California NOW Speakers

Ashley Maier

Expertise ~ Domestic Violence; Commonality of Oppression

Ashley Maier holds a MSW from Washington University in St. Louis, with a concentration in women's studies, specifically focusing on violence against women, gender inequality and social change.  Currently the President of San Diego Central NOW, she has worked in organizations committed to ending domestic violence for over 6 years.  She also teaches Psychology at a local community college.  Her passion lies in addressing the root cause of violence against women and oppression.

Ashley is available to speak on all topics related to domestic violence.  She can also address the commonality of oppression (link between, human, animal and environmental oppressions) and other related topics.  She was one of only 20 professionals in San Diego chosen to recieve the Safe Futures train-the-trainer, a project of the national Safe from the Start initiative, focusing on childhood exposure to domestic violence. 

Availability: local, state and national.

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Kristi Shaw

Expertise ~      Marriage Equality, Lesbian Rights, Reproductive Rights

Kristi Shaw has been an active member of NOW for over four years. She currently heads the Marriage Equality and Education Project at The San Diego LGBT Community Center, where she organizes and promote events, delivers speeches and creates materials in order to educate the LGBT community, it allies and the larger community about the importance of the freedom to marry for all couples. Prior to her work in San Diego, Kristi was the Executive Director of The Center for Economic Progress, a small non-profit focused on women’s economic development, and served as Vice-President of the Minnesota chapter of NOW. In both of these roles, Kristi delivered speeches as well as and wrote editorials and other promotional materials focusing on women’s rights, including access to childcare, birth control and socio-economic issues. Currently, Kristi is a member of San Diego Central NOW and National NOW’s Equal Marriage Committee, which helps shape National NOW’s Equal Marriage and Lesbian Rights goals and actions regarding the freedom to marry.

Availability: San Diego County