OUR STAFF
Our staff members are committed to working and acting in the best interest of New Orleans’ communities.
Deon Haywood
Executive Director
For more than 25 years, Deon has worked as a human rights defender and advocate for Black women, working class and low-come women, and LGBTQ communities in the Deep South. As the Executive Director of Women With A Vision (WWAV) in New Orleans, she led the organization after Hurricane Katrina in successfully changing the “crime against nature” statute being used to criminalize street-based sex work, thereby securing the removal of more than 800 people from the Louisiana sex offender registry. Through her relentless advocacy, she has grown WWAV into a leading voice on Black women and criminalization in the American South, advancing community-led policy solutions on the international and national stages and at home in Louisiana. For this work, she has been honored with numerous awards by groups across the United States in recognition of her leadership at the intersection of HIV/AIDS, harm reduction, LGBTQ rights, reproductive justice, anti-criminalization, and ending mass incarceration, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, SisterSong, Ms. Foundation, National Organization of Women (NOW), ACLU Louisiana, the Human Rights Campaign, the Red Door Foundation, Philadelphia FIGHT, Planned Parenthood, Forum for Equality, TheBody.com, BET.com, and Frontline Defender’s Dublin Platform. In 2018, she was appointed to the New Orleans Human Relations Commission to advance this body’s work on Human Rights and Equity.
Shaquita Borden
Director of Research & Evaluation
Shaquita has been with WWAV since 2008. She was born and raised in New Orleans and was prompted, after volunteering with WWAV, to change careers. Shaquita is passionate about working to improve the health of the city’s residents using a participatory approach to understand the structural drivers of women’s health disparities. She earned her M.P.H. from Louisiana State University’s School of Public Health and her B.A. Dillard University, and is working towards her PhD in Health Education and Health Promotion at University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 2013, Shaquita was awarded the Billy R. Cox Endowed Scholarship in recognition of her work on public health issues for the gay, lesbian, bi and trans-gender populations.
Michelle Wiley
Crossroads Case Manager
Michelle is a Mississippi native who relocated to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Michelle has worked over twenty five years in social services, mental health, and community advocacy. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Social Services and minor in Education from University of Southern Mississippi. Before coming to Women with a Vision, Michelle worked as a Case Manager in the medical field assisting individuals with mental disabilities who were not able to receive proper resources to manage daily living. Upon relocating she was hired at Women with a Vision where she oversees our Crossroads Diversion program. She helps to meet the needs of clients and their families by providing case management services, while facilitating group sessions. Michelle works diligently advocating for her clients to get their charges dropped once completing the program. Her passion is making sure they have the resources, proper skills that are needed to cope with the streets of New Orleans.
Raven Frederick
Community Outreach Specialist
Raven is a native of New Orleans with several years experience as a case manager, community health worker, and outreach worker in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. Before coming to WWAV, Raven worked as a community health worker promoting women’s health through education and community resources by working to decrease the infant mortality rate among African-Americans in both Jefferson and Orleans Parish. Raven holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. and a Master’s Degree in Health Service Administration from Strayer University. Raven is a Certified Community Health Worker from Tulane University, and a Certified Medicaid Representative from the Department of Health and Hospitals. Whether helping one child, assisting one women, or strengthening one family through women’s health promotion and prevention activities, Raven is committed to the health and wellbeing of New Orleans families.
Catherine Haywood
Community Health Promoter
A native of New Orleans and a long-time community health advocate, Catherine has worked in health education and community outreach for more than 25 years. She was one of the co-founders of Women With A Vision in 1991. Over the years her work has focused on addressing health disparities among under-served populations in New Orleans, centering on HIV/AIDS, harm reduction, women’s health issues, obesity, and physical activity promotion. Catherine is very passionate about making sure grassroots community members—not just heads of community agencies—are at the table and truly heard when public health research and programs are being designed. Her leadership experience includes heading several national and local committees. She is chair of the Louisiana Community Health Outreach Network (LACHON), a board member of the Louisiana Cancer Control Partnership, a board member of the American Cancer Society’s Circle of Friends for Education and Early-Detection Program, and the Co-Regional Director of the Southern Region for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Community Committee, to name a few. Currently, along with serving as the Community Health Promoter at WWAV, she is the Community Service Program Manager at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Elyse Degree
Data Coordinator
Elyse has joined WWAV family as the data coordinator for Women with a Vision’s Integrated Voter Engagement Program. Elyse is a New Orleans native with experience and knowledge in community outreach, juvenile justice, and case management. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Forensic Science from Loyola University of New Orleans. Elyse’s love for the city of New Orleans, combined with her own experiences as a mother and community servant, fuel her passion for advocacy and outreach for underrepresented communities. Elyse will continue to strive relentlessly for the betterment of marginalized women, their families, and our community.
Jenny Holl
Program Manager
Jenny grew up in San Francisco, but has called New Orleans home since 2016. In her time here, she has worked on various projects aimed at improving access to reproductive health services, ranging from research on abortion restrictions and experiences with care during pregnancy, to reducing financial barriers to emergency contraception and abortion services through local community-based organizations. Previously, she has worked on programs relating to maternal mortality, sex worker rights, and HIV/AIDS. She is excited be joining WWAV as the Ending the Epidemic Program Manager, which will allow her to work with communities across Louisiana to take control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our state. She is committed to finding solutions that allow us to increase access to testing and comprehensive treatment, and that reduce stigma and other barriers to care in order to achieve greater health and well-being. Jenny holds a Master of Public Health, with concentration on Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Population Studies from Emory University in Atlanta and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Charles Haywood
Program Associate
Charles is a native and resident of New Orleans, LA. 2018 marks twenty years of advocacy, community service, social service and prevention/education . Having worked for several CBO’s , health clinics and family support organizations, he has had the opportunity to implement and facilitate focus groups promoting healthy behaviors, provide support systems within the LGBTQ community, provide case management services, and lead peer education projects. He most recently worked as a PrEP Navigator. Charles looks forward to working with WWAV as the Ending The Epidemic Program Associate and the opportunities it provides statewide to create necessary conversations, address stigma and reduce risks within communities that are considered at risk.
Nadia Eskildsen
Harm Reduction Coordinator
Nadia has lived in New Orleans for 13 years. They began their work in social services as an ADL counselor assisting women with substance use disorder, as well as people who were chronically unhoused and experiencing mentally health crises in navigating activities of daily life. Before coming to WWAV, they oversaw the New Orleans Syringe Access Program, providing access to safer drug use materials and low-barrier healthcare resources. Additionally, their focus is on creating community collaborations with multiple public health organizations and city officials to provide support for ongoing harm reduction efforts. Nadia is a passionate community organizer involved in several grassroots political endeavors advocating for the rights and well-being of working class New Orleanians. They are passionate about harm reduction, community organizing, and their cats.
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