Gaylon B. Alcaraz has a long history in the Midwestas an activist, organizer and champion of human rights. As the past Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, she worked within the reproductive justice/rights/health movement to advocate for low-income women seeking to control their reproductive freedom. Among the many social justice accomplishments credited,she served as a founding board member of Affinity Community Services, a social justice organization that advocates for the rights of black lesbian and bisexual women in the Chicago land area. During her board tenure at Affinity, she assumed increased leadership roles, across all areas of the organization’s functions including the role of Vice-President.She is also a past board member of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and the Midwest Access Project.

For more than twenty-five years, she has worked and organized on behalf of sexual minority women, anti-violence, gender equity, health prevention, reproductive justice, as well as race and culture issues. Gaylon has consistently applied her knowledge in practice towards quality improvement, increased access, and by challenging frameworks that do not allow for the exploration of diversity across multiple dimensions when working with, and on behalf of diverse constituencies.In 1995, as a trained organizerthrough Metropolitan Tenant’s Organization, she facilitated the affordable housing preservation at Ogden Corners, located in Lincoln Park. Working with the property management company and resident’s council, she assisted in securing a million-dollar rehab loan from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she was awarded both her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from DePaul University and her Doctoral degree in Community Psychology fromNational Louis University.She has received awards both locally and nationally from Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Northwest Suburban NOW, Choice USA, Chicago Foundation for Women and Chicago NOW for her work in the reproductive rights/health and justice field. Gaylon wasalso highlighted in the Chicago Woman Magazine as one of “The Fierce 50” and in The Chicago Reader as “The Activist” in the “People” edition. She wasalsoinducted into Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Famefor her work on Reproductive Justice issues.

Cait Vaughan (she/her)works alongside her elders as the Director of Programs & Outreach for GRR!.Cait is also a community-based doula and childbirth educator. She sitson Maine’s Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Committee as a community doula; volunteers as an abortion doula and case manager with the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire; and, she volunteeredas a peer counselor for years on the national All Options Talkline, providing compassionate and nonjudgmentalsupport and referrals around all pregnancy, parenting, and adoption experiences. At home, she tends to a jungle of houseplants and serves at the leisure of a spoiled special needs cat named Teddy.

Elayne Richard (she/her) is the Education Coordinator for GRR!, motivating young people, grandmothers, and others to use their voices and become activists in the fight for reproductive rights and justice so that future generations do not have to re-live what older generations experienced prior to Roe v Wade. Her activism dates back to the 70s – attending the National Women’s Conference in Houston in 1977, working at an abortion clinic, anti-war demonstrations, and as a children’s case manager. After 50 years, she will not concede. Elayne embraces the idea that having conversations with others, one person at a time, is the surest way to bring about change in these tumultuous divisive times. Elayne and her husband have lived in Fairfield, Maine for the past 37 years. They have three sons, a daughter in-law and two grandchildren.

Lucy Hull (she/her) is GRR! resident Development Pro. She has been protesting against war and misogyny and on behalf of reproductive rights and a healthy environment since she was a teen. Her work building boats and houses in the ‘70s and ‘80s was satisfying, as was a year traveling by sailboat with her husband when their first child was born. Lucy was development director for a school/camp/environmental education center for 17 years in her home state of Maine. She has been part of GRR! from its earliest days, and has loved seeing its evolution from the activism of a small group of friends to a vibrant national organization. Working in community with others, and caring for the community around her is Lucy’s joy. She and her husband of 40 years have two children and three grandchildren.

Featured in The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, on HBO, WBEZ, WTTW, and on international television and radio, multidisciplinary artist Nikki Patin has been writing since she was 7. In 2014, Patin addressed the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on behalf of Black women and girl survivors of sexual violence. Nikki Patin holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Main. She is the Founder and Executive Producer of Surviving the Mic, an Elastic Arts Dark Matter Arts Resident, and the recipient of the 2024 Leadership Award from The Network. Patin’s debut memoir, Working on Me, was recently released on Vine Leaves Press. Patin serves as a consultant for several non-profit organizations, including Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights and Chicago Freedom School.