As our Safe Cleaning Fellow, Sofia spearheaded a redesign of Weave’s Green Cleaning Party program, helping modernize the curriculum and educational resources for community hosts. 

Drawing from the latest research on household cleaning products and health, Sofia developed a comprehensive Green Cleaning Party Host Guide featuring interactive activities that spark meaningful conversations about the health impacts of household cleaners, fragrance ingredients, and common misconceptions about cleaning. The guide empowers participants to identify chemicals of concern, make informed purchasing decisions, create their own DIY cleaning products, and discover meaningful ways to take action and get involved. 

In addition to redesigning the program, Sofia hosted a successful Green Cleaning Party at Amherst College, bringing conversations about healthier homes and safer products to her fellow students. Her work has laid the foundation for the next generation of Green Cleaning Parties across the country. Check out our Green Cleaning Party program and explore our newly updated green cleaning resources, including a blog post by Sofia. 

As our Denver-based Education & Advocacy Fellow, Bella helped grow Weave’s community presence by representing the organization at events across the Denver area. Through tabling, community education, and outreach, she raised awareness about harmful chemicals in everyday products and promoted initiatives like Vaginal Health Week. Check out Weave in the World featuring Bella to see how she brought Weave’s mission into communities across Denver. 

Bella was also instrumental in finalizing Weave’s new Menstrual & Intimate Care Workshop, designed to help communities better understand vaginal health, menstrual and intimate care products, ingredient safety, and opportunities for advocacy. She helped develop the curriculum, organize educational resources, and pilot workshop activities to ensure the content is engaging, accessible, and community centered. 

We’re excited to launch the workshop in the coming months—subscribe to our newsletter to stay tuned for the official launch! 

As our Senior Fellow, Zari provided leadership and mentorship across the fellowship program. Throughout the year, she facilitated monthly cohort meetings, supported fellowship administration, and fostered collaboration among fellows, helping build a strong and connected cohort. 

Zari supported leadership development initiatives for Weave Fellows by organizing a panel featuring experts from across the environmental health field. She also connected Weave fellows with fellows from WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Black Women for Wellness, creating valuable opportunities for peer learning, networking, and collaboration. 

Drawing on her expertise in endocrinology, Zari deepened Weave’s understanding of how endocrine health intersects with harmful chemical exposures, bringing valuable scientific insight to our campaigns and educational initiatives. 

Watch Zari’s presentation on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to learn more about how these chemicals affect our health and why they matter for environmental health advocacy.

Working alongside Weave’s Director of Science & Research, Alex Scranton, Swati spearheaded an advocacy project focused on the synthetic fragrance ingredient Lilial (Butylphenyl Methylpropional), a chemical linked to reproductive toxicity. Although Lilial has been banned in the European Union due to concerns about its reproductive health effects, it remains present in hundreds of personal care products sold in the United States. 

As part of her project, Swati analyzed data from the California Safe Cosmetics Database to identify more than 1,500 products containing Lilial. She then researched cosmetic and personal care companies to determine which had reformulated products to remove Lilial for the European market while continuing to sell versions containing the ingredient in the United States. Her research highlights disparities in product safety standards across global markets and underscores the need for stronger protections for U.S. consumers. 

Check out the webinar, The Hidden Toxic in Your Cosmetics Lilial in Fragrance, co-presented by Swati to learn more about the health risks associated with Lilial and the importance of ingredient transparency. Stay tuned—Swati also has a series of blog posts coming to Voices News soon!