We’re excited to welcome Dena Zaldúa to the Weave team as our Senior Director of Development! Get to know a little more about our new team member.

1. What are you most excited about in joining Weave?

I’m excited to be joining a team that is part of the movement for health justice, which, of course, means not just health for humans, but also health for our precious planet. In many ways, this work is more critical than ever in 2026 and beyond. We are witnessing, in real time, the relentless dismantling of environmental legal protections that have been in place for decades. What an honor to be part of the team at Weaving Voices that is doing the important work of standing up for and protecting our bodies and our planet, even when the powers that be will not.

And speaking of the team, I am excited to join this tiny-but-mighty group of bright and brilliant people who, among many other things, understand the deeply intersectional nature of justice work.

Last, but certainly not least, I am also really looking forward to getting to know Weaving Voices’ donors and supporters, the true champions of this work. If you’re reading this and would like to connect, I hope you’ll reach out to me at denaz@weavingvoices.org. I would love to hear your “Weaving Voices story”!

2. What inspired you to work in development and fundraising?

I got my start in nonprofit fundraising 26 years ago at an LGBTQ community foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I was hired as a receptionist and, shortly after, began helping with some of the administrative aspects of its development work. After months of getting to work with donors each day, I realized, “Hey, this is work that I not only enjoy, but am good at, and this is work that nearly every nonprofit needs done.”

I used to always say, I may never become an attorney or a doctor doing more hands-on justice work, but I can absolutely help keep the lights on and the good work going. For me, raising funds to support the movement for justice is one of my most important roles in the movement, and it’s how I am able to sleep at night.

3. What’s something you enjoy doing outside of work?

I live right by the Willamette River in Oregon, and I love getting outside with my dogs and just being in and with the abundant nature that is at my doorstep. I am also an energy healer and witch, and I’m passionate about alternative somatic modalities that can bring health and wellness to our bodies, especially when mainstream approaches aren’t effective.

4. What’s bringing you joy right now?

Music is one of my first and deepest loves, and it always brings me joy. Right now, I am finding much joy in celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of my favorite albums of all time, which is also, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums of all time: Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life.

As a whole, the album explores and expresses the themes with which humanity has always grappled: love and joy, grief and pain, and how to hold both with both hands. It is a masterpiece of a meditation on what it is to be joyfully, painfully human.

Learn more about Dena by reading her full bio below.

We’re thrilled to celebrate our 2025–2026 Weavers Fellows and recognize their incredible contributions over the past year. This national cohort included fellows based in Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Colorado, each bringing unique expertise and passion to advancing Weave’s mission to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals in menstrual and intimate care products, personal care products, and household cleaning products. 

Throughout the fellowship, each fellow led meaningful projects that strengthened Weave’s education, advocacy, research, and organizing efforts. We’re honored to spotlight their impactful work below. 

The first job my mom had after she went back to work when I was three was as a professional housekeeper. She worked with one family for 12 years and cleaned a six-bedroom house in an affluent neighborhood in California. Her bosses would host big gatherings and family celebrations, and, on those nights, I remember my mom coming home with her hands peeling from having to scrub the towers of dishes. My mom’s hands were calloused, and she no longer reacted to touching or smelling bleach. I later learned that bleach is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a pesticide, and workers who use bleach regularly were found to be more likely to have asthma symptoms. Bleach also irritates the eyes, skin, and lungs.  My mom used Bar Keepers Friend (a powdered cleaner) so often that her job stocked it by the bottle. Bar Keepers Friend, although it does not fully disclose its ingredients, contains oxalic acid, another registered pesticide. Oxalic acid can affect the kidneys, nervous system, and other organs.

Over time, her clientele changed, and the houses she cleaned stocked fewer cleaning products, sometimes none. For those occasions my mom made her own cleaning sprays and mopping fluid. She made her own cleaning products from ingredients that her clients already had like dish soap and vinegar; those products worked so she stuck to them. I admire my mom for her ingenuity and adaptability. And this was my first introduction to DIY cleaning products, which is why my work as the Safe Cleaning Fellow for Weaving Voices for Health & Justice was a natural fit. 

For those looking to clean their homes safely, Weaving Voices for Health & Justice (Weave) has the recipes and tools. Weave is an organization working to reduce the burden of harmful chemicals. Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to reimagine the Green Cleaning Party for a new generation during my fellowship. 

For me, the Green Cleaning Party is a way to regain agency as a community. This is especially important for people whose jobs involve cleaning, like my mom, as they often face a disproportionate burden from these products through daily exposure. But it’s not just workers—this is something that affects all of us. Cleaning products are often marketed with friendly language and imagery that create the impression that they’re safe, even when they may contain ingredients linked to health concerns. 

Low-income communities can face additional challenges, as budget-friendly products may contain ingredients of concern while safer alternatives are often less accessible. The Green Cleaning Party helps bridge that gap by providing practical, affordable recipes and resources that empower people to make informed choices about the products they bring into their homes.  

In addition to raising awareness about product safety, during my fellowship it became clear that societal norms exist about cleanliness. The Green Cleaning Party sparks discussions that can challenge our household cleaning routines and support us in becoming conscious consumers, to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.    

The Green Cleaning Party was first developed in 2008, in response to a lack of transparency in the ingredients in household cleaning products. In 2017, the “California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act” passed and required cleaning products sold in California to display their ingredients. In 2021, Women’s Voices for the Earth (now Weaving Voices for Health & Justice) published the “Beyond the Label Report,” which examined chemicals in cleaning products that were being disclosed because of this legislation. Even today, there is no federal regulation requiring ingredient transparency for cleaning products. Companies can avoid disclosing certain ingredients in the name of “protecting trade secrets.”  

Consumers are more concerned than ever about the toxic chemicals in products. A recent national poll found that a majority of voters view harmful chemicals in household products as a significant problem and believe there is not enough company oversight to prevent harm.2 At the same time, many people are looking for practical, affordable ways to reduce their exposure. As we continue to advocate for stronger protections through policy change, Weave’s Green Cleaning Party serves as a bridge between systemic change and everyday action. We’ve developed household cleaning recipes that are effective, contain no hidden ingredients, and are often more affordable than store-bought alternatives. 

Throughout the fellowship, I learned a lot about making the event more accessible and fun! I hosted a Green Cleaning Party on my campus, at Amherst College, and led a demonstration on how to make my personal favorite recipe, laundry detergent. The laundry detergent fights odors more effectively than laundry products I’ve tried in the past, without the toxic chemicals, a clear win-win. Since I hosted the party in my dorm, I realized that living on campus we move into a room that hundreds of people have lived in. During the fragrance collage activity, we realized that the products we were using to mask odors like carpet deodorant and plug in air fresheners had the potential to cause us harm. Disinfecting products are also full of ingredients of concern. Cleaning with trusted ingredients, which have been around for centuries like baking soda, washing soda, vinegar, and castile soap allowed me to reclaim cleaning at a time where industry standards do not yet require that cleaning products avoid ingredients that negatively affect our health. 

That sense of discovery and empowerment is something I hope others can experience, too. I invite you to host a Green Cleaning Party! You will learn more about potentially dangerous ingredients that could be lying around your home. This guide is intended for:

• • Community organizers interested in raising awareness about household cleaners
  • Students, who can consider hosting as an activity through a club or with friends
  • Parents and caregivers interested in bringing their communities together to learn more about creating safer environments for children and loved ones. 
  • Cleaning professionals and others who clean as part of their jobs—may want to host or participate in a Green Cleaning Party to explore safer, more accessible cleaning practices. 

Learning about green cleaning alternatives is just the beginning; it invites you into a community of people taking action to ensure policies and companies are protecting us.  

Learn more about the FDA’s recent study: “Do metals in tampons pose a health risk? A toxicological risk assessment study?”

With just a week to go before the New York Assembly adjourns, Weaving Voices for Health & Justice (Weave) is calling on legislators to pass the Beauty Justice Act, A.2054A (Glick), without delay. The bill passed the Senate in April and has 98 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Assembly but has not been scheduled for a floor vote. 

Formerly known as Women’s Voices for the Earth, Weave is an environmental health organization representing thousands of supporters in New York. For three decades, Weave has conducted research into the safety and disclosure of ingredients used in beauty and personal care products.  Our 2023 study, EXPOSED: Ingredients in Salon Products & Salon Worker Health and Safety, found hazardous chemicals in salon products that harm lungs, cause allergic skin reactions, and are linked to cancer and reproductive harm. Despite decades of warnings about these chemicals from public health officials and known harm to salon workers, very little innovation toward safer chemistry is evident in the professional salon product industry. The few harmful ingredients that have been removed from products have been replaced with chemicals that are no safer than those being removed. 

The Beauty Justice Act would prohibit many of the most harmful ingredients found in beauty products, with an emphasis on products that disproportionately harm Black women and girls. It would protect consumers and salon workers alike and bring New York in line with other states like California, Washington, Oregon, and Vermont that have enacted similar policies. New York’s consumers deserve the same protection! 

For decades, salon workers and consumers, particularly Black women, have borne the health costs associated with toxic chemicals in beauty products.  

At Weaving Voices for Health & Justice, our work is rooted in our commitment to equity and justice, including but not limited to racial, environmental, and economic justice. The policies we support reflect our belief that everyone deserves access to products and environments that support optimal well-being and thriving communities. The Beauty Justice Act seeks to address those harms while accelerating the transition to safer and affordable products that are already available across the marketplace. We believe no one should have to bear the burden of preventable health risks to earn a living or to look and feel their best. 

New York residents, visit our partners at Clean & Healthy to send a message to your Assembly member today.