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Cherisse ScottFounder and CEO
Cherisse Scott has worked as an educator, advocate and activist in Reproductive Justice for 19 years. At the time of seeking reproductive healthcare, Ms. Scott was misled and misinformed by a crisis pregnancy center posing as an abortion clinic. The trauma of this experience allowed her to see first-hand how many Black and other disenfranchised women, girls, and femmes are manipulated & misinformed and need unhindered access to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education. And supplemental social and medical support to make knowledgeable decisions about their bodies, reproductive and sexual health. Recognizing how a person's life can positively change when they are empowered with access and information about their reproductive and sexual health, Ms. Scott began advocating for reproductive and sexual health and justice in 2005.
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Currently, SisterReach is the only Reproductive Justice organization in Tennessee. But the impact and culture shift leadership of SisterReach has transformed the work, lens, and approach of all TN advocates in the reproductive health and rights spaces, and those adjacent to their work. The work of SisterReach now reaches local, state, regional, national and international levels. In the fall of 2022, SisterReach announced the opening of their second location of SisterReach in Chicago, IL. Again, Ms. Scott's visionary leadership met the challenge of realigning, redefining, and reimagining reproductive justice in a post Roe America.
Cherisse is a highly sought out public speaker on Reproductive Justice and other human rights issues. She diligently works with state and national partners to bring awareness and connect the intersections of human rights injustices experienced by vulnerable people across the southeast, the Midwest, and nationally. Some of the notable works of SisterReach, under Ms. Scott's leadership includes their 2015 research findings on the need for comprehensive sexuality education for southern youth of color; their Pro-Woman Billboard campaign in opposition to anti-abortion billboards erected in Memphis targeting Black men to divide the Black family. In 2016, Ms. Scott presented to the United Nations regarding the impact of the fetal assault law on TN women. SisterReach's work on the fetal assault law led to a victory of defeating HB 1660 which criminalized mothers struggling with substance use disorder.
As a bible-belt based human rights organization, SisterReach intentionally works with interfaith laity and leadership locally, and across the country. And in 2015, launched their Faith & Advocacy training which trains interfaith laity, leaders, and advocates about reproductive justice at the intersection of other human rights issues as a tool to organize and mobilize against harmful Christian Extremism & Fascism. Ms. Scott is featured in numerous publications, was featured in NBCNews #31DaysofFeminism campaign and was a Rockwood Institute Fellow in 2016. Ms. Scott and the work of SisterReach is featured in the January 2018 edition of O Magazine, recognized by Essence Magazine as one of their 2018 Woke 100, and she is a sought out national speaker on reproductive justice and other human rights violations experienced by vulnerable Tennesseans and residents across the southeast. Ms. Scott is an ordained minister, an independent artist and songwriter, poet, and proud Black mother. Cherisse's values centers two sentiments which guide her life and work: She believes that all people deserve to live in abundance as expressed in the biblical scripture, John 10:10; and Dr. King's statement that "we are not free until all of us are free."
Visit cherissescott.com to learn more.
Cherisse is a highly sought out public speaker on Reproductive Justice and other human rights issues. She diligently works with state and national partners to bring awareness and connect the intersections of human rights injustices experienced by vulnerable people across the southeast, the Midwest, and nationally. Some of the notable works of SisterReach, under Ms. Scott's leadership includes their 2015 research findings on the need for comprehensive sexuality education for southern youth of color; their Pro-Woman Billboard campaign in opposition to anti-abortion billboards erected in Memphis targeting Black men to divide the Black family. In 2016, Ms. Scott presented to the United Nations regarding the impact of the fetal assault law on TN women. SisterReach's work on the fetal assault law led to a victory of defeating HB 1660 which criminalized mothers struggling with substance use disorder.
As a bible-belt based human rights organization, SisterReach intentionally works with interfaith laity and leadership locally, and across the country. And in 2015, launched their Faith & Advocacy training which trains interfaith laity, leaders, and advocates about reproductive justice at the intersection of other human rights issues as a tool to organize and mobilize against harmful Christian Extremism & Fascism. Ms. Scott is featured in numerous publications, was featured in NBCNews #31DaysofFeminism campaign and was a Rockwood Institute Fellow in 2016. Ms. Scott and the work of SisterReach is featured in the January 2018 edition of O Magazine, recognized by Essence Magazine as one of their 2018 Woke 100, and she is a sought out national speaker on reproductive justice and other human rights violations experienced by vulnerable Tennesseans and residents across the southeast. Ms. Scott is an ordained minister, an independent artist and songwriter, poet, and proud Black mother. Cherisse's values centers two sentiments which guide her life and work: She believes that all people deserve to live in abundance as expressed in the biblical scripture, John 10:10; and Dr. King's statement that "we are not free until all of us are free."
Visit cherissescott.com to learn more.
Career highlights
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