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Jessica Yee is a self-described "multiracial Indigenous hip-hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter!" A proud Two Spirit youth, she 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 continent. She has spent more than half her life mobilizing individuals, families, and communities alike to reclaim their ancestral rights to self-determine decisions over their own bodies and spaces.
Jessica is currently serving as the first Chair of the National Aboriginal Youth Council 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 for Reproductive Justice, Women on Web/Women on Waves, and Maggie's: Sex Workers Organizing.
She is a strong believer in the power of the youth voice and agency, and you can see her writing on sites like the Racialicious, or watch her monologues about activism and justice on TV Ontario. She is the editor of "Sex Ed and Youth: Colonization, Communities of Colour, and Sexuality" and look for her upcoming book in Winter 2011 "Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism: Feminist Education Now - Youth, Activism, and Intersectionality". She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work including being the 2009 recipient of the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award, 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.
Contact Jessica Yee at:
jyee@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com
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