Reproductive Justice Symposium Registration
UIC-CoE in MCH Reproductive Justice Symposium Heading link
Please join the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, Students for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Collaboratory for Health Justice, and Radical Public Health for the Spring 2021 Reproductive Justice Symposium.
Trauma-Informed Care and Reproductive Justice with Candice Norcott, PhD, Tuesday, March 30th, 5-6pm CST
Candice Norcott, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience. Dr. Norcott earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University, her doctorate graduate education from the University of Connecticut, and completed her pre- and postdoctoral training at Yale University. In addition to her work at the University of Chicago, Dr. Norcott is a national consultant and public speaker. Her work encompasses providing trauma-informed, reproductive health services to adolescent girls and young women. She is also the Director of Graduate Medical Education Well-Being for the University of Chicago where she brings her trauma-informed approach to resident physician well-being.
Dr. Norcott speaks internationally on issues related to trauma, gender, and race. She was featured on both seasons of the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly” and was a guest on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk as an expert discussing the impact of sexual abuse on girls and young women, and the intersection of race with this phenomenon. Throughout her career, Dr. Norcott has been committed to trauma-informed and gender-responsive services for girls and women, minority advancement in psychology, and cultural responsiveness in the health field.
Intersex Advocacy in Reproductive Justice with Pidgeon Pagonis, MA, Wednesday, March 31st, 12-1pm CST
Pidgeon Pagonis has risen to visibility as an activist on behalf of intersex people. Whether advancing intersex advocacy as the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project, producing informational videos that go viral on Buzzfeed, creating art that centers intersex voices, appearing on the cover of National Geographic “Gender Revolution” special issue or being honored as a LGBT Champion of Change in 2015 by the Obama White House, Pidgeon has staked out a place at the fore of debates on intersexuality and otherness.
Chicago Birth Justice: Community Care in an Inequitable Health System with Anya Tanyavutti MEd, Jeanine Valrie Logan, CNM, MSN, MPH, CLC, and Stephanie Tillman, APN, CNM, MSN, Thursday, April 1st, 5-6:30pm CST
Anya Tanyavutti has over 20 years of experience working in the fields of education, non-profit leadership, and community engagement. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Masters degree in Socio-Cultural Studies and Educational Thought, both from Western Michigan University. Her work history includes administrative leadership of a birth justice organization, a Community Schools department, youth development program administration, teaching at the elementary level, and strategic planning consultation. She is President of the Evanston/Skokie D65 Board of Education, an engaged D65 parent participating in D65 Early Childhood programs, and has served on the PTA Council’s Navigating Real Life Diversity Series and current Next Steps Series planning committee. Ms. Tanyavutti is the Executive Director of Chicago Volunteer Doulas, Inc. a birth justice organization providing comprehensive doula care to the Chicagoland community through four programs, including birth and postpartum doulas and the first of kind in the nation peer doula program at Logan Correctional Facility. Lastly, Ms. Tanyavutti and her husband are the proud parents of three amazing children.
Jeanine Valrie Logan, CNM, MSN, MPH, CLC: (Pronouns she/her/goddess) is a Certified Nurse Midwife and certified lactation specialist. She is a birth justice activist and often speaks publicly on breastfeeding, birth justice, and midwifery in the Black community. She is the co-editor of the book Free to Breastfeed: Voices of Black Mothers. Jeanine works collectively with birth workers of color to address birth inequities. She is currently working with activists to open a birth center on Chicago’s south side. Jeanine is a wife and mama of three awesome Empresses. Jeanine spends her extra time creating art, making herbal medicines, foraging plants, and swooning over #herbalist things. Website: chicagosouthsidebirthcenter.com
Stephanie Tillman (pronouns: she/her) is a midwife at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her undergraduate degree in Global Health and Medical Anthropology at the University of Michigan, and her graduate degree in Midwifery at Yale University. She is on the Board of Directors of Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Midwest Access Project, is a member of the ACNM Ethics Committee, and is an Advisory Committee member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association. Stephanie is a Clinical Medical Ethics Fellow at the University of Chicago, where she is focusing on consent in pelvic care. Stephanie blogs under the name Feminist Midwife, and through that online platform, academic and public writing, and professional speaking engagements, seeks to interact with providers and consumers in conversations about consent in health provision, ethics, queer care, sex positivity, anti-racism, nurses and advanced practice clinicians in abortion care, and trauma-informed frameworks. Find her on social media @FeministMidwife.