SWLC Officers
Jenifer Getz
Vice Chair
Jenifer is a social justice activist with a lifelong commitment to women’s issues. She has worked in finance and administration while raising two children in Albuquerque. She specializes in Audits of Not for Profit organizations in New Mexico. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design, Emery Aviation College, and CNM. Having formerly worked as a commercial pilot for 20 years, Jenifer still enjoys flying airplanes as well as skiing, swimming, and spending time with family and friends
Kristen Kauffman
Treasurer
Kristen is a financial consultant and investment advisor in Albuquerque. Originally from Austin, TX, she is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in psychology. She began her career initially in social work as a family interventionist working with at-risk women who were pregnant or had a child under three years of age. Her experience working with economically disadvantaged mothers and the unique financial obstacles faced by women-led her to shift her career to financial planning, beginning with a firm that specializes in helping recently widowed or divorced women to establish independent financial lives. She now runs her own practice at Fidelity Investments. Kristen is a mother to three children and three step-children and is deeply passionate about advancing women’s rights and economic security.
Jane Epstein
Secretary
During a long career in adolescent medicine as a nurse practitioner, Jane Epstein focused on patient empowerment and on the confidential health care rights of minors. Since 2019, she has been researching and writing about women’s sexual histories. With the intention of increasing sexual communication, Jane gives talks to young adolescents and medical professionals, alike. She believes that agency, flexibility, and communication in the realm of sexuality support the empowerment of the whole individual.
Jane has served on the board of Planned Parenthood and on the NM Alliance for Confidential Healthcare Access. Her volunteering includes both administrative and clinical care at One Hope Centro de Vida Clinic.
SWLC Directors
Janice D. Pastor, J.D.
Janice is a retired attorney and non-profit activist. She practiced law for twenty-two years before serving for eleven years as one of three trustees of a small family trust managing real estate. In the fall of 2015, she joined the boards of ADL New Mexico Region and the Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico. Recently she accepted an invitation to join the ADL Civil Rights Committee. Ms. Paster has served as Chair of the Board of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation and the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Board of New Mexico Voices for Children.
From 1988 until 1996 Ms. Paster was a member of the New Mexico State Senate. She is the only woman to serve as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and she also chaired the Interim Health Care Task Force, leading the passage of legislation to update New Mexico’s health law. She is a long-time advocate for reproductive freedom, quality child care, and equality for women and girls in other areas.
Janice earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MA from Tufts University. Ms. Paster also has a JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Erika Harding
Erika is an educator, facilitator, health equity and women’s rights activist, leadership coach, and communications consultant (and Director of Amplify Consulting & Communication Solutions). She works with organizations that want to tackle difficult issues (sexism, racism, and all forms of discrimination in the workplace) and learn how to build a stronger, more learning-centered organizational culture. She served as the Chief Replication Officer and Global Replication Director at the ECHO Institute for many years and has also been a public school teacher, birthing coach (doula)/family resource educator, and small business owner.
Claudia J. Joseph
Claudia is an attorney and mediator who has practiced law in Northern New Mexico since 2000. Claudia has had a lifelong interest in helping women and girls in both personal and professional capacities. She has provided pro bono advocacy work for various New Mexico and National non-profit organizations in the areas of immigration, reproductive rights, ending gun violence, and assisting rape victims. Claudia is committed to utilizing her experiences as a lawyer, mediator, and parent to support equality, economic opportunity, and reproductive rights and stop workplace discrimination against women.
Sydney Tellez
Sydney has been working within the political and advocacy community for over five years. A graduate from the University of New Mexico, lifelong New Mexican, and Chicana, she is passionate about subverting systems of oppression that have worked to marginalize and disenfranchise generations of New Mexicans. Sydney believes that intersectional advocacy and policy are crucial to building and sustaining strong communities in the face of adversity. Her passion for culture and community is intertwined with a strong desire to increase and develop leadership opportunities for young people, especially young people of color. An Emerge New Mexico graduate, Sydney believes in empowering and equipping all women with the tools and support to advocate for their healthcare, quality of life, culture, and civil liberties. In her free time, Sydney enjoys the arts, especially performance art, and uses her multifaceted skills to increase revenue and funds for various community non-profits.
Sharon Ransom, M.D.
Dr. Sharon Ransom, M.D. is a Board-certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist who is passionate about women’s health and access to reproductive health and wellness. Dr. Ransom recognizes the need to advocate for the health of all women. Sharon has experience in working with many communities of women, from rural Indiana to rural Ethiopia. She has worked in the United States, New Zealand, and Ethiopia. Sharon’s focus is on the basic needs of all communities- healthy women. She knows that racial and gender discrimination in healthcare limits access to providers and results in excess disease and poor health in many communities. Dr. Ransom works to ensure equity in reproductive and sexual health, as well as reproductive justice for all.
Mary Clark
Mary is the first sustainability manager at the University of New Mexico overseeing the Office of Sustainability. Her other areas of expertise include recycling, campus community gardens and greenhouse gas inventory. Mary is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in Economics and European Studies.
Miranda Aragon
Dr. Aragón is a queer woman of color and native burqueña. She is deeply dedicated to health equity, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ care. She graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and completed a residency in family medicine in Philadelphia. She provides primary care at the UNMH Southeast Heights clinic in the International District and reproductive health care at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health. She is a passionate educator and seeks to translate her experience in community organizing and medicine into positive change in the day-to-day lives of New Mexicans.
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