Our Bodies Ourselves Website Reveal Party

October 11, 2024

Members of the Our Bodies Ourselves Community celebrating the relaunch of the website on September 26, 2024. From back row, left to right: Program Director Laura Prieto, Founder Sally Whelan, Founder Elizabeth MacMahon-Herrera, Founder Joan Ditzion, Board Chair Diana Namumbejja Abwoye, Board Member Cristina Alonso, Founder Judy Norsigian. Front row, l to r: Program Associate Grace Koch, Web Manager Kiki Zeldes, Founder Norma Meras Swenson, Executive Director Amy Agigian, and Content Developer and Writer Jonese Austin.

At Suffolk University on September 26, we joyfully celebrated the public launch of our redesigned website! The hybrid New Website Reveal Party gathered guests from the many parts of the Our Bodies Ourselves network, from founders to students. About 50 people joined us in person on a stormy Boston evening, while dozens more zoomed in from as far away as Ireland to help mark the occasion. Speakers included:

Amy Agigian, Jonese Austin, Grace Koch, and Laura Prieto from the Our Bodies Ourselves Today team at Suffolk University
Edie Sparks, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Suffolk University
Lizzy Ajayi, Suffolk University summer intern
Rebecca Kling representing the OBOS Today Leadership Council
Dior Vargas, content expert chair
Karen Mazer, donor and volunteer
Diana Namumbejja Abwoye, president of the OBOS Board of Directors
And OBOS founders Joan Ditzion, Norma Meras Swenson, and Kiki Zeldes

The range of speakers reflected the many parts of Our Bodies Ourselves Today -- the different ways that hundreds of people contribute to the website and its mission. Each spoke about what they do on the Our Bodies Ourselves Today team and about what they find most exciting about the redesigned website.

Why do we still need OBOS Today? How does this new website continue the work and legacy of OBOS? Why is it important within the current landscape?

Diana's remarks, for instance, noted the interconnections between knowledge and advocacy. “We have the activism… in addition to the information. And I’d like for us to continue to ensure that the access to this kind of information remains, so my girls when they become teenagers, they can Google a hymen, and feel comfortable doing it.”

With special thanks to Annamarana Roberts-Briggs, Brynn Buckley, and Aaradhana Joshi who worked behind the scenes, and at the welcome table, to ensure the festivities went smoothly.

Our new look, expanded content, and improved accessibility – with kudos to designer Eva Parker Passalacqua – awaits your exploration. (Please send us any feedback you have about the new site.)

Watch the full recording of the celebration below!