Students Organizing for Access to Reproductive Health (SOAR)
SOAR (Students Organizing for Access to Reproductive Health) was founded in 2024 by four students from the University of Pennsylvania under the umbrella organization Penn Reproductive Justice. The SOAR Internship was established to equip high school students in Philadelphia with leadership, activism, and mentorship to create their own service projects in their respective communities. SOAR aims to train the next generation of Reproductive Justice (RJ) leaders beginning with youth in Philadelphia.
About SOAR
SOAR Project Objectives
internship Details
- 5 weeks on Tues & Thurs
- 9am - 3pm
- July - August
- Penn Women’s Center
- Transportation & Meals Covered
- 15 Guest Speakers
- Field trip to PEACE Clinic
- 2 product packing parties
Training of trainers
By adopting a ToT Model and hands-on approach to addressing reproductive justice (RJ) and menstrual equity (ME) issues, we strive to cultivate RJ leaders within their own communities and schools.
SOAR interns will not only become RJ leaders themselves, but also exponentially increase their impact as RJ/ME ambassadors at their own schools and training the next cohort of youth activists.
curriculum details
Week 1: Intro to Repro Justice
Week 2: Breaking into Activism
Week 3: Skill-Building & Organizing
Week 4: Getting Involved with the Philadelphia Community
Week 5: Designing Your Service Project
PRJ x SOAR
Menstrual Health Education Program
Since 2022, the Penn Reproductive Justice Menstrual Health Education Program (MHEP) has collaborated with Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships to provide 34 workshops to 45 students in 4 West Philly high schools & middle schools, covering topics like Period Health Basics and What Can Go Wrong With Your Period.
Expanding upon our MHEP curriculum, SOAR will recruit students who have participated in our workshops (including those who have not) and equip them with leadership training, advocacy skills, and peer mentorship. Under the mentorship of SOAR facilitators, interns will identify an RJ/ME need in Philadelphia and design community-informed projects funded by the program.
Serving as a support system that jumpstarts community-centered projects, SOAR aspires to dismantle barriers to access, education, and health — one student at a time.
Sustainability Impact and Peace
2024 Davis Projects for Peace Awardee
By the conclusion of the internship, SOAR interns will be community leaders equipped with the problem-solving, advocacy, and communication skills needed to effect tangible change in reproductive justice issues in Philadelphia. The sustainability impact of our program lies in the power of our interns themselves. Along with the mentorship they gain from Penn undergraduate facilitators and community experts, interns will be change-makers in their own neighborhoods by implementing their own service projects, starting RJ/ME clubs at their schools, and mentoring the following summer’s SOAR interns. Interns will also have the opportunity to connect with local RJ organizations so that they can expand their personal and professional career goals in a nonprofit setting.
Beyond summer 2024, we will work to transform SOAR into a 501(c)(3) non-profit that expands RJ education and youth activism throughout Philadelphia and the southern region of the US where the need for comprehensive sexual education and literacy on RJ issues is more urgent than ever, especially as reproductive rights face increasing restrictions. To us, peace expands beyond our mission for education. It also embodies a world in which youth can make autonomous decisions against legal and political violence on reproductive rights. This starts with working with young people living in the communities hit hardest by lack of access to reproductive health resources. Using the power of education, public health, and community, we hope to scale our impact by reaching the next generation of youth who will fight to protect access to reproductive healthcare.
Students Organizing for Access
to Reproductive Health
SOAR 2024
SOAR 2024 Overview
From July 9th to August 8th, SOAR welcomed five bright high school students from across the greater Philadelphia region. Over these five weeks, our interns learned what it meant to be advocates for sexual and reproductive justice, heard from twenty RJ experts and advocates (listed below), hosted a menstrual product drive for Gentle Gratitude, visited the PEACE CLINIC at Penn Medicine, and most importantly designed their own sustainable service projects with their mentors.
On the final day, our interns presented their projects at the 2024 SOAR Symposium:
1. Education and Support Drives to Raise Awareness and Prevent Teen Maternal Mortality in Philadelphia
2. Building a Workshop for Teens in Philadelphia: Toxins in Tampons
3. Holistic Period Care: Donating Natural Remedies for Menstrual Cramps to the Unhoused Community
4. Access for All: Website to Pinpoint Free Hygiene Products in Philadelphia
5. An Educational Website to Raise Awareness of Maternal Mortality for Women of Color in Philadelphia
SOAR Curriculum
5 weeks of youth-focused RJ
Interns will learn what it means to advocate for reproductive justice and how to design and sustain their own community-centered projects
weekly program
Week 1: Intro to Repro Justice
Week 2: Breaking into Activism
Week 3: Skill-Building & Organizing
Week 4: Getting Involved with the Philadelphia Community
Week 5: Designing Your Service Project
Week 1: Intro to Repro Justice
Tuesday (July 9) | Thursday (July 11) | |
Time | Activity | Activity |
9-10 AM | Breakfast, icebreakers | Breakfast, Aftershock documentary |
10-11 AM | Lesson: All About Repro Justice | Lesson: Contraceptive Access |
11-12 PM | Lesson: Abortion Access | Lesson: All About Menstrual Equity |
12-1 PM | Lunch | Lunch |
1-2 PM | Lesson: All About HIV/AIDS | Lesson: Maternal Health |
2-3 PM | Continue Lessons | Speaker: Hazel Edwards (Galaei) |
Week 2: Breaking Into Activism
Tuesday (July 16) | Thursday (July 18) | |
Time | Activity | Activity |
9-10 AM | Breakfast | Breakfast, check-in's |
10-11 AM | Lesson: Breaking Into Activism Walkthrough pitch project | Present project pitches + provide feedback |
11-12 PM | Speaker: Ceshia Elmore (New Voices) | Outdoor social activity |
12-1 PM | Lunch | Lunch + Pitch presentations cont. |
1-2 PM | Brainstorm/Work on Pitch Projects | |
2-3 PM | Speaker: Kai Kornegay (ALF) | Speaker: Nakesha (MCC) + Hazel Ekeke |
Week 3: Skill-Building
Tuesday (July 23) | Thursday (July 25) | |
Time | Activity | Activity |
9-10 AM | Breakfast, icebreakers, announce mentor-mentee pairs | Breakfast, check-in's, talk about HW for next week |
10-11 AM | Service Project Brainstorming w/ mentors | |
11-12 PM | Speaker: Rep. Darisha Parker | Service Project Brainstorming w/ mentors |
12-1 PM | Lunch | Lunch |
1-2 PM | Speaker: Elise Joy (Girls Helping Girls, Period) | Speaker: PERIOD @ Abington Heights; Moorestown, NJ; Temple U |
2-3 PM | Speaker: Antoilyn (CE) | Service project meetings w/ mentors |
Week 4: Philly Community
Tuesday (July 30) | Thursday (August 1) | |
Time | Activity | Activity |
9-9:30 AM | Breakfast, icebreakers, recap | Breakfast, icebreakers, recap |
9:30-11 AM | Speaker: Dr. Frarey and Mollie Sullivan, RN (PP) | (10am) Packing Party with Gentle Gratitude |
11-12 PM | Speaker: Adam Hosey (PP) | Student Activities |
12-1 PM | Lunch | Lunch |
1-2 PM | Student Activities | Speaker: Dr. Nathalie Duroseau (CHOP) |
2-3 PM | Student Activities | PEACE Clinic Tour |
Week 5: Service Projects + Symposium
Tuesday (August 6) | Thursday (August 8) | ||
Time | Activity | Time | Intern Symposium Night |
9-10 AM | Breakfast, icebreakers, recap | 6:00 PM | Welcome + Opening Remarks |
10-11 AM | Working on service project with mentors | 6:15 PM | Dinner |
11-12 PM | Speaker: Dr. Shelby Davies (PolicyLab @ CHOP) | 6:30 PM | Presentations |
12-1 PM | Lunch + Ice Cream Social | 7:30 PM | Certification Award Ceremony |
1-2 PM | Feedback + Service projects | 8:00 PM | Closing |
2-3 PM | Service projects + Symposium announcements |
Meet the SOAR Team
Annabelle Jin
Annabelle (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Education Committee Lead for PRJ. With over 5 years of experience advocating for RJ/ME, she founded PERIOD at Moorestown, NJ, in 2019 and was part of PERIOD.’s Youth Advisory Board from 2020-2022. While she has donated 20,000 menstrual products to Philadelphia shelters and successfully lobbied to provide free period products in NJ schools, she is most passionate about educating students about menstrual health and empowering them to advocate for menstrual equity. As such, she has organized the Menstrual Health Education Program and 18 educational events at Penn about reproductive health that have reached over 250 attendees.
Annabelle (‘25) is studying Neurobiology and minoring in English at UPenn.
Fav food/dish: pan-fried pork buns (shengjianbao 😋)
Claire Jun
Claire (she/her) is the Communications Lead and an Education Committee Project Director for PRJ. Growing up in Alabama, where a total abortion ban limits access to reproductive health services and over 20% of menstruators live below the federal poverty line, she is passionate about expanding health services to low-income populations. She leads the creation of educational infographics such as “Equitable Access to Coverage” to “My Menstrual Cycle and My Mental Health” and designed PRJ’s website and first annual impact report. She has also increased PRJ’s reach by creating a newsletter with 190+ subscribers; designed 30+ graphics promoting PRJ events; and managed PRJ’s Instagram with a following of 500+.
Claire (‘25) is studying Health & Societies (concentrating in Health Policy & Law) and minoring in Bioethics and Chemistry at UPenn.
Fav food/dish: Korean silken tofu stew (Soondubu jjigae)
Johana Munoz
Johana (she/her) is a Philly Education Committee Lead for PRJ. Growing up in Philadelphia, she found an overwhelming gap in knowledge in reproductive health education among her peers due to a lack of comprehensive puberty and sex education in schools. Passionate about destigmatizing reproductive health and educating younger generations about their bodies, she has helped organize and facilitate the Menstrual Health Education Program and other educational events about reproductive health at Penn. She has also donated hundreds of period products to shelters in Philadelphia to address period poverty.
Johana (‘26) is studying Psychology and minoring in Latin American and Latinx Studies at UPenn.
Fav food/dish: Tamales verdes!
Destiny Uwawuike
Destiny (she/her) is a Philly Education Committee Lead for PRJ. She is passionate about reproductive health and educating individuals on making informed decisions about their bodies. She was a research intern for BUPeriod, a lifestyle brand empowering women through menstrual health awareness, and a project coordinator for PA Springboard Consulting Program, where she led a team to pitch a business case promoting increased access to sexual education. She currently volunteers as a doula providing education and labor support to underserved pregnant women in Philadelphia.
Destiny (‘25) is studying Health & Societies (concentration in Race, Gender, & Health) and minoring in Chemistry at UPenn.
Fav food/dish: Churros!
Acknowledgements
Davis Projects for Peace 2024 Awardee
2024 Provost’s Campaign for Community Awardee
Provides $10,000 in funds to pursue “innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues” during the summer.
Read about our feature in Penn Today.
Awarded $1000:
- To promote understanding of and respect for multiple points of view on important topics related to the University community
- To encourage dialogue and discussion among members of the community about issues with the potential for difference and disagreement
- To create opportunities for all members of the University’s community to participate in conversations about important topics
Penn Women’s Center
As a project founded under Penn Reproductive Justice (PRJ), Penn Women’s Center has generously donated their space for the summer internship.
