Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Announce New Staff, Grow Team Ahead of Key Legal, Electoral, and Policy Battles

October 6, 2021
Brandon Richards, Director of Communications
[email protected]

 

SACRAMENTO— Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) announced new hires across its Communications and Campaigns team, Legal team, and Legislative team. Xenia Vidal is joining PPAC’s Communications and Campaigns team as External Affairs Coordinator, Symphoni Barbee is joining PPAC’s Legislative team as Legislative Assistant, Zaire Bailey is joining PPAC’s Legal team as Legal and Policy Assistant, and Sofia Pedroza as Legal Fellow.

“We are so excited to welcome our new team members to Planned Parenthood,” said Jodi Hicks, President/CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “These new additions allow PPAC to expand our capabilities and services as we head into a pivotal moment for sexual and reproductive health care, including access to abortion. PPAC’s teams will continue to work towards health equity for all people who call California home, or travel from out-of-state seeking care here. California’s leadership in this space has never been more important and our teams will continue to work with state leadership and key organizations to make sure our state makes the necessary progress as urgently as possible.”

Xenia Vidal joins PPAC from Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles, where they served as the Public Affairs Specialist. Xenia has committed their career to ensure a more equitable state through their academic research, community organizing, and involvement in local politics in California. Xenia is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, and a lifelong Angeleno.

Symphoni Barbee joins PPAC from the California State Senate where she served as a Senate Fellow to Senator Nancy Skinner, where she worked on California’s “Momnibus Act” that was recently signed into law and led a large coalition around maternal care and services included in this year’s historic budget. Prior, Barbee served as a Panetta Institute Congressional Intern with Congressman Ami Bera’s office. Barbee is a graduate of Sonoma State University, where she studied Political Science and graduated Cum Laude.

Zaire Bailey joins PPAC from the California State Senate where she served as a California State Senate Fellow, working for Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg. Prior, she worked for a social justice think tank in Atlanta, Georgia called “Georgia Stand-up.” Bailey is a graduate of Spelman College where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Most recently, she studied American Politics in a program at the University of California at San Diego focusing on race, ethnicity, and gender identity politics. Throughout her career, her work has focused on Black women’s impact on political mobilization efforts in America.

Sofia Pedroza joins PPAC from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, where she specialized in Critical Race Studies. While in law school, she resurrected UCLA’s chapter of “If/When/How” to work with other student orgs to help law students in all subdisciplines adopt a framework amenable to reproductive justice. Prior, Pedroza completed her MA in Sociology at University of California at Irvine, where she studied with Michele Goodwin and wrote her thesis on the political context surrounding doctor’s decisions to provide abortion.

 

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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the state public policy office representing California’s seven separately incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates. Through advocacy and electoral action, PPAC promotes sound public policy in areas of sexual and reproductive health care and sex education.