Melissa Taylor: Women in Advocacy #WomensHistoryMonth

WISH Alumna, Melissa Taylor is a strong and passionate advocate having been involved in numerous advocacy efforts including JusticeVotesNY, the Justice 4 Women Task Force, and #TurnOnTheTAPNY! Recently, she served as a team leader for our #TurnOnTheTAPNY Virtual Advocacy Day and is involved with a program to start her own business! To learn more about Melissa and her journey, read below! 

What made you want to become a WISH advocate?

I had a passion to become a strong advocate for people with similar experiences to mine. I was very troubled as a child, but no one ever listened to what I really needed. Becoming an advocate for myself and my community means that I am able to do what it takes to push for the needs of women like me who have been silenced and pushed aside.

How did learning to advocate alongside other justice-involved women make you feel?

I felt empowered. I started to feel as though I could really make a difference, that myself and the other women I was learning and growing with had real power. Becoming more educated on how our public policies work and how we can play a role in changing them helped me to build my self-confidence and autonomy.

Most importantly, I loved the connection I felt to the other women in WISH. Sometimes you feel really alone in your experience of being a woman with justice involvement, but our sisterhood was tight-nit and fostered amazing growth and learning. I felt like I could lean on them for support and also ask for the resources I needed to achieve my goals.

Why it's important that women become advocates change makers?

Women are some of the most victimized groups in our country. Not only do we deal with the inherent systems of oppression, but we also face discrimination because of  our gender. Additionally, women are the fastest growing population that have been impacted by the justice system. So it’s important that women become advocates and change makers because we have direct experience. We know what we need. Plus, we have the unique ability to take what we learn and pass it on to our families and communities and break the chain of oppression and incarceration.

What would you say to other justice-impacted women who want to get involved?

I would say that this is a great opportunity and you should take it. With WISH, you’ll enjoy your work and you’ll have the opportunity to follow your passions. We need more justice-involved women to become advocates because we are the experts in our own experiences and our own needs. And justice-involved women coming together in advocacy, learning, growth, and community are unstoppable.