Welcome to our 4th 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 Nina Pullum Rio Salado Audobon Center in South 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: Pamela Merritt, Executive Director of Medical Students for Choice (MSFC)!

Pamela Merritt is a renowned reproductive justice leader, writer, and Executive Director of Medical Students for Choice, a global non-profit empowering future abortion care providers. With over 12 years of grassroots leadership, she co-founded Reproaction, a national direct-action organization dedicated to expanding abortion access and combating systemic oppression.

Her distinguished career includes pivotal advocacy roles at Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri and Progress Missouri. A proud Midwesterner, Pamela understands firsthand how a shortage of trained providers severely impacts healthcare access.

An influential voice in feminist media, she has contributed to outlets like The Guardian and Rewire News Group. Pamela leverages her organizing and communications expertise to dismantle reproductive oppression, advance healthcare access, and cultivate tomorrow's physicians committed to providing abortion care.

************************

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