Leading Ladies: Edit Letter and TOC

In a way, having a “Leading Ladies” theme this month is superfluous, since the feminists we feature every month are leading the way toward stronger and healthier communities. But, in our current political moment, it is especially useful to showcase a few of the powerful women, nonbinary, and trans leaders who are protecting rights and standing up against a backlash of misogynistic, anti-trans, and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

For these voices, the path forward is a relatively simple one:

Lead with pro-humanity values — balancing both fire and compassion — and work in collaboration.

This month we feature advocates from Outfront, Gender Justice, Pro-Choice, and The Advocates for Human Rights.

We hear from Carolina Ortiz, who leads environmental justice work with Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina (COPAL), a 45,000-member strong movement to support the Latine community in Minnesota.

We talk with Nadia Mohamed, the mayor of Saint Louis Park, about how she is connecting people in her community.

We meet some of the remarkable people who meet weekly to connect as a support group — from formerly incarcerated women to judges — as well as the director of restorative justice work based in Brainerd.

We also continue our work focused on gender-based violence, with stories about the work to help eradicate the sex trafficking of Minnesota youth.

I recently moderated a discussion with three of the 20-something leaders we featured in the January Hope & Grief magazine. One of them, Melissa Vasquez, said:

“I’ve witnessed the pain of uncertainty, and the resilience this experience demands. But through my work at LatinoLead, I’ve also witnessed a powerful shift. [We] are no longer asking for permission to exist or to belong. We are building spaces where we can thrive on our own terms.”

That is the vision of the people we feature this month.

As always, we could not do this work without the readers who support us with donations and memberships. This month, we also highlight the names of 2024 supporters who helped us keep our doors open. We will continue to ask for your financial support to increase the numbers of people who read these stories statewide.

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Table of Contents

“There are always more opportunities to get it right, to fashion our lives in the ways we deserve to have them.” — Clarissa Pinkola Estes, “Women Who Run With the Wolves”

Ecolution  — Latine Minnesotans and Collective Health

Equity — Advocates Gear Up to Protect Vulnerable Minnesotans

Politics — Nadia Mohamed: Historic Rise as Mayor

Justice  — A Support Group Transforms Justice

Changemakers Alliance — Helping Loved Ones With Mental Health

Gender-Based Violence — Collective Efforts to Combat Trafficking

Money  — How to Build a Life of Financial Health

Healing  — Restorative Justice in Brainerd