Ayana Smith-Kooiman

she/her/hers
Class of 2022
Political Science, American Studies, Legal Studies
Gender Justice

Gender Justice is a nonprofit based in Saint Paul that works to advance gender equity through the law, which means most of their work is done by impact litigation in the Minnesota courts and advocacy in the Minnesota legislature. 

The focus of my project was to help convene the Minnesota coalition of the Proteus Fund’s Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative, which hopes to eliminate the weaponization of religious exemption laws as a means to discriminate against women, LGBTQ+ people, and religious minorities. The Minnesota coalition includes Gender Justice, Jewish Community Action, OutFront Minnesota, and Take Action Minnesota. 

I began my project by synthesizing the four organizations’ current work and the proposed action items written in the grant proposal. I then did background research on the origin and intended purpose of religious freedom law as well as the current right wing religious refusal arguments. In partnership with Advocacy Director Erin Maye Quade and the Advocacy and Engagement Manager Yolanda Burckhardt, we conducted one-on-one meetings with each of the coalition partners, synthesized their statements, and hosted a two-hour meeting of the coalition partners. At the coalition meeting we began strategizing what we should do for the last four to five months of this year before the grant renewal.

I most enjoyed creating a presentation on the history of religious refusal law and the organizations weaponizing it. Although the presentation was not needed for the final iteration of the coalition meeting agenda, it helped me understand the ever-changing nature of nonprofit organizing. Given that nonprofit organizations are forever operating with limited budgets and personnel, being able to adapt strategies swiftly is a skill worth honing.