Meredith S. Hicks is a passionate advocate for adolescent sexual health and rights. While working at Advocates for Youth in Washington, D.C. she led a youth organizing initiative for sex education policy change at the state and local level. She supported several statewide campaigns that were successful in passing and implementing state legislation, ousting a school district's abstinence-only-until-marriage program, and challenging the culture around sex and sexuality. Prior to her work at Advocates, Meredith contributed to federal advocacy campaigns on reproductive and sexual health issues as a Legislative Assistant at the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Meredith has been involved in religious organizing and engaged her church community in service and advocacy for Gulf Coast renewal and the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign. She also served as a board member of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Meredith studied Sociology and Women's Studies and was a leader in the student-run sexual health organization, Sex Out Loud, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health degree at the University of Minnesota and is focusing her studies on youth development. She is also serving as a fellow in the Leadership Education In Adolescent Health (LEAH) Fellowship funded by the Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center. Meredith loves cross-country skiing, biking around Minneapolis, and cooking and baking for friends and family.