CHAMPIONS OF CHOICE 2022
NIRH and the NIRH Action Fund hosted a fun, inspirational gathering of solidarity from across the country as we celebrate our accomplishments and prepare for the fight of our lives! With the Supreme Court poised to decimate Roe v. Wade after 49 years, we must stand together to ensure everyone has the freedom and ability to control their reproductive and sexual lives.
Thank you to all who united with us to honor those who do the hard work on the ground and those using their platform to speak up and speak out.
2022 CHAMPIONS OF CHOICE HONOREES
Amy Schumer, Comedian, Actress, Writer, Producer and Director
Amy Schumer is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated standup comedian, actress, writer, producer and director. SHe has starred in several films, television shows, and award-winning comedy specials. Schumer’s three-part documentary series, Expecting Amy, takes viewers behind-the-scenes as Amy battles through an extraordinarily difficult pregnancy, while documenting the formation of her latest comedy special. Most recently, Schumer starred in Stephen Karam’s The Humans. Next up for Schumer is Life & Beth, a comedy series which Schumer will star in, write, direct and executive produce; coming to Hulu in 2022.
Cecily Strong, Actress and Comedian
Cecily Strong is an actress and comedian best known as a standout cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” for which she received back-to-back Emmy Award nominations in 2020 and 2021. She has entertained viewers with a variety of beloved characters and earned rave reviews for her impressions of Jeanine Pirro, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Melania Trump, among many others. In 2015, Strong headlined the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner to critical acclaim.
Strong was raised in Oak Park, Ill., and has a BFA in theater from the California Institute of the Arts.
Dr. DeShawn Taylor, President and CEO of Desert Star Family Planning
2022 CHAMPIONS OF CHOICE EMCEE
Aisha Mills
Advocate and Political Commentator
Aisha Mills works to ensure that our democracy is responsive to, reflective of, and led by the diverse communities that are the fabric of our nation. A nationally respect voice on progressive politics, Aisha has been a commentator on CNN and MSNBC and is the author of dozens of policy reports and cultural analyses at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality that have shaped public discourse and federal policy. She recently served as a resident fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics where she hosted a weekly seminar on the demographic revolution and rise of the “New American Majority” of people of color who will soon be the majority of the population.
Throughout her career, Aisha has led and won historic campaigns from the frontlines of the most transformative civil rights movements of our time.
Aisha has been recognized as one of the “Out 100” LGBTQ influencers, “The Root 100” top African American influencers, and a top “40 Under Forty” LGBT leader by The Advocate Magazine. She was the first Black woman to lead a national LGBTQ organization, as the President & CEO of the Victory Fund which works to elect LGBTQ candidates to every level of office. She has also advised dozens of Congressional and U.S. Senate campaigns as executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, regional finance director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and consultant to several Congressional candidates.
2021 CHAMPIONS OF CHOICE CO-CHAIRS
Elizabeth Comen, MD
Attending Breast Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Women’s Health Advocate
Dr. Comen is the recipient of numerous prestigious grants and awards including, and her research has been published in numerous scientific journals.
Dr. Comen has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, The View, ABC News, NY1, Wall Street Journal online, Fox News, and other news and print outlets, such as the New York Times, Today.com, Elle Magazine, and Self Magazine. She is passionate about communicating essential medical and scientific information to the public, particularly as it relates to women’s healthcare and wellness. She is a tireless advocate for women’s healthcare and has mentored countless students throughout their academic and medical careers.
Caitlin Fiss, MD
Ob/Gyn and Abortion Activist
Dr. Fiss is board certified by the American Board of Ob/Gyn. She is a Diplomate of the American College of OB/Gyn. Her areas of clinical expertise include adolescent and young adult medicine, family planning, cervical dysplasia, and the management of pregnancy. She has lived and worked in Ghana and India serving and teaching underserved populations.
Dr. Fiss is passionate about reproductive health, rights and justice and has been an advocate for many years. She has served on the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH) since 2019 and as Chair of PRH’s Voices of Courage event from 2016-2021.
Dawn Porter
Award-winning Filmmaker, Producer, and Mental Health/Social Justice Advocate
Dawn Porter is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, and mental health/social justice advocate, and a leader in the art of storytelling, directing and producing critically acclaimed projects. Porter discovered her passion for filmmaking following her time as an attorney. Her 2016 film “Trapped,” which explores laws regulating abortion clinics in the South, won the Special Jury Social-Impact Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and a Peabody Award (to name a few). Porter is a former professor and Head of the Documentary Program at the prestigious UC Berkeley School of Journalism, and currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and two children, Eli and Will.
2022 HONORARY CHAIRS
Ivelyse Andino
CEO and Founder, Radical Health
Amy Brenneman
Actress, Writer, Producer, Activist
Merrin Dungey
Actress
She is currently starring in the critical hit “Shining Vale” on Starz with Courtenay Cox, Mira Sorvino and Greg Kinnear. She’s also known for her work in the critically loved Emmy winning HBO series “Big Little Lies” as Detective Quinlan, and had scenes with Oscar winners, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and the legendary Meryl Streep in which she was nominated for a SAG Award for Best Ensemble.
She is currently producing a pilot for Warner Bros, with acclaimed writer Liz Vassey and multi hypenate Miayam Bialik.
Dungey is a UCLA Theater School Graduate and the youngest recipient of the UCLA Annual Acting Award as well as the Natalie Wood Prize.
She recently moved to Sherman Oaks with her two children and rescue puppy and can usually be seen working carpool at the elementary school
Bonnie Fuller
CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Hollywoodlife
Bonnie Fuller is a media powerhouse and currently the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of HollywoodLife. Prior to HollywoodLife, Bonnie was Editor-in-Chief of Us Weekly where she reformulated and redesigned the magazine for Wenner Media.
A native of Toronto, Canada, Bonnie started her professional journalism career by freelance writing for the Toronto Star, and later as an editor/writer for Women’s Wear Daily in New York City. Bonnie’s first job as a magazine Editor-in-Chief was leading Canada’s national fashion magazine, Flare, and after tripling newsstand circulation, she was hired to become Editor-in-Chief of teen magazine. She launched the American version of Marie Claire, then succeeded the legendary Helen Gurley Brown, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan. At Glamour magazine, Bonnie took over from Ruth Whitney, another legendary Editor-in-Chief. Beginning July 2003, Bonnie served as Executive Vice President and Chief Editorial Director of American Media Inc. Bonnie has authored the bestselling book The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For The Big Life — The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You’ve Ever Wanted. She is married to architect Michael Fuller and together they have four children.
Lysa Heslov
Director and Producer
Lysa Heslov is a Director and Producer working in documentary films, series, and narrative feature films. Lysa produced and directed the award-winning “Served Like a Girl,” released in 2017. Lysa also directed “Murder on Marathon,” a 6-part docu-series. Her next directorial documentary, “Brother from Another,” tells the true story of the brutal murder of Teresa Sievers, an accomplished Florida doctor specializing in holistic medicine. In addition to her work in film and television, Lysa, along with her husband, Academy Award Winning writer/producer/director, Grant Heslov, founded Children Mending Hearts, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering disadvantaged youth in the US through educational and humanities programs that build empathy and global citizenry.
Lara Marcon
Philanthropist
Alysia Reiner
Actress and Producer
Alysia Reiner is best known as “FIG” on seven seasons of “Orange is the New Black,” and won a SAG AWARD as part of the incredible cast. You can also catch her as Sunny on all 5 seasons of Peabody Award-winning “Better Things” on F/X x HULU, Kiki Rains on HBO’s “The Deuce,” starring alongside Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear in “Shining Vale” on STARZ, and in an upcoming Marvel series on Disney+. She loves working as a change maker for women. As an advocate for women’s rights & climate change initiatives, she is on the board and an ambassador for GDIM as well as the Earth Day Initiative. Alysia has been invited to speak and keynote at The White House, The United Nations, Google, Cannes Lion, Women’s Media Summit, Collision, and countless film festivals and other events about breaking barriers for women in all fields, specifically the entertainment industry.
Nancy Silverman
Philanthropist
Kate Walsh
Actress, Entrepreneur, Activist
Kate Walsh remains one of the busiest actresses in the industry. With more than two decades of experience, she most recently she appeared in off-Broadway play “If I Forget,” for which she was nominated for a number of awards. Onscreen, Walsh most recently starred in Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” and “The Umbrella Academy.” Walsh is also widely known for her starring role as Dr. Addison Montgomery on “Private Practice” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Aside from acting, Walsh has traveled the world with Operation Smile, and has been a strong voice for a variety of issues she cares about, from the fight for women’s rights and reproductive freedom to ocean and marine life conservation.
Lola C. West
Financial Advisor and Change-Maker
2022 EVENT SPONSORS
As of 4/21/22
Ruby
Margaret Munzer Loeb · Nancy Silverman
Trailblazer
Elyse and Lawrence B. Benenson · Bob Fertik and Antonia Stolper · Audrey and Martin D. Gruss · Sharon Weinberg
Illuminary
Cynthia Green Colin and Patricia Green · Laura Scheuer · Abigail and David Schumer · Select Equity Group
Visionary
Laurie Campbell · Amelia Hamilton and Matthew Arndt · Laura Marcon · Dolores M. Smith · Mila Tuttle
Defender
Jill Braufman and Daniel Nir · Anonymous Donor · Caroline Hirsch · Jill Lafer · Kathleen S. McHugh · Dawn Porter and David Graff · Audrey Spiegel · The Stafford Family
Protector
Donna L. Bascom · Dr. Elizabeth Comen and Avi Weitzman · Debra Cooper · Antoinette Danvers, MD · Laurie G. and Jeffrey A. Goldberger · Shirley and Herb Gordon · Stacie Kiratsous, Ph.D. · Raquel and Lear Levin · Cara McCaffrey · Aila Main & Marnie Worth · Linda and Stuart Nelson · Marcie Stuchin · Maria T. Vullo · Ira Waldbaum Family Foundation · Susi Wunsch · Zofnass/Ring Family Fund
2022 EVENT PLANNING COMMITTEE
Julia Adams
Hannah Davis
Amelia Hamilton
Kathleen S. McHugh
Daphne E. Ortiz
Christine C. Quinn
Abigail Schumer
