Em-URGE-ing Voices

Kimberly Inez McGuire (she/her/ella)

Kimberly Inez McGuire is a nationally recognized communications strategist, reproductive justice movement leader, and policy expert with two decades of experience winning campaigns for policy and narrative change. As Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Kimberly leads the organization in building young people power for reproductive justice, forging cross-movement collaborations, and manifesting a world where all people have agency over their own bodies and relationships, and the power, knowledge, and tools to exercise that agency.  Kimberly is the Board Chair for the Groundswell Fund, serves on the Board of Directors for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), and Collective Power for Reproductive Justice, and is Co-Chair of the Abortion On Own Terms campaign to normalize self-managed abortion. Previously, Kimberly served on the Executive Committees for Kansans… Read more »

Patricia Muñoz-Chernitsky (she/her/ella)

Patricia Munoz-Chernitsky is a seasoned financial and administrative professional with over 20 years of experience in all levels of accounting, financial management, and Human Resources.  As a passionate conservationist and believer in social justice, her career has been spent working with the administrative and finance side of Nonprofits as her way to live her beliefs after she left her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University.   Patricia has both hands-on and executive-level experience in human resources, accounting, financial management, risk assessment, cash management, audit, and systems implementation. Patricia resides in Virginia on the first mountain of the Appalachian chain and enjoys hiking, gardening, spending time with her family, and takes pride in her Native American (Echota Cherokee tribal association) and Hispanic ancestry. Patricia uses she/her pronouns.  

Kai Gurley (they/them, he/him)

Kai is a development professional with almost 20 years of experience fundraising in the reproductive health/rights/justice sector. Kai joined the staff of URGE in 2013. Since coming to URGE, Kai has lead the growth of the Development Department from a one-man shop to a team of three, and has helped grow the budget from under $1million to over $5million, managing a portfolio of over 20 institutional donors. Before coming to URGE, Kai served as Institutional Giving Officer at Provide, Inc. (formerly the Abortion Access Project). Kai was the Development Coordinator for the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005 – 2010. Since 2010, Kai has done institutional fundraising and grantwriting consulting work with several national reproductive health/rights/justice organizations. Additionally, Kai served on the board of the Third Wave… Read more »

Hope Jackson (she/her)

Hope L. Jackson (she/her/hers) joins URGE as the Deputy Director of Programs and Policy. An unapologetic Black queer organizer, Hope brings more than a decade of experience as an LGBTQ+ advocate, electoral strategist, and state legislative policy nerd to her work. Hope has a demonstrated commitment to fighting for the liberation and justice of historically excluded people. She is honored to continue that work at URGE by ensuring that young people, especially those in the margins, not only see themselves in the fight but that their voices are centered in the journey to reproductive justice and gender equity. Prior to joining URGE, Hope served as Deputy National Campaign Director at The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, where she managed the long-term strategic planning and… Read more »

Niara Stitt – Board Chair

Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati Niara Stitt is Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. She graduated from the Cincinnati College of Law and from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science Prelaw. Prior to her role as an at-large board member, Niara served as a student board member with URGE for two years, and as Vice President of Ohio University’s URGE Chapter, Intersectional Feminist Alliance. 

Jessica Pinckney – Board Vice-Chair

Jessica Pinckney Gil is a Black, biracial mother, advocate and Reproductive Justice practitioner born and raised in California. At the core of her work, Jessica centers the notion that we don’t lead single-issue lives, so a holistic approach must be taken to our reproductive justice advocacy and movement building, to organizing, outreach, policy change, and to reach people where they are, how they are. She currently serves as the executive director of ACCESS Reproductive Justice, California’s only statewide abortion fund, building power to ensure that everyone living in California and the folks forced to travel are fully able to access their right to abortion. Jessica oversees the organization’s work to combine direct services, community education, and policy advocacy to promote real reproductive options and access to quality health care for… Read more »

Marissa Pizii – Board Treasurer

Marisa has dedicated her life to supporting and breaking down barriers to reproductive health care for those across Massachusetts. Marisa Pizii works as the Deputy Director of Programs and Policy for Collective Power for Reproductive Justice, in addition to co-leading the board for the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Mass. Marisa’s community work includes working with Empty Arms Bereavement Support as a peer support group facilitator for people who’ve experienced pregnancy loss via abortion and as a hospital support companion for people and their families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. She also co-organizes an abortion doula collective that serves Western Massachusetts residents.

Carol McDonald

Carol McDonald, MA., is a lifelong organizer passionate about uniting people around a common purpose. A queer Black bilingual non-binary person from the South, Carol, and their thirteen-year-old child reside in the Atlanta Metro area. A servant leader, Carol joined Planned Parenthood as the President and Chief Executive Officer in October 2023. They are the proud child of an immigrant mother from Surinam. Raised in North Carolina by their mother and stepfather, a military veteran who was raised sharecropping on tobacco farms, Carol has spent the last 30 years organizing, educating, and fighting for women, girls, trans folx, and gender-expansive people. A trained educator, Carol started their career in education research. After receiving their Master of Arts in Teaching from Emory, Carol taught middle and high school in metro Atlanta…. Read more »