CCRF is proud to be led by a committee of bold leaders rooted in reproductive health, justice, and freedom. Each bringing unique perspectives and valuable organizational skills, Executive Committee members works with CCRF staff to ensure we continue to thrive in our mission for reproductive freedom.
Sylvia Castillo
Executive Director
Sylvia (she/her) joined CCRF as Executive Director in 2024 after participating as a Coalition member for nearly 10 years and having served 6 years on the Executive Advisory Committee. She is a seasoned leader and a champion for reproductive health, rights and justice, with more than a decade of experience in coalition building.
Sylvia has successfully led efforts to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care in California, and her work resulted in the enactment of public policies that have served as models in other states. During her tenure as Director of Government + Community Affairs at Essential Access Health, Sylvia shaped and advanced the organization’s state policy platform and developed patient education and consumer awareness initiatives. She also oversaw the Women + Health Care Reform Coalitions in Sacramento County and the Bay Area. Additionally, she served on the steering committee for the End the Epidemics coalition, which convenes 75 California partners to bring an end to STIs, HIV, viral hepatitis and overdose. Prior to joining Essential Access, Sylvia was a Policy Analyst at AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, where she advocated for the health and wellness of patients and their families and communities. A native of Los Angeles, she received her Bachelor of Arts in History and Latin American Studies from UCLA and attended the University of San Francisco Public Affairs graduate program.
Executive Director
Sylvia (she/her) joined CCRF as Executive Director in 2024 after participating as a Coalition member for nearly 10 years and having served 6 years on the Executive Advisory Committee. She is a seasoned leader and a champion for reproductive health, rights and justice, with more than a decade of experience in coalition building.
Sylvia has successfully led efforts to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care in California, and her work resulted in the enactment of public policies that have served as models in other states. During her tenure as Director of Government + Community Affairs at Essential Access Health, Sylvia shaped and advanced the organization’s state policy platform and developed patient education and consumer awareness initiatives. She also oversaw the Women + Health Care Reform Coalitions in Sacramento County and the Bay Area. Additionally, she served on the steering committee for the End the Epidemics coalition, which convenes 75 California partners to bring an end to STIs, HIV, viral hepatitis and overdose. Prior to joining Essential Access, Sylvia was a Policy Analyst at AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, where she advocated for the health and wellness of patients and their families and communities. A native of Los Angeles, she received her Bachelor of Arts in History and Latin American Studies from UCLA and attended the University of San Francisco Public Affairs graduate program.
Flor Hunt
Executive Committee Chair
Flor (she/her) is a dedicated and passionate Peruvian-American advocate for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice. She currently serves as Executive Director of TEACH, a Bay Area based organization that works to develop the next generation of diverse reproductive health champions through abortion training and mentorship. Flor has worked with a variety of international feminist organizations over the last 15 years to support local partners through philanthropy, capacity building and coalition building. She spent close to a decade at Fos Feminista, (formerly IPPF/WHR), working with partners across Latin America to advance sexual and reproductive rights and justice through intersectional advocacy and multi-country social accountability efforts.
Flor attended Cabrillo College, holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of International and Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She is a Women’s Policy Institute Alum from the class of 2020. Flor was born in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas, raised in Santa Cruz, California, and is bilingual in English and Spanish, fluent in Portuguese and speaks French. She is raising a small human, loves to travel, dance and surf, and eat her husband’s delicious meals.
Jessica Gil
Executive Committee Vice Chair
Jessica is the Executive Director of ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE. ACCESS removes barriers and builds the power of Californians to achieve reproductive justice. 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 people in California. No other organization in the state provides the same range of support for people considering or seeking an abortion.
Jessica previously served as vice president of government affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, a national/state partnership with eight Black women’s reproductive Justice organizations based in Washington, D.C. She also served as government relations manager for YWCA USA and as the legislative analyst at the University of California (UC) Office of Federal Governmental Relations. Jessica holds an M.A. in Government with a concentration in Political Communications from John’s Hopkins University and a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Service from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors for the Guttmacher Institute and SPARK! Reproductive Justice Now, Inc. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the California Abortion Alliance and the Steering Committee of Black Feminist Future's Constellation Network. Jessica remains a relentless advocate and activist in her spare time. She is the co-parent to a tiny human and a 10 yr old American Bulldog, an avid reader, and a peloton enthusiast.
Amy Chen, Esq.
Executive Committee Treasurer
Amy (she/her) is a Senior Attorney in the National Health Law Program’s California office, where she works on sexual and reproductive health law and policy. Her California work includes improving access to pregnancy coverage and services, and supporting implementation of California’s doula Medi-Cal benefit. Her national work includes leading NHeLP’s efforts to reduce maternal health disparities and address systemic barriers to comprehensive pregnancy care. She also leads NHeLP’s Doula Medicaid Project, which works to expand access to full spectrum doula care for all pregnant, postpartum, and post-pregnancy people.
Before joining NHeLP, Amy worked at Bay Area Legal Aid in Oakland, California for eight years, where she provided direct legal services to individuals and families across the San Francisco Bay Area, and advocated on a wide range of issues including health care reform, Medi-Cal, Covered California, and private health insurance.
Cindy Cruz
Executive Committee Secretary
Cindy is a passionate advocate for reproductive justice, racial justice, and LGBTQ liberation. She is the Director for the Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth (RHEP) at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), where she works to end inequitable reproductive health outcomes for youth in foster care and support the healthy sexual development and bodily autonomy of young people. Prior to joining NCYL, Cindy served as the Western States Program Director at URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, where she oversaw programming, policy and organizing work in California and worked in partnership with young people to ensure the accessible and inclusive implementation of SB24. Previously, she served as Director of Education for Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, where she led the organization’s sex-education programming and worked closely with colleagues and community partners to lobby and inform policy that increased access to comprehensive sex education and health care services.
Cindy received a BS in Public Health Education and a Master of Public Health from California State University, Northridge. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the proud daughter of Salvadoran immigrants.
Symphoni Barbee
Executive Committee Lobbyist Liaison
Symphoni is a Legislative Advocate for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC). She joined the PPAC Government Affairs Team in Fall 2021 and has since played a pivotal role in advancing key legislative priorities. Symphoni’s work has been instrumental in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as she lobbied for critical legislation to protect access to sexual and reproductive health care in California. Additionally, she has led coalition efforts to safeguard LGBTQ+ Californians from partisan attacks on health care access and successfully lobbied for legislation to combat misinformation about TGI health care. Prior to her role at PPAC, Symphoni served as a Panetta Institute Congressional Intern for Congressman Ami Bera in 2019 and as a California Senate Fellow for Senator Nancy Skinner from 2020 to 2021. She is deeply passionate about public policy that impacts her community, including health, environmental, and criminal justice issues.
Arneta Rogers
Executive Committee Member At-Large
Arneta (she/they) is the Executive Director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ) at UC Berkeley Law. They are an Oakland based, Black queer feminist, advocate, and movement lawyer with over a decade of experience of fighting for racial and reproductive justice. They previously led the Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice program at the ACLU of Northern California where their work focused on the intersections of criminalization and reproductive justice. She also served as the Policy Director of Positive Women’s Network-USA. Arneta has worked on campaigns to ensure the right to bodily autonomy and access to reproductive and pregnancy-related care for incarcerated people, to modernize California’s discriminatory HIV criminalization laws, and to decriminalize loitering for sex work. They were a 2022 Law for Black Lives Movement Lawyering fellow and Rockwood Leadership Institute Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice fellow. Arneta graduated from UC Law San Francisco in the social justice concentration. She enjoys spending time in nature with her kid, playing basketball, and drumming in the streets for the movement.
Melody Yan
Executive Committee Member At-Large
Melody (she/her) is a passionate advocate for reproductive health and justice, committed to building a world rooted in community care and collective liberation. She currently serves as the Public Affairs Coordinator at Essential Access Health, where she works to dismantle barriers and expand access to equitable sexual and reproductive health care through state and federal policy advocacy, as well as meaningful youth engagement and outreach.
Melody’s journey into advocacy began during her undergraduate years at the University of California, Davis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Community Development. While in college, she joined the statewide student-led coalition Free the Period and successfully passed a menstrual equity bill that requires California public high schools to provide free menstrual products on campus.
Proudly born and raised in the 415 (San Francisco), Melody finds joy in running at sunset, creating art in her ceramics studio, enjoying live music (the smaller the venue, the better), and spending time in nature.
Executive Committee Chair
Flor (she/her) is a dedicated and passionate Peruvian-American advocate for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice. She currently serves as Executive Director of TEACH, a Bay Area based organization that works to develop the next generation of diverse reproductive health champions through abortion training and mentorship. Flor has worked with a variety of international feminist organizations over the last 15 years to support local partners through philanthropy, capacity building and coalition building. She spent close to a decade at Fos Feminista, (formerly IPPF/WHR), working with partners across Latin America to advance sexual and reproductive rights and justice through intersectional advocacy and multi-country social accountability efforts.
Flor attended Cabrillo College, holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of International and Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She is a Women’s Policy Institute Alum from the class of 2020. Flor was born in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas, raised in Santa Cruz, California, and is bilingual in English and Spanish, fluent in Portuguese and speaks French. She is raising a small human, loves to travel, dance and surf, and eat her husband’s delicious meals.
Jessica Gil
Executive Committee Vice Chair
Jessica is the Executive Director of ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE. ACCESS removes barriers and builds the power of Californians to achieve reproductive justice. 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 people in California. No other organization in the state provides the same range of support for people considering or seeking an abortion.
Jessica previously served as vice president of government affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, a national/state partnership with eight Black women’s reproductive Justice organizations based in Washington, D.C. She also served as government relations manager for YWCA USA and as the legislative analyst at the University of California (UC) Office of Federal Governmental Relations. Jessica holds an M.A. in Government with a concentration in Political Communications from John’s Hopkins University and a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Service from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors for the Guttmacher Institute and SPARK! Reproductive Justice Now, Inc. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the California Abortion Alliance and the Steering Committee of Black Feminist Future's Constellation Network. Jessica remains a relentless advocate and activist in her spare time. She is the co-parent to a tiny human and a 10 yr old American Bulldog, an avid reader, and a peloton enthusiast.
Amy Chen, Esq.
Executive Committee Treasurer
Amy (she/her) is a Senior Attorney in the National Health Law Program’s California office, where she works on sexual and reproductive health law and policy. Her California work includes improving access to pregnancy coverage and services, and supporting implementation of California’s doula Medi-Cal benefit. Her national work includes leading NHeLP’s efforts to reduce maternal health disparities and address systemic barriers to comprehensive pregnancy care. She also leads NHeLP’s Doula Medicaid Project, which works to expand access to full spectrum doula care for all pregnant, postpartum, and post-pregnancy people.
Before joining NHeLP, Amy worked at Bay Area Legal Aid in Oakland, California for eight years, where she provided direct legal services to individuals and families across the San Francisco Bay Area, and advocated on a wide range of issues including health care reform, Medi-Cal, Covered California, and private health insurance.
Cindy Cruz
Executive Committee Secretary
Cindy is a passionate advocate for reproductive justice, racial justice, and LGBTQ liberation. She is the Director for the Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth (RHEP) at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), where she works to end inequitable reproductive health outcomes for youth in foster care and support the healthy sexual development and bodily autonomy of young people. Prior to joining NCYL, Cindy served as the Western States Program Director at URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, where she oversaw programming, policy and organizing work in California and worked in partnership with young people to ensure the accessible and inclusive implementation of SB24. Previously, she served as Director of Education for Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, where she led the organization’s sex-education programming and worked closely with colleagues and community partners to lobby and inform policy that increased access to comprehensive sex education and health care services.
Cindy received a BS in Public Health Education and a Master of Public Health from California State University, Northridge. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the proud daughter of Salvadoran immigrants.
Symphoni Barbee
Executive Committee Lobbyist Liaison
Symphoni is a Legislative Advocate for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC). She joined the PPAC Government Affairs Team in Fall 2021 and has since played a pivotal role in advancing key legislative priorities. Symphoni’s work has been instrumental in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as she lobbied for critical legislation to protect access to sexual and reproductive health care in California. Additionally, she has led coalition efforts to safeguard LGBTQ+ Californians from partisan attacks on health care access and successfully lobbied for legislation to combat misinformation about TGI health care. Prior to her role at PPAC, Symphoni served as a Panetta Institute Congressional Intern for Congressman Ami Bera in 2019 and as a California Senate Fellow for Senator Nancy Skinner from 2020 to 2021. She is deeply passionate about public policy that impacts her community, including health, environmental, and criminal justice issues.
Arneta Rogers
Executive Committee Member At-Large
Arneta (she/they) is the Executive Director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ) at UC Berkeley Law. They are an Oakland based, Black queer feminist, advocate, and movement lawyer with over a decade of experience of fighting for racial and reproductive justice. They previously led the Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice program at the ACLU of Northern California where their work focused on the intersections of criminalization and reproductive justice. She also served as the Policy Director of Positive Women’s Network-USA. Arneta has worked on campaigns to ensure the right to bodily autonomy and access to reproductive and pregnancy-related care for incarcerated people, to modernize California’s discriminatory HIV criminalization laws, and to decriminalize loitering for sex work. They were a 2022 Law for Black Lives Movement Lawyering fellow and Rockwood Leadership Institute Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice fellow. Arneta graduated from UC Law San Francisco in the social justice concentration. She enjoys spending time in nature with her kid, playing basketball, and drumming in the streets for the movement.
Melody Yan
Executive Committee Member At-Large
Melody (she/her) is a passionate advocate for reproductive health and justice, committed to building a world rooted in community care and collective liberation. She currently serves as the Public Affairs Coordinator at Essential Access Health, where she works to dismantle barriers and expand access to equitable sexual and reproductive health care through state and federal policy advocacy, as well as meaningful youth engagement and outreach.
Melody’s journey into advocacy began during her undergraduate years at the University of California, Davis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Community Development. While in college, she joined the statewide student-led coalition Free the Period and successfully passed a menstrual equity bill that requires California public high schools to provide free menstrual products on campus.
Proudly born and raised in the 415 (San Francisco), Melody finds joy in running at sunset, creating art in her ceramics studio, enjoying live music (the smaller the venue, the better), and spending time in nature.
