Sara Vogel

Name Sara Vogel

social media @ladybitsandleadership

Age 35

Town/Moku Hilo

Island Hawaiʻi Island

Leadership Category Mauli Ola

Nominated by Melanie Dorado Wilson

Share with us a little about yourself and what you do.

I am a trauma-formed, inclusive sex educator who is on a mission to help women liberate themselves from sexual shame and say yes to their power and pleasure.

Why is the work that you do important to you? The community?

Rates of sexual violence, sexual disempowerment, and sexual shame are rampant throughout our community, and often affect our women, gender non-binary, and trans community the hardest. Although there are plenty of community resources to assist people who have experienced sexual violence and relationship violence, there are very few spaces where our people can come together to explore their sexual identities, unlearn sexual shame, and find empowerment in their bodies and their sexual lives. My work through Ladybits and Leadership- the podcast, pleasure parties, community presentations, and online classes, encourage women to question the sexual scripts they were taught and begin to define and embody their most empowered sexual selves yet. It is my belief that when women can address the body and sexual shame they are taught, and create new narratives that come from a sense of autonomy and empowerment, they will be ready to take action to feel empowered in other areas of their lives, as well- whether it be career, motherhood, schooling, or achieving their personal dreams.

Share with us the qualities of leadership you admire and how you express those in your life.

I admire leaders who emphasize empathy and who advocate for those who are marginalized, because if we are to lift the whole lāhui up, we need people standing up for one another. I feel that my work, especially through my global podcast, Ladybits and Leadership, highlights the stories of women who are different than me- who have lived through different life experiences and have different views to offer.

We live in a world that often feels so polarizing. People can be so quick to judge others, but if we took the time to hear one another's' stories, I think we would find we are more alike than different. When we can see the through lines of pain, love, sorrow, joy, grit, resilience, we are better able to show love and care for one another. My work helps people understand their own life stories, have compassion for themselves and others, and rewrite their stories to highlight their resilience, their worth, their passions, and their desires at the forefront.

Who has inspired you to do the work that you are doing?

Every survivor of sexual and domestic violence that I have ever worked with. I come from a legacy of women who have survived gender-based violence. This story was hidden from me for a long time by my mother. It was an attempt to protect me, however, when I began working with survivors of violence, and she saw how passionate I was about uplifting women, she disclosed the violence that was present in our own family. This was a heavy life changing story to hear but it helped me understand her, and let go of some of the intergenerational trauma that was passed along.

What is one word that describes something you are excited about for the lāhui?

Awakening. This pandemic changed us in so many ways, myself included. We are questioning the old ways of being- in work, in relationship, in our priorities in life. And one of the themes I continue to see, is an awakening to the importance of honoring oneself and ones joy and pleasure. We are seeing more people seeking mental health support and that is a beautiful thing. We are seeing women across the islands, the nation, and the world standing up for themselves and their fellow sisters and brothers. We are waking up to the idea that we can create a new way of being, and it is grounded in liberation of the self.

What is one word that describes a pressing issue that is facing our lāhui?

Access to reproductive health has always been under threat, and now, since the Federal protection of the right to abortion access was taken when Roe v. Wade fell, we all are under threat. Access to reproductive health care is not just a women's right- it is a lāhui right- medically, economically, morally, and ethically. We have access to reproductive choices now, but all it takes is the State legislators and leadership to change their position, and that could be stripped away from us. The community deserves access to their full medical interventions in order to prosper and feel safe.