Laura Jimenez
Laura Jiménez has served as the Executive Director at California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ) since 2011 and brings to this work the passion and commitment of close to 30-years of activism in the Reproductive Justice movement.
She was raised in Santa Barbara, California, and since then, has made her way across the country and back. Along the way, she worked with the National Latina Health
Organization in Oakland, California where she led a girls mentorship program and initiated a
collaboration between the organization and UC Berkeley to offer a class entitled, “Redefining
Latina Health: Body, Mind and Spirit”, as well as serving as the Development Officer with
the Dominican Women’s Development Center in Washington Heights, New York. Laura was a
part of the birth and growth of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
from 1998 to 2011, becoming the Deputy Coordinator in 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. During her
time with SisterSong, she co-coordinated two national conferences and established the Latina
Encuentro – a gathering of Latina leaders in the Southeastern Region which had as a goal
relationship building and leadership development of Latinas across the South. The birth of her
two daughters brought home the issue of reproductive justice, encouraged her interest in the
area of birthing work, and recommitted her to the healing of women of color. Laura is an innate
healer, mother, and seer. She is a daughter of the ocean and a holder of hands and hearts.