Welcome to our 3rd Annual Gala Page. We are excited to share our work, celebrate another year of service, and recognize our community partners and champions!

Desert Star Institute for Family Planning is a Black Woman founded and led 501c3 organization working to advance Reproductive Justice in Arizona and beyond.

This year we will welcome you indoors to the beautiful 435 Collective near Downtown Phoenix.

We will welcome VIP guests at 5pm for an exclusive cocktail hour. General Admission begins at 6pm.

We are very excited to welcome our Featured Speaker: Fajer Saeed Ebrahim, Senior Director of Policy at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)!

Fajer drives research and advocacy initiatives to advance reproductive justice for AANHPI women and gender-expansive communities nationwide. With deep expertise at the intersection of reproductive rights, immigrant justice, and gender equity, Fajer has built a career shaping transformative policy solutions and forging powerful coalitions.

Previously, she served as Senior Advisor at the Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access, leading efforts to strengthen partnerships and expand contraceptive equity. At the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, she advanced strategic recommendations to improve federal responsiveness to community needs.

Earlier in her career, Fajer served as Policy Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights and Legal Voice, where she partnered with state advocates to defend abortion access, expand healthcare for immigrants, and combat gender-based violence on college campuses.

She currently serves as Vice Chair of Board of Directors for the Guttmacher Institute and holds a J.D. and M.S.W. from Washington University in St. Louis.

Chef Alejandre Richards of The Tie Kitchen, Tucson, AZ is back serving up delectable Hors d’oeuvres that will stay on your mind and heart until next year's gala!

Alejandre Richards is a multifaceted local celebrity. She is a chef, a media consultant, an entrepreneur and an author of seven cookbooks. The owner of The Tie Kitchen, she embraces a love of food, a keen eye for creativity and a commitment to cooking well. In addition to catering, The Tie Kitchen offers a “Cooking with Friends Experience”, in which five to 10 friends can create delicious dishes as well as fond memories together. Visit TheTieKitchen to schedule your experience.

Follow The Tie Kitchen on Facebook.

The fabulous Felicia Fefe Minor is back as Emcee for the event!

Felicia is a vibrant and talented drag queen, entertainer, co-host, producer, and social media guru. She has won various titles and awards and in addition to her incredible talent on stage, Felicia also co-hosts and produces the popular YouTube show, “Let’s Have a Fefe” with Arizona’s Most Decorated King, Freddy Prinze Charming. This fun and off-kilter show features special guests and is broadcasted live on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. MST/Arizona on http://www.youtube.com/letshaveafefe. When she’s not entertaining, Felicia loves spending time with her husband, family, friends, and pets.

More about Felicia

Our mission is to create equitable access to reproductive and sexual health care while centering Black and Indigenous people of color.

Our work is rooted in 4 main priorities:

Provide a steadfast resource for comprehensive family planning, gender affirming, and sexual health care, and a safe and welcoming space for non-English speaking people, queer, transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and young people. Desert Star Health Justice Clinic
Train the next generation of abortion providers within the Reproductive Justice framework that focuses on the whole person, providing a unique understanding of the barriers historically marginalized people may encounter in medical communities where they've felt excluded. Next Generation Abortion Providers Program
Deliver educational content and programs that help people from historically marginalized communities access reproductive health care and exercise autonomy over their bodies and lives. Doula Training, Long-Term Birth Control, Patient Assistance for Abortion Care
Engage, build relationships, and mobilize local policy makers, advocates, and community members directly impacted by harmful policies towards and Arizona that provides the conditions for people to freely decide when and how to form families and raise children. Arizona Proactive Reproductive Justice Alliance, Empower Alliance for Reproductive Justice

We envision a world where people exercise bodily autonomy, decide whether or not to bear children, and raise families in safe, sustainable communities free from oppression and violence.

Reproductive Justice is for Everybody

Leaning Into Our Power to Resist