News Room

Media Contacts

Amaya Smith

Amaya Smith

Position: Vice President for Marketing and Communications
Phone: (202) 986-2600
Email: asmith@nationalpartnership.org
Categories: Media

Amaya Smith is vice president for marketing and communications at the National Partnership for Women & Families. In that role she oversees strategic messaging as well as digital and earned communications around issues important to women and families. These issues include reproductive justice, women’s health care and workplace fairness. Smith works to ensure that stakeholders and the public understand that women’s health and reproductive freedom is inextricably entwined with economic justice. Before joining National Partnership she served as Communications Director and Strategic Advisor to the President, at the AFL-CIO. Prior to joining the AFL-CIO Smith served as a Press Secretary for the American Association for Justice (AAJ). She also served as the South Carolina Press Secretary for the Obama for America campaign during the 2008 Democratic primary.

Smith developed experience working with diverse media outlets and constituencies as a Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee, where she handled press for the women’s, African American, labor, faith, college and youth communities. She got her start in legislative advocacy working for former Congressman Albert R. Wynn, her local representative. She served as a Communications Director for Congressman Wynn for four years and built relationships with Capitol Hill and Washington reporters. Smith is a graduate of American University and is originally from Silver Spring, Md. Her passion for social justice and women’s health comes from a mom who is a retired registered nurse and an eternal activist.

Amaya Smith

Vice President for Marketing and Communications
Llenda Jackson Leslie

Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Position: Senior Communications Specialist
Phone: (202) 986-2600
Email: ljackson-leslie@nationalpartnership.org
Categories: Media

Llenda Jackson-Leslie is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to showcase reproductive health and health care issues.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Llenda was a senior communications associate at McKinney & Associates, where she led campaigns on transformative justice, gender justice and health equity. Previously, she served as director of legislative communications for the American Civil Liberties Union where she managed communications initiatives to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.

A native Detroiter, Llenda served as communications director for Michigan’s largest trial court and marketing director for the Detroit Branch NAACP before moving to Washington, D.C.

Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Senior Communications Specialist
Gail Zuagar

Gail Zuagar

Position: Senior Communications Specialist
Phone: (202) 986-2600
Email: gzuagar@nationalpartnership.org
Categories: Media

Gail Zuagar is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to amplify the organization’s economic justice work to a range of audiences. Prior to joining the National Partnership, Gail developed a passion for combining communications with advocacy and outreach in previous roles at The Education Trust and the National Women’s Law Center.

Gail earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University and her master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their children.

Gail Zuagar

Senior Communications Specialist

For general inquiries, please email press@nationalpartnership.org.

Press Statements

New DOL Proposal to Phase Out Subminimum Wage for Disabled Workers is Long Overdue

New DOL Proposal to Phase Out Subminimum Wage for Disabled Workers is Long Overdue

The Department of Labor's announcement of a proposed rule to eliminate the subminimum wage for disabled workers is an important step to right the wrongs disabled workers have faced for generations and help ensure meaningful inclusion of disabled workers in the labor market.

National Partnership for Women & Families Statement on the 2024 Elections

National Partnership for Women & Families Statement on the 2024 Elections

Our mission at the National Partnership to make concrete improvements in the lives of women and families is not contingent on any one candidate or any one election. We are squarely focused on pursuing the policies that women say they want and need and the policies that can make their lives better, help them navigate work-family conflicts, access reproductive health care, become economically stable, and secure fair pay.

Memo Re: The 2024 Election: Women and Family Issues on the Ballot

Memo Re: The 2024 Election: Women and Family Issues on the Ballot

Across the country women are heading to the polls to vote in one of the most pivotal elections of our time. In addition to voting for candidates, voters will also weigh in on critical ballot initiatives that may expand access to abortion and access to paid sick leave. In the midst of this, we are seeing continued attacks on our democracy and the right to vote – an issue that we know is deeply connected to women's ability to have equity in all aspects of our lives.

New Poll Finds Strong Small Business Support for Paid Family and Medical Leave Policies

New Poll Finds Strong Small Business Support for Paid Family and Medical Leave Policies

A scientific opinion poll released today shows that an overwhelming majority of small companies support a national paid family and medical leave program funded by a combination of employee and employer contributions.

National Partnership for Women & Families’ Staff Ratify First Collective Bargaining Agreement

National Partnership for Women & Families’ Staff Ratify First Collective Bargaining Agreement

The National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) and the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), IFPTE Local 70, are proud to announce the ratification of their first collective bargaining agreement. National Partnership United (NPU), a chapter within NPEU, was formally recognized in January of 2021 and negotiations for a first contract began later that year.

News Coverage

Hurricane Helene Exacerbated Barriers to North Carolina Abortion Access – Rewire News Group

What’s behind the widening gender wage gap in the US? – AP

“The Census Bureau calculates the gender wage gap by comparing only men and women who work year-round in full-time jobs. But a grimmer picture for women emerges from data that includes part-time workers, said Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.”

Hurricane Helene Exacerbated Barriers to North Carolina Abortion Access – Rewire News Group

How Companies Can Improve Paid Leave With New ‘Leading On Leave Index’ – Forbes

“Offering competitive paid leave benefits is becoming a business imperative. But the absence of any ‘standard’ paid leave package, coupled with a lack of benefits transparency, has made it challenging for companies to achieve this goal. To overcome these barriers, the National Partnership for Women & Families has launched a new initiative called the ‘Leading on Leave Index.'”

Hurricane Helene Exacerbated Barriers to North Carolina Abortion Access – Rewire News Group

Latina Equal Pay Day: South Bay rallies to end to pay disparities – ABC7 Bay Area

“‘San Jose, unfortunately, is the epicenter of the wage gap in the entire nation,’ said Gabby Chavez-Lopez, Executive Director of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. ‘Latina workers are paid 33.6 cents on the dollar compared to their white male, non-Hispanic counterparts and what that means is debilitating happening for that individual for families.’ That data comes from a HOPE ESL report and National Partnership for Women and Families.”

Hurricane Helene Exacerbated Barriers to North Carolina Abortion Access – Rewire News Group

Abortion-rights groups are courting Latino voters in Arizona and Florida – AP News

“Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, vice president for health justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, said abortion-rights supporters cannot afford to assume Latino voters do not support abortion rights, especially in majority-Republican Florida, which requires 60% voter support to pass a constitutional amendment.”