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Presenter – Jessica Yee |
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Jessica Yee, Native Youth Sexual Health Network A proud Two Spirit youth, Jessica Yee is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, the first and only organization of its kind in North America by and for Indigenous youth working within the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health throughout the United States and Canada. Jessica is currently serving as the first Chair of the National Aboriginal Youth Council on HIV/AIDS at the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network as well the International Indigenous HIV/AIDS Working Group, the first North American youth representative at MenEngage International Alliance for Gender Equality, and she is the North American co-chair for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She sits on a number of national and international boards and collectives including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, NativeOUT, Women on Web/Women on Waves, and Maggie’s: The Toronto Sex Workers Action ProjectShe is a strong believer in the power of youth voice and agency, and you can see her writing on sites like Racialicious, or watch her monologues about activism and justice on TV Ontario. She is the author and editor of “Sex Ed and Youth: Colonization, Communities of Colour, and Sexuality” and “Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism” released in February 2011. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work including being the 2010 recipient of the national Harmony Movement award, the 2009 recipient of the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction, a 2009/2010 National Aboriginal Role Model for the National Aboriginal Health Organization, named one of 20 International Women’s Health Heroes by Our Bodies/Our Blog, and was recently awarded the Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneur Award for her founding of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network. She is also the 10th anniversary Distinguished Visitor to Women’s Studies at the University of Windsor and the youngest person to ever be appointed. |
