Maya Cherins (she/her) graduated from UW-Madison in May 2022 with majors in Gender and Women’s Studies and Community and Nonprofit Leadership and a certificate in Global Health. After graduating, she took a brief gap year to travel and explore and actually lived in Sydney, Australia for six months with an 86-year-old grandmother! Today, she lives in New York City and is the Senior US Communications Assistant at Guttmacher Institute, an abortion research and policy nonprofit. Maya’s goal is to make their research and policy analyses more accessible and digestible across various digital platforms.
How does Gender and Women’s Studies/LGBTQ+ studies matter in the day-to-day of your professional life?
It is no surprise that my undergraduate experience in Gender and Women’s Studies is so intimately connected to my professional day-to-day. As an advocate for abortion rights, access, and reproductive freedom across the board, I am constantly pulling from my GWS education – Who is the most impacted by abortion bans and restrictions? What does a post-Roe country look like for people of color, queer communities, immigrants? My GWS degree compelled me to enter a field in which I can advocate for abortion rights and access for all.
Do you have advice for students who may share your interests and may want to pursue a similar graduate degree and/or career?
Going to school in Wisconsin really opened my eyes to how inaccessible abortion care is – even before the overturning of Roe. For other students interested in entering a career around reproductive rights and freedom, I recommend you start getting involved as soon as possible. Today, abortion is banned in 13 states and severely restricted in several others and there are so many organizations that need more support and advocacy, especially in Wisconsin and the midwest. I think it is really important to talk to other people in the field, build those connections, and start establishing yourself as a real advocate for change–you’ll find that the “repro” field is very intimately connected.
What do you remember fondly from the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies? Favorite class? Instructor?
It is impossible to pick a favorite class from the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies! I have incredibly fond memories of Dr. Sami Schalk’s “Disability, Gender, and Sexuality” class, as well as Dr. Kate Phelps’ “Framing Fatness” class. In both of these classes, and the entire GWS department, I felt incredibly grateful to be surrounded by like-minded, intelligent, thoughtful classmates. The GWS curriculum pushed me to explore gender and sexuality in ways I had never considered, and I am constantly grateful to my experience and education in the department.
What, if anything, do you wish you could tell your undergraduate self?
A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to visit Madison for a work event to discuss reproductive healthcare access and family planning. The biggest full-circle moment for me was during the event planning, I was reconnected with a friend from the UW’s Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) who I had previously worked with as an undergraduate student. Being a student in the Gender & Women’s Studies department encouraged me to get involved, build relationships and connect with other abortion rights advocates.
To that end, I would tell my undergraduate self to take advantage of the classes and extracurriculars available to you! I would give anything to be able to take an advanced GWS class again and to engage in such thought-provoking discussions. I’d encourage myself to build more relationships with my classmates and my professors – if you’re entering a field so connected to gender and sexuality, these relationships will be so helpful to your career and professional development. Take it all in, and as always, On Wisconsin!