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Oakland |
Lead Organizer

Mel Siltanen

She/Her

Mel is a systems-impacted single mother of two who has had to navigate the system and homelessness. Mel believes deeply in the knowledge of young folks by way of their experiences. Her work is to hold space where young cis and trans women can be deliberate in hoaning in on and lifting up their strengths, being heard as a practice of healing, and organizing their thoughts as way to step into their power, get loud and claim space in this world where they have been historically positioned to have no power and remain silenced.

Mel first came to YWFC in 2015, is a founding member of the Sister Warrior Freedom Coalition, and started employment with the Center in October 2019.

mel@youngwomenfree.org
Meet More Team Members

Emily Wonder

Previous Staff Member

Marilyn Perez

Next Staff Member
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#FREEDOM2030
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Locations
Contra Costa County

tumani [at] youngwomenfree.org
(510) 334-2629

Los Angeles

lareferrals [at] youngwomenfree.org
(415) 703-8800 ext 215

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Oakland

oakreferrals [at] youngwomenfree.org
(510) 350-7411

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San Francisco

Headquarters
832 Folsom Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94107
sfreferrals [at] youngwomenfree.org
(415) 703-8800

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Santa Clara County

sccreferrals [at] youngwomenfree.org
(415) 703-8800 ext 216

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YWFC in the News

How Black History Paves the Way for a Just Black Future

YWFC February 1, 2023

California Looks to Santa Clara County Model to Stop Incarceration of Girls

YWFC January 27, 2023

CA State Senator Dave Cortese Drafts Bill to Allow Judicial Review of Decades-Old Sentences

YWFC January 24, 2023

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