Reimagine Freedom is a new division of the Young Women’s Freedom Center that serves as the umbrella organization providing back-end infrastructure for YWFC and fiscal sponsorship of Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition and Beloved Youth – organizations working toward a shared political vision of realizing our Freedom Charter.
RF was born out of 30 years of work toward ending the criminalization and incarceration of women and trans people of all genders. And, the realization that in order to actualize our Freedom Charter and realize liberation for all, we needed a viable model for community ownership, economic power, and dispersed leadership.
Meet the Team
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Meet the Team
Jessica is a social entrepreneur and movement leader with a focus on building the resources and structures required to realize liberation.
She believes deeply that those most impacted must be at the forefront of decision-making about their own lives and communities and has spent most of her career developing programming and strategies to support this.
Jessica is the previous executive director of Young Women’s Freedom Center – YWFC, where she supported the organization’s growth from 5 to 45 staff members and 1 to 5 locations and increased the annual budget by over 1700%. During her tenure at YWFC, Jessica also drafted and launched a Freedom Charter with a base of over 400 formerly incarcerated women, young women, and trans people of all genders.
She is driven in her work by her experiences navigating the juvenile justice system as a young person and poverty, houselessness, and intimate partner violence as a single mother.
Jessica was the 2019 – 2021 Leading Edge Fellow. And is experienced in supporting organizations to strategize to better serve women and girls at the intersections of violence, poverty, racial justice, incarceration/ re-entry, and workforce development.
As the president of Reimagine Freedom, Jessica is tasked with holding and nurturing the vision of the Freedom Charter, and mobilizing the resources necessary to fuel the work and ensure our movement is successful and sustainable.
She/Her
Jessica Nowlan
President
Thabile is a South African native head of communications and narrative strategist with extensive experience working with social justice organizations at the intersection of media, organizing, and advocacy.
They have worked at some of the world’s top agencies, including Ogilvy and Publicis (MSL Group), managing blue chip financial services accounts and campaigns.
Having survived poverty and a traumatic childhood, Thabile believes in healing as a powerful resource for freedom. They are driven to this work by their hope for a world where everyone is free and has equitable access to opportunities for healing and self-actualization.
As Chief Communications and Strategy Officer at Reimagine Freedom, Thabile is responsible for high-level communications, narrative, and project strategy.
They/Them
Thabile Makue
Chief Communications & Strategy Officer
Layla Abdul-Haqq was born in Chico, CA but moved to the Bay Area as a teenager in pursuit of better opportunities. As a child, Layla experienced years of poverty and discrimination which now fuels her passion for youth advocacy. In 2018, Layla earned a Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from UC Berkeley where she primarily focused on Black Geographies and the ways in which Black and Brown youth experience environmental change. As Chief Executive Assistant at Reimagine Freedom, she combines her professional experience in office management and administration, with her lived experience and formal education to support the needs of a mission-driven organization she can align with.
She/Her
Layla Abdul-Haqq
Chief Executive Assistant
Reimagine Freedom is a new division of the Young Women’s Freedom Center that serves as the umbrella organization providing back-end infrastructure for YWFC and fiscal sponsorship of Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition and Beloved Youth – organizations working toward a shared political vision of realizing our Freedom Charter.
RF was born out of 30 years of work toward ending the criminalization and incarceration of women and trans people of all genders. And, the realization that in order to actualize our Freedom Charter and realize liberation for all, we needed a viable model for community ownership, economic power, and dispersed leadership.
Meet the Team
She/Her
Jessica Nowlan
President
Jessica is a social entrepreneur and movement leader with a focus on building the resources and structures required to realize liberation.
She believes deeply that those most impacted must be at the forefront of decision-making about their own lives and communities and has spent most of her career developing programming and strategies to support this.
Jessica is the previous executive director of Young Women’s Freedom Center – YWFC, where she supported the organization’s growth from 5 to 45 staff members and 1 to 5 locations and increased the annual budget by over 1700%. During her tenure at YWFC, Jessica also drafted and launched a Freedom Charter with a base of over 400 formerly incarcerated women, young women, and trans people of all genders.
She is driven in her work by her experiences navigating the juvenile justice system as a young person and poverty, houselessness, and intimate partner violence as a single mother.
Jessica was the 2019 – 2021 Leading Edge Fellow. And is experienced in supporting organizations to strategize to better serve women and girls at the intersections of violence, poverty, racial justice, incarceration/ re-entry, and workforce development.
As the president of Reimagine Freedom, Jessica is tasked with holding and nurturing the vision of the Freedom Charter, and mobilizing the resources necessary to fuel the work and ensure our movement is successful and sustainable.
They/Them
Thabile Makue
Chief Communications & Strategy Officer
Thabile is a South African native head of communications and narrative strategist with extensive experience working with social justice organizations at the intersection of media, organizing, and advocacy.
They have worked at some of the world’s top agencies, including Ogilvy and Publicis (MSL Group), managing blue chip financial services accounts and campaigns.
Having survived poverty and a traumatic childhood, Thabile believes in healing as a powerful resource for freedom. They are driven to this work by their hope for a world where everyone is free and has equitable access to opportunities for healing and self-actualization.
As Chief Communications and Strategy Officer at Reimagine Freedom, Thabile is responsible for high-level communications, narrative, and project strategy.
She/Her
Layla Abdul-Haqq
Chief Executive Assistant
Layla Abdul-Haqq was born in Chico, CA but moved to the Bay Area as a teenager in pursuit of better opportunities. As a child, Layla experienced years of poverty and discrimination which now fuels her passion for youth advocacy. In 2018, Layla earned a Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from UC Berkeley where she primarily focused on Black Geographies and the ways in which Black and Brown youth experience environmental change. As Chief Executive Assistant at Reimagine Freedom, she combines her professional experience in office management and administration, with her lived experience and formal education to support the needs of a mission-driven organization she can align with.