By Rebecca Wang, J.D., Helpline Counsel
A note from If/When/How Helpline Counsel Rebecca Wang, J.D.
Dear If/When/How community,
When I first graduated from law school, I was unsure about where I fit into the legal profession. It was only on rare occasions that I met other queer women of color attorneys or law students. It definitely made me question whether this profession was for me. Getting accepted into the Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program and placed with Positive Women’s Network – USA changed that sense of being untethered. The night before the Fellowship orientation, I met two other Fellows also navigating post-grad imposter syndrome, and they instantly became some of my best friends. We’re still closer than ever.
During the Fellowship, I was mentored and supervised by a queer woman of color attorney who was also a former Fellow, and I was fully included as part of the staff team, from retreats to conferences to celebrations. I got to work right beside PWN members who had put their bodies on the line in D.C. to protest cuts to the Affordable Care Act, I helped coordinate PWN’s own cohort of policy fellows and attended their graduation at PWN’s summit, I traveled to Amsterdam to attend the AIDS 2018 conference, and I helped draft PWN’s new policy agenda for the current political times.
These are opportunities I could never have imagined when I graduated law school. I came out of the RJFP feeling firmly grounded in the RJ movement and with a new chosen family of RJ advocates who encouraged me along the way.
Will you fund the movement to launch the careers of reproductive justice lawyers? An end-of-year gift to If/When/How is a great way to celebrate 10 years of our Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program.
Thank you from all of us here at If/When/How!