Celebrating Women Who are Changing the World
Women’s Day is a day dedicated to all women; a day rooted in creating a more equitable world.
One that recognizes the intersections of power and marginalization and seeks to not only raise awareness, but to spark change that radiates throughout the year. There are many women in history who have been trailblazers to the feminist movement, however, we want to touch on some of our current trailblazers, especially those in the sex education and sexuality field.
Anarella Martínez-Madrid
Our first is our founder Anarella, she is a trailblazer in her creation and execution of Sex School, an ethical explicit sex education hub. Naturally good at connecting people and facilitating artistic expression, her talent for creating spaces for dialogue, reflection, and experimentation is indisputable!
Long before getting started with Sex School, her artistic work has always been about sex, relationships and the emotional processes that happen within them, a series of factors that progressively landed her into sex positive spaces and mindsets without any regrets.
Sex School is the holistic approach to sexual education and pleasure, with each episode being a collective effort from a team of sex educators, sex workers and performers, and sex therapists. Leaving space for everyone to contribute, while valuing the lived experiences of sex workers as much as the academic experiences. Presenting unbiased, accurate and inclusive sex education in an approachable manner, that allows audiences to relate to the realities shown through each episode.
Melissa Pintor Carnagey, LBSW
Founder & Lead Educator of @sexpositive_families. Melissa, a Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican Austin,
Texas based sexuality educator and licensed social worker who believes that all children deserve holistic, comprehensive, and shame-free sexuality education so they can live informed, empowered, and safer lives. Melissa confidently believes that work starts in the homes of families, and has stepped forward in creating a space to talk openly about the various aspects of sexual health.
Elsa Viegas
Co-founder and Chief Design Officer of Bijoux Indiscrets a woman-founded the company of intimate wellness based on evolving sexuality. Founded on the notion that when you feel good, you enjoy twice as much, intimate cosmetics, pleasure toys and empowering lingerie accessories created to make the ordinary feel extraordinary.
Elsa believes that pleasure should be ruled by no one but ourselves starting with self-love, self-
respect, self-knowledge and self-acceptance. All my designs have a mission: to give women the right tools to explore, own and enjoy their pleasure. It is time to reclaim our pleasure back!
Reba Corrine Thomas
Reba aka Reba the diva is the founder of Sexpert Consultants LLC. A network that is dedicated to bridging the adult sexual health education gap by creating fun, pleasure-positive learning environments for adults to explore sensuality, increase confidence and enhance intimate experiences. Reba advocates for pleasure and is a trailblazer in creating pleasure focused and playful learning environments!
Erika Lust
Award winning erotic film director, screenwriter and producer. Lust has pioneered the feminist pornography movement as well as been a strong advocate of holistic sex education for all.
She has no issue with facing the harsh realities of the sexuality field, and confronting them head on to spark change and conversation around equity and feminism.
Kali Sudhra
Kali (she/they/ellx) is an activist, writer, performer and educator, born in Tkaronto, unceded
Indigenous territory in the settler-colonial state of Canada. She is dedicated to dismantling
structures of white supremacy within feminism, and directly challenge gatekeeping of feminist
spaces within porn and sex worker circles. The main focus of her work is exploring and
presenting dissident sexuality, defying white-ableist-cis-heteronormativity by using porn and various forms of sex work as a medium.
Stephanie Zapata
Steph is a proud Bronx-born- Boricua sex educator & anti-oppression consultant. She comes to you with nearly a decade experience in the field and is no stranger to the fight for sexual/reproductive freedom in some of the most marginalized communities.
She pursued her passion for gender & sexual visibility in education. While doing that work,
Stephanie realized that conventional sex education disregarded the needs of system-impacted communities – Black, Latinx, low-income, and LGBTQ communities especially. She also realized how crucial it is for health education to be centered around sexual/reproductive liberation, not just prevention.
Dr. Bianca I Laureano
Bianca I Laureano is an award-wining educator, curriculum writer, facilitator, and sexologist.
She is a Foundress of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), The LatiNegrxs
Project, ANTE UP! Virtual Freedom Professional Development School for Justice Workers, and hosts LatinoSexuality.com. She has written several curricula that focus on communities of color: What’s the REAL DEAL about Love and Solidarity? (2015) and Communication MixTape: Speak On It Vol 1. (2017) and wrote the sexual and reproductive justice discussion guide for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene published in 2018. Bianca has been on the board of CLAGS, the LGBTQ Center at CUNY, The Black Girl Project, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. She resides in Oakland, CA. She is the Lead Educator for the Netflix film Crip Camp (2020) and led the efforts to create a curriculum that is rooted in disability justice practice, self-determination, and social-emotional learning competences
