User:Justynashley/sandbox

Ricci Joy Levy (Activist)

Ricci Levy has been engaged in sexual freedom activism for more than a decade. After a successful career in corporate America Ms. Levy helped found the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, an organization whose mission is to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right, focused on sexual, gender and family diversity. As the Executive Director and President of both the Foundation and the Federation, she has been instrumental in Woodhull's growing leadership in the sexual freedom movement, including recognition by Proclamation in Washington, DC as the nation’s leading sexual freedom and human rights organization.

Ricci has testified before Congress and has shared the mission of Woodhull in the media, at conferences and in dialogs with legislators and decision makers all over the country. In partnership with The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Levy was a driving force in establishing a sexual freedom track at Creating Change, the largest annual LGBT political conference in the world. In 2006, under Levy's direction, the first Sexual Freedom Institute was offered at the conference. The institute is now an annual event, as is the youth academy for sexual freedom, also launched by Woodhull.

In 2010, under Levy's stewardship, the first national celebration of Sexual Freedom Day was launched at an all-day event held in Washington, DC at the National Press Club. Now in its fourth year, Woodhull's Sexual Freedom Summit, brings together hundreds of scholars, activists and advocates for sexual freedom. The event provides opportunities for collaborative work and conversation in support of our fight for human rights and sexual freedom, and against the denial of our identities, relationships, and families; criminalization of our pleasure; and the stigmatization of our sexual expression.

Woodhull's Family Matters Project was launched by Levy at the 2012 Sexual Freedom Summit. The project, based on United States recognition of the human right to family, establishes those rights, respect and recognition of for all families by working to raise public awareness of family diversity. Elements of the project include research, education and the drafting and promotion of model policies and legislation preventing discrimination based on family form.

Testifying on behalf of Woodhull at various legislative hearings around the country, Ricci has established herself and Woodhull as the "go to" for non-partisan, human rights advocacy, often presenting contentious issues in a way that allows for collaborative dialog intended to build bridges and foster alliances. Woodhull's testimony can be found on a wide variety of human rights and sexual freedom issues, from shackling of incarcerated women in labor to prostitution-free zones, marriage equality to the right to family, and freedom of speech and sexual expression.

Ms. Levy is a professional member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), the Sexuality and Aging Consortium at Widener University, the US Human Rights Network, the Free Expression Network (FEN), and the Council on Contemporary Families. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Free Expression Network (FEN), the Advisory Committee of Causes in Common, the Advocacy Committee of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and is the Chair of the Sexual Rights and Gender Justice Working Group of the US Human Rights Network.