Catherine Woods, one of the National Leaders Collective’s (NLC) leaders of the month, is a Students for Life of America (SFLA) Hildegard Art Fellow attending Indiana University in Indiana (IU). Learn more about Woods’s activism below.  

When I was a little kid, my parents would take all my siblings and me out to pray for the preborn at Planned Parenthood. Because they made defending the preborn a routine part of family life, it was instilled in me as a fundamental value to be both pro-life in word and action. Additionally, attending pro-life rallies from a young age made it impossible for me to believe that this could be anything but the truth: abortion kills an innocent life and is the farthest thing from healthcare.   

After being raised in the pro-life movement, I was eager to continue that work in college. I immediately joined Students for Life at IU, later becoming president my sophomore year. When my regional coordinator told me about the Hildegard Fellowship program, I felt it was a direct invitation from God to dive deeper. As a violin performance major, the Hildegard Fellowship gives me the unique opportunity to place my musical talents and professional connections at the service of a culture of Life. Through this incredibly flexible and individualized program, I have been challenged to grow in courage, discipline, and humility, partly thanks to talking and learning from many outstanding leaders. The reward was incredible, and I feel incredibly supported.  

This past fall, I organized a nine-day prayer campaign outside Planned Parenthood. 30 community members and students joined to fill over 80 hours of prayer. As a group, we hosted events on campus with SFLA President Kristan Hawkins, Healing the Culture, and Justice for All. This coming April, my fellow violinist and Standing With You (SWY) Fellow Daniella Lombardi and I are organizing a classical chamber music benefit concert for The Gabriel Project in Indianapolis as part of our ongoing pro-life artists initiative. Based on previous concerts, we hope to have 200-300 people in attendance.  

Being part of the National Leader’s Collective is challenging, eye-opening, and rewarding. For anyone interested in a pro-life career, I know of no better way to gain real-world experience, build professional networks, and find your why for being a pro-life warrior. 

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