Protecting students' reproductive justice through advocacy, education, and legislation.
About Us
IGNITE National is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) that seeks to empower young women to step into their political power. Each chapter provides civic education, exposure to women in political leadership, hands on training and work opportunities, and a peer network of women who support and nurture each other’s aspirations for civic and political leadership.
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IGNITE at UCLA is a college chapter of IGNITE National. IGNITE at UCLA specifically seeks to advance reproductive justice through legislative work, lobbying, regional organizing, research, and education campaigns.
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Our History
During our first operating year (2021-2022), our chapter members focused predominately on menstrual equity, abortion access efforts, and SA/SV prevention efforts. The following includes some of our impact work:
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Wrote and circulated a petition that helped urge UCLA administrators to provide free menstrual products in all restrooms for students and faculty.
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Led a drive to collect menstrual products for community members facing menstrual inequity.
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Donated over $1000 to support women in Texas facing restrictive abortion bans following the Dobbs decision.
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Travelled to Sacramento to lobby legislators to vote in support of efforts to preserve Social Housing in California (AB 2503), prevent technology-based sexual harassment (SB 53), and prevent street harassment on public transportation, specifically for women and individuals with marginalized identities (SB 1161).
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Wrote a policy brief outlining steps UCLA's Interfraternal Council (IFC) could take to decrease SA/SV among the UCLA community.
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During our 2022-2023 school year, we launched a school-wide campaign to increase rape kit accessibility for all UCLA students. However, after recognizing the problem spanned far beyond UCLA, we expanded our campaign to include all UC Schools. See the "Our Initiative" tab for more information.
Executive Board (2024-2023)
Jessica Persano
President
Jenna Tooley
External Vice President
Civic Engagement & Marketing
Riddhi Parikh
EDI Director
Georgia Lavery Van Parijs
Policy Director
Jenna Cameron
Events Director
Alaina Roberts
Outreach Director
Our Team (2023)
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee
The EDI committee is reviewing IGNITE at UCLA's Instagram posts to ensure they are inclusive, informative, and presented in the correct way. EDI is crafting a workshop for people to learn about the physical and emotional aspects of sexual assault and sexual violence. Additionally, the EDI and Special Projects committees are sending their Whistleblower forms to Greek life organizations and other clubs on campus to provide a safe space to voice their concerns of sexual harassment.
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Events Committee
The Events Committee is aiming to foster engagement between IGNITE at UCLA's members through weekly meeting activities, socials, and weekend retreats that enable members to form lasting connections with each other.
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Outreach Committee
The Outreach committee is the head of all things community engagement. Outreach focuses on duties like fundraising, education, gaining public support for Ignite legislative and policy projects, and relations with other organizations. Outreach also manages the coalitions that Ignite is constantly building with our partners and fellow student organizations. If you are interested in forming a coalition with Ignite, working on a project together, or making a donation, please fill out the "Contact Us" form to be put in contact with the Outreach committee.
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Policy Committee
The policy committee spearheads the legislative and research aspects of IGNITE’s advocacy projects. The committee strives to make tangible change through devising initiatives and policies that target systemic issues affecting women. The team is dedicated to increasing access to abortion, period products, and sexual assault care for university students. The policy committee works to guarantee that the club’s advocacy efforts are informed and effective by gathering data, arranging pivotal meetings with university administration and industry leaders, and speaking at relevant events.
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Marketing Committee
The Marketing Committee creates the content for IGNITE at UCLA's Instagram accounts (@igniteatucla and @bruins4rtk). It conducts research related to women's issues (i.e. period poverty), creates infographics to display the important information they gather, and puts them on our digital platforms to increase public awareness. The members also create a quarterly newsletter which can be found on the Newsletters page.
Civic Engagement Committee
The Civic Engagement Committee is responsible for tracking attendance and increasing engagement within IGNITE at UCLA. It also creates and presents professional development workshops to aid club members in developing various skills important to their career leadership and success.