The band had what Sam Andrew described as a “progressive-regressive hurricane blues style” in the early days. Highlights of their early performances included “Coo Coo”, “That’s How Strong My Love Is”and “Hall Of The Mountain King” usually relying on Peter Albin for lead vocals. Later, Peter would also sing the lead on the early versions of “Down On Me”, and “Summertime”. In 1999 Big Brother returned to Europe again and has played over 20 dates a year there ever since. From big hippie festivals like the Burg Herzberg Festival (4 times now and even recorded a live DVD there in 2005) to large clubs and theaters. Since 2001 the band has played in Germany, England, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Denmark and France. In September of 2005 the band made it’s first trip to Thailand to perform as well. In 2006 the band released their first live recording since 1968’s “Live At Winterland” with Sophia Ramos on lead vocals. What an amazing job she did! The new live CD, “Hold Me” was recorded at the Burg Herzberg Festival in July of 2005 and features new tracks like “Hold Me” as well as old favorites like “Piece Of My Heart”, “Ball & Chain”, “Down On Me”, “Summertime” and “Turtle Blues”. Big Brother & The Holding Company will also did a world tour in 2006 for their 40th Anniversary. A return trip to Thailand is in the works as well as at least one tour of Europe and of course the US and Canada will see Anniversary shows too.  PAMELA PARKER "...keeps you in the spot between bliss and reality." - says One Love Lifestyles Magazine Who is Pamela Parker? She is a keen songwriter/composer and multi-instrumentalist, primarily on guitar and keys. A natural born soul singer who was classically trained in opera, Pamela Parker fuses her varied influences to create a svelte rock n'roll chemistry. Pamela Parker emits a subtle rock edge that mirrors her inner grace. With an all-star band consisting of other worldly Kevin Carnes (of Broun Fellinis) on drums, (fresh from touring with Eric Lindell) standout bassist Chris Arenas, rock/blues guitarist Drew Southern, and speical guest on keys Ryan Hickey, Pamela Parker is set to write the next chapter in rock n'roll herstory. "The show and vibe surpassed my wildest expectations...I left with the feeling that this was one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life...and I was at concerts with John Lennon, Richie Havens, at Woodstock, Power to the Peaceful with Michael Franti and many others..." -Alan Moore, Musicians for Peace "...living proof that you don't have to die to go to heaven. You really rock sister!" -Diamond Dave, Pirate Cat Radio "In a time of chaos in the world, she provides conscious lyrics with soul stirring harmonies. A reminder to us all to keep our toes wiggling happily in the mud, our heads arched high to the sky and our hearts open to the power of love!" -Michael Franti  NONSTOP BHANGRA Featured every month in San Francisco, Non Stop Bhangra is a legendary monthly that just celebrated 7 years in 2011. Imagine a scene from a Bollywood movie smack in the middle of a thumping nightclub---the swirling colors, the rhythm of pounding feet, and the relentless energy of brilliant beats-that’s Non Stop Bhangra. Highlighting the ancestral roots of Punjabi dance while pushing boundaries with contemporary influences, Non Stop Bhangra is a genre-busting elixir of North Indian Bhangra music and dance, mixed with hip-hop, reggae, and electronica. An ever-evolving collective of dancers, DJs, drummers, vocalists, and musicians, Non Stop Bhangra is a non-stop party. Featuring dance lesson and performances with the vibrant dancers of Dholrhythms Dance Company led by Vicki Virk and Suman Raj, and music by DJ Jimmy Love, the group has won over legions of fans with its monthly events in San Francisco. Dholrhythms Dance Company also promotes the artistic and cultural heritage of India with classes and workshops, providing a unique platform for people of diverse backgrounds to come together and dance in a positive environment.  MONDO LOKO Mondo Loko blends irresistible ryythms of Brazil with horn-driven funk. Founded by Sao Paulo native, Fabio Reis, Mondo Loko is bringing a fresh sound to the dance floor in top venues in and around the Bay Area. In the lounge...
Ziva SF based singer-songwriter Ziva Hadar, was born and raised in a small kibbutz in Israel. After relocating to San Francisco 5 years ago, she formed her band 2 years later, and has been performing around the Bay Area for the past 3 years. She released her self-produced debut EP, "Just Another Night" last January, 2012 - a collection of 5 powerful and dynamic songs, reminiscent of artists such as Fiona apple, Evanescence and 30 Seconds to Mars. At her live shows, she includes original compositions of many different styles, ranging from Rock Ballades to R&B and Pop, with a soulful approach and powerful, versatile vocals. The result is enchanting music with theatrical elements and exotic rhythms. Ziva has played notable San Francisco venues such as The Independent, Yoshi’s, Cafe Du Nord, Cafe' Cocomo, Red Devil Lounge and more. Valerie Orth Described as “sexy, soulful, genuine, and edgy” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and an “indie folk powerhouse” by Bend’s Source Weekly, Valerie Orth is a fearless and genre-bending songwriter. Her distinctive hybrid of rock, groove, soul, and folk reaches out and grabs your attention; her live performances captivate and charm at once. Valerie understands song as revolution, whether personal or political, and as evolution, creating change within herself and the possibility for it within her listeners. Rich with melody and metaphor, Orth’s tunes move nimbly between darkness and light, hope and despair, taking deft turns of phrase along unforeseen rhythmic twists in the road. With gorgeous, multi-octave vocals and no fear of heights, she flirts with the edge as readily as she subverts expectations. "Unpredictable and highly original,“ writes the Jefferson Agrarian. “Just when you think she’s going to settle into a familiar groove, off she flies into the stratosphere with phrasings you never saw coming.” Orth’s dynamic range as a performer is made all the more compelling by what the East Bay Express calls a “completely intuitive composition style.” “There is an honesty to Valerie's music that is both brilliant and heartbreaking,” writes the San Francisco Chronicle. Lela Caro
From Georgia originally, Lesley Grant, a.k.a Lela Caro has been singing professionally for the last eleven years in the Bay Area. She grew up singing in the church, and was raised on contemporary gospel music, like DeLeon Richards, Glad, Lionel Harris, Tata Vega, Andre` Crouch, The Winans, Commissioned, and Take 6. (Some of her old-school favorites.) Singing at church functions with her family from age 6, her voice developed amongst a community of spirit-filled singers. She learned how the power of harmony, and strength of a melody can charm a listener. Her influences are embedded in soul music and unique lyricists. She moved out west after college in Atlanta, and became the lead vocalist for an R&B/Soul band called London Street from San Francisco. During those eleven years she has been singing duets and performing with various Bay Area artists, as well as providing backing vocal arrangements for numerous artists albums. (Globetroddas, Four Year Bender, RonKat Spearman's Katdellic Experience, Guitarmageddon, Kofy Brown, Theresa Perez, Supaphat, Royal Rizow, Sean Tabor, Ryan Mintz, and Jacques Ibula ) From her constituents, “She is excellent with harmonies, and layers nicely when recorded.” “Not overpowering and good with intonation and subtleness in verse.”  LELA CARO
When asked her take on soul music, "Soul music, indicative of its beginning, like Jazz, was birthed out of survival, gave a positive voice to the celebration and testimony of having made it over, and encouraged an expressive release of the strength and grace that carried us, that same inspiration that kept us alive, wrote those melodies on our hearts, and nurtures our freedom song. The truth of this song breaks all boundaries and borders. She remains committed to the dream! About our speakers... Janet Weil Janet Weil, a member of CODEPINK since 2003, works with local groups and individual activists, and answers the "info" emailbox. Working from the SF office in the beautiful Women's Building, she provides support to CODEPINK's national campaigns. Janet enjoys connecting with local CODEPINKers on her travels and online.  Janet Weil
Aimee Allison
Aimee Allison is co-Executive Director of RootsAction. She hosts specials for LinkTV and is a frequent speaker and host. She was host of Comcast Newsmakers on CNN Headline News and the KPFA Morning Show. In 2009, she founded the local news site OaklandSeen. She authored Army of None and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Inge Schaefer Horton Inge Schaefer Horton is a retired city planner with a strong background in architecture who now devotes her time to the research of women architects and preservation issues in San Francisco. The result of many years of detailed research, her book Early Women Architects in the San Francisco Bay Area – The Lives and Work of Fifty Professionals, 1890-1951 was published in August 2010 by McFarland & Company as a reference book with many black and white images. Since then, Inge has shared her knowledge of the amazing women architects in PowerPoint presentations to preservation organizations and architectural associations such as the Organization of Women Architects and local chapters of the American Institute of Architects. In 2011 Inge was honored with the prestigious Milka Bliznakov Prize of the International Archive of Women in Architecture Center at Virginia Tech. Inge Horton is the co-author with photographer Monica Henning-Schefold of two books in German on the Early Modern Architecture in Berlin and Art Nouveau Architecture in Paris and Brussels. More recently, she contributed an article on female architecture students to a book celebrating the centennial of the Architecture Department at the University of California, Berkeley. The book Design on the Edge: A Century of Teaching Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, 1903-2003 was published by the College of Environmental Design of UC Berkeley.  Inge Schaefer Horton
Stacy Malkan
Stacy Malkan is author of the award-winning book, "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry" and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups that is shifting the $50 billion beauty industry away from harmful chemicals. Stacy is frequently interviewed by top media including New York Times, Washington Post, Good Morning America and others. She is a former journalist and newspaper publisher and she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 Stacy Boorn is the pastor of herchurch in San Francisco an emerging feminist faith community that empowers women and men (lots of children too) with the Divine Feminine and her way of compassion and peace. herchurch remains part of the Lutheran denomination to remind both Christians and all faiths rooted in the patriarchal histories and ways that the divine feminine presents a paradigm change that leads to caring and partnership models. herchurch (the purple church) is located at 678 Portola Dr. in San Francisco. Each year there is an annual herconference - where traditions and Goddess meet. see http://herconferencesf.org/ for the 2012 details (theme: Earth herbody). Pastor Stacy helps people reconnect with the Eternal Mother through ritual and praxis. Please learn more about her work at www.herchurch.org. At the end of this year Stacy will celebrate her 25th anniversary as an ordained Lutheran pastor.  Rev. Stacy Boorn
Stephanie Tang
Stephanie Tang is an organizer for World Can’t Wait, the national movement whose mission since 2005 has been to stop the crimes of our government. They focus on U.S. wars and occupations, torture and indefinite detention, and seek to reverse the fascist direction of society where government spying and wiretapping are legal, immigrants are criminalized, and between the Church and State women’s fundamental rights to abortion and now contraception are being destroyed. Stephanie says “Such a a big picture of such destructive, deadly injustice and crimes by our government! But I also see enormous hope: I see potential for mass resistance, rising up from the people, outside the bounds of mainstream political structures – and then, possibilities for real change come onto the horizon.”  Stephanie Tang
Grace Aroha
Grace Aroha is the Development Associate for WOMAN, Inc. (Women Organized to Make Abuse Nonexistent). Grace believes that everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. Grace’s dream is to create caring sustainable local economies that respect and nurture the innate gifts of the individual, the environment and the community. She has been working with nonprofits locally and internationally for 10 years toward this end.
 Grace Aroha Adrienne Bousian
Adrienne Bousian is Vice-President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific, directing the agency’s policy and advocacy in 17 Northern California counties. Adrienne also runs the agency’s political arm, the Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific Action Fund. Adrienne has more than twelve years of experience in public policy, community relations and strategic communications. Prior to her work with Planned Parenthood, Adrienne was Deputy State Director for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, supervising the Senator’s Northern California field operations. She also served as Boxer’s statewide liaison on women’s issues and judicial nominations. Adrienne was Northern California Political Director for Boxer’s successful re-election campaign in 2004, helping to earn Boxer the most votes of any Senator in U.S. history. Prior to that, Adrienne headed up the California Access Project at CARAL (now NARAL Pro-Choice California), positioning CARAL as a trailblazer in reproductive health. A 23-year resident of California, Adrienne graduated from UCSD and earned a Master’s Degree in Sociology from UCSC. Rachel Pachivas Rachel is originally from Miami, FL, and after travelling around quite a bit she settled in Berkeley. "I love Berkeley, it is where the change happens!". She started with Label GMOs grassroots organization back in July as the EastBay Local Leader. She is now also the Bay Area signature gathering Regional Coordinator for The California Right To Know Steering Committee. Food justice is one of her many passions revolving around the topic of people gaining their rights back. She believes that we as people deserve to be in control of what goes into our bodies- whether it is the food, water or medicine. "We are special beings in need of treating our bodies as such. And in doing so we need to know the truth". "Seeing a small group, as Label GMOs, grow this rapidly over such a short amount of time is one of the most inspirational things one can witness". When united, we have the power to change the world. http://www.labelgmos.org/ http://www.labelgmos.org/eastbay http://www.carighttoknow.org/  Rachel Pachivas
Pat Maginnis
From 1959 to 1973, Pat, with her compatriots Rowena Gurner and Lana Clarke Phelan Kahn, formed “The Army of Three” in a comprehensive assault on abortion rights limitations, starting on the street corner, leading up to the Supreme Court and over the border to the back roads of Mexico.
Born in 1928, this Dust Bowl refugee from a harsh Catholic childhood went west to the Bay Area for college after a brief military detour. Deployed to Panama as punishment for fraternizing with a black soldier, the horrors she saw pregnant women endure in the Army hospital there inspired her to devote her life to destroying all barriers to women’s reproductive freedom. By 1959, she was on the street corners of San Francisco, handing out mimeographed leaflets for her fledgling “Society for Humane Abortion,” which eventually morphed into ARAL, Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, the precursor of the largest U.S. pro-choice organization, today’s NARAL, National Abortion Rights Action League. At a time when sending even birth control information through the U.S. mail was a crime, Pat, Rowena and Lana’s comprehensive approach reached from the boardroom to the jail cell to the street: early symposia that attracted medical and legal professionals gave way to a systematic civil disobedience campaign designed to overturn restrictive legislation. The Army also conducted underground self-abortion and contraception classes throughout the United States and created an “Underground Railroad” network with several Mexican abortion clinics to help more than 12,000 women obtain services over the border. In 1973, when Roe v. Wade passed into law, the Army’s decades of subversive work had borne fruit. Although the Army disbanded, Pat, the surviving member at 83, has remained a fervent feminist/progressive activist and political cartoonist, volunteers in animal rescue, and is associated with the National Organization for Women and Women’s Health Specialists as well as Occupy Oakland.  Pat Macginnis
Max Dashu
Max Dashu (born 1950 in the United States) is a teacher, writer, historian, and artist who founded the Suppressed Histories Archives in 1970; they are a collection of over 14,000 slides she has photographed and 100 slideshows she has created on global women's history, archaeology, Goddess traditions, female priests and female shamans.[1][2] She has presented these slideshows throughout North America for over 40 years.[3] Max Dashu has also created several feminist paintings, posters, prints, etc; her art has appeared in Daughters of the Moon Tarot, in books by Judy Grahn, Diane Stein, and Martha Shelley, and in her own Witch Dream Comix (1975), as well as in many feminist, lesbian, and pagan publications over the years.[2][4] She has been influential in opening up space for consideration of egalitarian matrilineages through her critique of Cynthia Eller's "The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory" (2000), titled “Knocking Down Straw Dolls" (2000), and republished in Feminist Theology 13.2 (2005), Sage Publications, UK.[5] She has also written many feminist articles.[6] Her movie "Women's Power" has been screened in the US, Britain, Netherlands, Italy, and Australia; it shows women's history throughout the world.[7] On the eve of the 2008 election, Vicki Noble convoked an All Hallows Eve procession through the streets of San Francisco, and along with Max Dashu, Krissy Keefer, Starhawk & others, created a gathering of wild women and yoginis to call in the power of change and social justice; Max Dashu made a poster to commemorate this event, using a photo of dancing skeleton dakinis in Tibet taken by Vicki Noble.  Max Dashu
Lady Loreon Loreon writes: “I found myself now … the head of the Temple of Isis, a church recognized by the U.S. government and the state of California.” Loreoninchair.jpg Loreon Vigne, FOI ArchPriestess and head of the Temple of Isis Today the Temple of Isis has hundreds of ordained priestesses and priests worldwide - throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Loreon writes: "As well as fulfilling their mission of creating a spiritual community of like-minded people, many are prominent in particular areas of human care and endeavor, unstintingly giving of their energies and expertise ..." Olivia Robertson, FOI co-founder has recognized the endeavors of the legal clergy of the Temple of Isis, who are also Fellowship of Isis members and certified FOI clergy. Olivia calls the Temple of Isis the "legal branch" of the FOI to honor the pioneering work of Loreon and Arisa and the Temple of Isis, which created a venue for legal recognition of priestesses and priests of the Goddess.  Lady Loreon
Roma Guy Roma Guy is a social justice activist and policy leader on homelessness, public health, poverty, immigrant rights, and women's rights. She has been involved in numerous projects protecting women's health rights, many in the San Francisco Bay area, including helping to found the Women's Building and the Women's Foundation and the California Women's Agenda, which advocates for universal health care and women's reproductive rights that respect the rich cultural and linguistic diversity in America. She directs the Bay Area Homelessness Program and was appointed as a member of the Mayor's Homeless Task Force that developed the care plan to address the homeless crisis in the Bay Area. She also teaches at the Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University, helping to inspire a new generation of social activists interested in pursuing a career in public health. Roma Guy was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize project.
 Roma Guy Gisela Tangui
Inspired by performing and producing live music, art exhibits
and community events for more than 10 years, she founded Music Events 4 Causes to use the power of music to bring people together for the greater good. In 2010, she was the music producer for Heart of SoMa, a benefit for the Hamilton Family Center, the largest provider of support services for homeless families in the Bay Area. The high-profile event featured keynote speaker Reverend Jesse Jackson and Mary Murphy of the hit TV show " So You Think You Can Dance" as the emcees. The benefit led her to coordinate Hamilton music mentor program for underserved youths, a concept she hopes to take to communities worldwide.  Gisela Tangui Anita Khan
Anita Khan, MA, MSc is a facilitator and business owner with consulting activities and trainings that extend into areas such as stress management, transition management, leadership skills, diversity training, wellness and work-life integration skills including parenting and eldercare. Holding a Master’s in Medical Anthropology as well as Educational Psychology, Anita approaches her work from a multidisciplinary perspective that takes into account the complexities presented by organizations and systems, individual and interpersonal psychology and health as well as cultural influences on behavior. Her trainings aim to provide a conceptual background as well as to provide practical tools that inform and mobilize audience members into taking action towards positive change. With a proven track record, she has served in her capacity as a trainer for major corporations as well as health, legal and educational institutions. She is a highly regarded and requested speaker being able to connect with diverse audiences whilst delivering concise and well-presented information. In addition, she is the founder of WorkLife Compass, a training company that also performs as a subcontractor to corporations providing a network of highly qualified facilitators throughout the State of California. Anita lives in San Francisco with her two children. WorkLife Compass.com : 1-415-643-4565, anitakhan45@gmail.com  Anita Khan
Ellen Shaffer
Dr. Ellen R. Shaffer is Co-Director of the Center for Policy Analysis which conducts policy research and analysis on women's reproductive health and rights, access to health care, and on globalization and health. The Center sponsors the Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign, which aims to magnify the voice and visibility of the pro-choice majority. With the support of many San Francisco activists, the Silver Ribbon Campaign sponsored the national online march for Trust Women Week, and posted pro-choice banners on Market Street during the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January of this year. The Center also sponsors the EQUAL Health Network, which campaigns for Equitable, Quality, Universal, Affordable health reform. EQUAL will be celebrating the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, including expanded coverage for contraception, on March 20. Ellen has written the politics chapters for several editions of Our Bodies Ourselves. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, and an elected member of the Board of the National Women’s Health Network. She has a Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. from the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, and is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist. In the late 1980s she brought together labor and County officials in support of the ARC/AIDS Vigil, an encampment in the federal plaza in San Francisco, demanding greater funding for effective treatments for AIDS.  Ellen Shaffer
SOMER LEON
Somer Loen has been an activist for social and civil rights and environmental conservation since high school. She was introduced to the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights in 2008, through her work on the Cindy Sheehan for Congress Campaign, when she unlocked the offices for BACORR meetings. Since then, Somer's been an active member in BACORR. This year she researched and testified for pro-choice legislation, initiated the market street pro-choice events banner campaign & partnered with the Silver Ribbon/Trust Women campaign, helped to plan BACORR's annual pro-choice rally and is part of the organizing committee to plan a Unite Against the War on Women March in Sacramento this April. Somer is excited to see BACORR's continued growth and creativity to advance reproductive rights & feels blessed to work with the dedicated women and men of BACORR and partner organizations.  SOMER LEON ANDREA SHORTER Commission on the Status of Women, City and County of San Francisco Andrea Shorter has served on the Commission on the Status of Women since 2001. A longtime advocate in the women's community, she has served as President of the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women, Founding Board Member of the International Museum of Women, and Board President for both La Casa De Las Madres, and Standing Against Global Exploitation. The former Deputy Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, Andrea is the co-author of a groundbreaking report on the status of girls in San Francisco's juvenile justice system that is still widely referenced as a catalyst for reform.  ANDREA SHORTER  |
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