Jasmine Benjamin, Secretary

Erika Chavez

Amanda DePalma Gable

Darci Flynn

Anne Gottschalk

Michael Kiser

Samantha Lee

Michelle Roseborough

Gillian Shapiro, Treasurer

Emily Werth, President

Our Staff

Sheerine Alemzadeh

she/her(s)

Co-founder, Co-director

The proud daughter of Iranian immigrants, Sheerine works to transform responses to gender-based violence in marginalized communities as an activist, litigator, thought leader, and organizer.

Her career has focused on building bridges between social movements, applying intersectional approaches to human rights activism, and promoting shared leadership as a path to sustained social progress. 

Karla Altmayer

she/her(s) or they/them/their(s)

Co-founder, Co-director

Raised on Chicago’s Southside by a single-mother from Mexico, Karla is driven by her family’s experience with poverty, sexual violence, racism, and incarceration to dismantle the cultural conditions enabling gender-based violence. As an attorney, she developed an innovative and nationally recognized promotora model so survivors could organize and build solidarity. As co-director of Healing to Action, Karla continues to collaborate with survivors, building their individual and collective power.

Jagoda Rachwal

Community Organizer

A lifelong CPS student and first-gen daughter, Jagoda's work explores how safe and affirming learning environments can reconnect individuals with their own agency and encourage meaningful conversations about how to co-create the world we want to see. This includes implementing comprehensive sex education in all Chicago Public Schools by envisioning this education as an intergenerational tool for sensitive and challenging conversations about collective liberation. Her previous experience supporting educational justice efforts inform how survivor-led campaigns at Healing to Action prioritize community knowledge above all else.

Megan Selby

she/her(s)

Campaign Organizer

With over eight years experience teaching comprehensive sexual health education in Chicago Public Schools and community organizations, Megan was thrilled to join the HTA team as the SexEd Works Campaign Organizer. She connects with Healing to Action's survivor-led work through her experience with Chicago-based prisoner solidarity projects that see prisoners and formerly incarcerated people as survivors of systemic violence and experts in the struggles to end the violence of policing and prisons.

London Woolman

she/her(s)

Operations Manager

A Nebraska-native, London is a leader and former entrepreneur with more than 15 years experience in shared services and operations management. London's previous experience includes nonprofit management in LGBTQ+ spaces, serving individuals living with HIV and AIDS, and work  as a consultant helping small business owners and nonprofit leaders establish efficient and progressive administrative processes. At HTA, London is responsible for the oversight of all administrative processes including financial management, human resources, communications, and compliance.