Bella Robinson (2009-2023) is the founder and executive director of Coyote RI. She has worked in the sex industry for over 40 years, and she is dedicated to supporting policies that promote the health and safety of sex workers and trafficking victims. Bella is a previously incarcerated person who was a victim of state-sponsored violence. Contact: <Bella@coyoteri.org> (401) 525-8757
Tara Burns (2020-2023) is COYOTE’s research & policy director. She is a sex worker of 30+ years and a sex trafficking survivor living in remote Alaska. She is a founding board member of the Community United for Safety and Protection, a former co-chair of the International Steering Committee of the Red Umbrella Fund, and has done groundbreaking academic research and lobbying for sex workers and sex trafficking survivors in Alaska. She is the author of the Whore Diaries series and her writing about sex work policy issues has appeared in publications like Vice, Alternet, and the Anchorage Press. Her website is TaraBurns.com.
Lindsey Berry, MSW is our “Health and Safety Education Specialist & COYOTE CLOSET Volunteer” (2023) Contact: lberrycoyoteri@gmail.com
Samantha Cote, is our Resource & Outreach Coordinator & a COYOTE CLOSET Volunteer (2020- 2023). She is a Political Science and Francophone Studies Major at RIC. (No Photo)
Kayla Katt (2021-2023) is the creator of COYOTE’s sex worker storytelling series She is a 26-year-old, Jamaican sex worker based in NYC. She first entered the sex industry at the age of 17, through a pimp, and shortly after began independently advertising on Backpage. She loves being a sex worker and refers to it as “her passion and calling,” and is a staunch advocate for full decriminalization of prostitution and destigmatization of sex work. Her lifelong work is to improve sex workers’ livelihoods, racial inequity, mass incarceration, the criminal (in)justice system, pursue environmental justice, and more. In her free time, she enjoys practicing rest and self-care, watching “The Office”, and enjoying delicious foods.
LaResse is the program manager of COYOTERI’s “Sister 2 Sister” a weekly online support group for Formerly Incarcerated Women. Ms. Harvey is one of eight 2020 Connecticut Hall of Change Inductees recognizing here 20 plus years of successful reentry and her contributions to Connecticut becoming a Second Chance state. Currently, Ms. Harvey is the founder and board chair of Once INCarcerated Anonymous a CT-based nonprofit working to End Justice Impacted Homelessness. LaResse Harvey has five college degrees, including a bachelor’s in social work. Ms. Harvey is a certified behavior specialist and has developed over fifty successful programs for women and girls over the past two decades.
Ramona Flour is COYOTE’s public relations coordinator (2019-2023). She is a queer 31-year-old, second-generation sex worker living and working in NYC. She got her toes wet in the sex industry by entering into live webcams & independent porn production, and she has since gone on to manage some of the highest-ranking (traffic-wise) adult webcam platforms in modern existence. In her free time, she enjoys community building, activism, wildlife conservation as well as food & wine. She has a passion for trauma-informed herbalism and creating visual-based art using vintage erotica as her medium of choice. Read more about Flour in the following publications rolling stone, allure magazine, xbiz, avn, hustler, mtv news, medium & vice.
Miss Sheila Brown (2021-2023) is an outreach volunteer with the COYOTE CLOSET
Stephanie Soto (2023) is an outreach volunteer with the COYOTE CLOSET
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Tatianna Rothchild (2022-2023) is our research and policy assistant. She is a Political Science PhD student at Northeastern University. She is passionate about challenging state violence, particularly in areas where institutions claim moral creditability and reputational gains for participating in violence.
Gerilou Ebrada, COYOTEs 2022 Summer Intern. Bachelor of Arts -Assisted with research/ analyzing data. Forensic Psychology and Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Justice 2023
Lilah Rose is COYOTE’s Disability Advocate & spokesperson (2018-2023 ). She is an educator and fetish model. She is passionate about teaching people about consent, communication, exploring their sexuality, and the intersection of disability and sex work.
Zoey Dash lives in Maryland and is COYOTE’s Trans Rights Advocate. (2019-2023)
Sue is Coyote’s Art Coordinator and a queer artist with a deep-rooted interest in the well-being and sanctity of sex workers. She lovingly works for the liberation and empowerment of all marginalized and oppressed people. (2017-2023 volunteer)
Erica McDonald, Editor of COYOTE Monthly Newsletter ( Volunteer 2019-2022), University of Connecticut 2022, Political science
Allie Benz (COYOTEs 2022 Summer Intern) is pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights with a focus on Gendered Dimensions of Oppression. She is passionate about using data analysis to fight injustice and advocate for systemic change. Beyond working for COYOTE-RI, she is the Project and Data Manager at a Denver-based non-profit. Ultimately, Allie would like to utilize her skills to help decriminalize sex work and institute better social support systems.” No Photo
Nicole Araujo
In her work, Nicole Araujo seeks to illuminate the existence of those who have been silenced. She is the founder of VENUS (Valued Existence of Northeastern and Ubiquitous Sexworkers), a sex worker mutual aid group based out of Portland, Maine. Notable publications of Nicole’s include, “Inaccessible Aid: A Sociological Analysis of How Stigma Amplified Negative Consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic for Sex Workers in Strip Clubs,” (Inflections Magazine), “The Feminist Community’s Exclusion of Sex Workers: Then and Now,” (Ripple Zine), “To the Public Sex Professionals,” (St. James Infirmary’s Red Umbrella Rides), and her BA thesis La Fille Publique: Depictions of Sex Work in Fin-de-siècle Literature. Nicole can often be found practicing Ashtanga yoga, traveling, enjoying great food, and cultivating growth through awareness and meditation. Her sex worker advocacy heroes are Lola Davina, Jacq the Stripper, Maya Angelou, and Juno Mac.
IG: @nicoleelizaaraujo | Tiktok: @opalnea
Felicia Delgando COYOTEs- Jail Outreach Volunteer (2022)
Colleen Falconer, COYOTEs 2021 summer intern- Steinbrecher Fellowship. She is conducting a study on the ways in which grassroots sex worker bases impact legislation of the sex trade, with a focus on the state of Rhode Island after the 2009 recriminalization of the trade. I will also explore whether changing laws or policies is an effective way to address the marginalization of sex work and workers.
Lillian Pickett, COYOTEs 2021 summer intern. Bachelor of Arts- English Language and Literature, Brown University 2022- Co-author of “Sex workers fight for Study Commission to examine criminalization of sex work in Rhode Island”, and “THE PRISON WITHIN THE PRISON– A look at RI’s supermaximum prison”. (En)gendering Violence, Imagining Safety- Carceral Politics in Rhode Island’s Feminist Movement, 1970-2009- (Lillian Pickett 2022)
Lily Willis, COYOTEs 2021 summer intern. Bachelor of Arts- English Language and Literature, Brown University 2022- Co-author of “Sex workers fight for Study Commission to examine criminalization of sex work in Rhode Island
Madison Hough is Coyote’s Research Assistant. (2020 Internship) She is an undergraduate student at Brown University studying Anthropology and International & Public Affairs.
Elena Shih– Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University. (2014-2020) Volunteer
Ari Toole (she/they) Coyote’s Youth Coordinator Volunteer and the host of Coyote’s TV show “The Good Neighbors” #PEGRITV. She is passionate about the human, health, and labor rights of all sex workers. (2019-2020 volunteer)
Arya Serenity is Coyote’s Transgender Service Coordinator Volunteer (2019-2021). She is a transgender sex worker, who identifies as a lesbian.
Meghan Peterson (2018-2019) Coyote’s policy & advisory board. She is a public health researcher and a sex worker rights advocate at the Brown University School of Public Health, class of 2018. Previously, she worked on campaigns related to healthcare access at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and SWOP-Chicago. She currently researches the effects of incarceration on public health, particularly surrounding overdose mortality and HIV outcomes. Her graduate thesis work focuses on perceptions of drug-induced homicide laws among people who use drugs and who are incarcerated. (2018-2019 internship) Meghan is also the Project Director for the COVID Prison Project.
Yanhoo Park Cho – ( she/her/hers) (2018-2019) internship Royce Award)
Coyote’s Project manager of the Migrant Outreach Project. Yanhoo organizes regular outreach to local spas and massage parlors that are run by Asian community members of Rhode Island. Having grown up in Seoul, South Korea, she contributes to Coyote RI by using skills such as her fluency in Korean, cultural competency, and transnational understanding of sexuality and the sex industry. She is passionate about bringing Asian migrant sex workers together, to form a community in which everyone can feel empowered to advocate for their rights and actively communicate resources. Currently, she studies Social Analysis and Research at Brown University. We are always looking for partners who are interested in joining our project.
안녕하세요. 제 이름은 조연후이고 Migrant Outreach 프로젝트 매니저로서 일하고 있습니다. 저는 서울에서 태어나 경기도 성남시에서 자랐고, 한국에서는 한국사이버성폭력대응센터라는 여성 비영리단체에서 사이버성폭력 피해지원을 해왔습니다. 현재는 브라운 대학교에서 사회 분석 및 연구를 전공하고 있습니다. 로드아일랜드에서 성노동 혹은 다양한 신체노동을 하시는 아시아 이민자 분들께서 주체적으로 본인의 권리를 주장하고, 필요한 지원을 받고, 각종 정보를 공유하실 수 있는 공동체를 만들고 싶습니다. 기초적인 면담 혹은 전문적인 법률 상담이 필요하시거나, 저희 단체의 일원 혹은 파트너로서 프로젝트를 진행하고 싶으시다면 편하게 연락주세요.
Matthew Marciello is Coyote’s Office Manager Volunteer (2019-2020) and the director of COYOTE’s TV show, The Good Neighbors. He is an undergraduate student at Brown University studying American Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Julianna Brown, COYOTEs Health and Policy Advisor Volunteer. (2017-2020). Medical Student at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University ‘2022’. COYOTE Health and Policy Advisor Thesis: “We Don’t Need Your Pity, We Need Our Rights”
Bee Mitchell is Coyote’s graphic design creator. Volunteer. They study glass art at the Rhode Island School of Design, and they are passionate about providing queer sex and mental health education. (2019- 2020 volunteer)
June Kramer – Coyote’s public records researcher and data collector. They are passionate about prison abolition and sex worker rights. (2018- 2019 volunteer)
