Jodi has advocated on behalf of Maryland's families for over 15 years and is proud to be a part of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland. After graduating with her MSW from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Jodi began her career in the field of violence prevention. After working for a small gun violence prevention organization, Jodi worked at the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and later went on to serve as the Director of Maryland's Attorney General's and Lt. Governor's Family Violence Council. It was here that she worked with numerous advocacy groups and elected officials to pass enabling domestic violence legislation, establish state wide policies and procedures, and improve the overall system-wide response to domestic violence. After working for the state, Jodi served as the Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County for six years. Jodi has received numerous awards for her work, including being named as one of Maryland Top 100 Women by the Daily Record in 2008. When not advocating on behalf of Maryland's families, she enjoys running and participating in triathlons.
Melissa is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, who joined the NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland team in July 2007. She received a BA from The Ohio State University, where she studied sociology and women’s studies. She relocated to Silver Spring after completing her Masters in Gender Studies from the University of Essex. Her past work experience includes serving as a women's advocate at the Domestic Violence Center in Cleveland, and as a patient counselor/advocate, PR Coordinator, and intake staff at two Cleveland area abortion clinics, PRETERM and the Cleveland Surgi-Center. Melissa manages our EC Access & Truth Revealed Crisis Pregnancy Center campaigns, organizes 5 student activist groups, coordinates our community festival schedule, maintains our Community Action Teams, and directs many other research/policy/organizing projects.
Jillian Leslie, Development and Program Manager
Jillian, a native of Seattle, Washington joined NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland's staff in August 2010. She received a BA in Political Science from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2006 and was involved in many progressive campus activists groups such as Amnesty International, Young Democrats and NARAL Students for Choice. After completing her bachelor's degree, Jillian spent two and a half years working, living and traveling throughout Southern Mexico and Central America. She served as a field research intern with non-profit organizations in rural coffee plantations of Guatemala advocating for fair labor practices and economic justice for farmers. Her previous work experiences include, organizer with the Obama for America campaign in 2008, legislative intern for Washington State congressman Jay Inslee, and Operations & Development Manager with The Share Foundation – an international development organization based in El Salvador.
Zack Chumley, Community Outreach Intern
Zack, a native of rural Southern Maryland, is currently a junior at the University of Maryland in College park. He is working toward his Sociology bachelor's degree with a concentration in Inequality and Stratification, which he will hopefully finish by May of 2013. Zack got involved with NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland after he attended a Clinic Defense training they co-sponsored with the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force. Zack is a firm believer in social justice in all of its forms and hopes to eventually work in a field in which he can apply his knowledge of sociology to help improve the lives of socially and economically disadvantaged populations. As an avid vegan, Zack also would like to work toward making healthy, animal-product free living a possibility for low-income families. In his free time, he enjoys playing music, cycling, and skateboarding.
JOIN US: