WASHINGTON D.C. — For too long, conservatives have lacked the connective tissue needed to translate lived experience into lasting policy wins. Independent Women is changing that—by building the national infrastructure that equips real people to carry their stories from their communities to statehouses, courtrooms, newsrooms, and beyond.
Independent Women is proud to announce its 2026 ambassador class, a group of proven advocates whose personal experiences are shaping national debates and delivering measurable policy outcomes.
The 2026 Independent Women ambassadors are: Allie Coghan, Amie Ichikawa, Claire Abernathy, Linnea Saltz, Luke Healy, Madisan DeBos, Payton McNabb, Prisha Mosley, and Soren Aldaco.
Independent Women’s ambassador program fills a long-standing gap in the conservative movement: a trusted, professional pathway for everyday Americans with extraordinary stories to be trained, supported, and strategically positioned where their voices matter most. By elevating first-person narrative and detailing the real, powerful human cost of bad policy—as well as the tangible benefits of sound policy—Independent Women ambassadors bring clarity to complex debates. Through national media, legislative testimony, public events, and grassroots engagement, they help reshape public understanding and influence policy decisions at every level of government.
“Policy is personal,” said Victoria Coley, vice president of communications at Independent Women. “And Independent Women’s ambassador program is designed to treat it that way. Our ambassadors don’t rely on talking points, they speak from lived experience. What Independent Women provides is the training, relationships, and trust necessary to take those stories further.”
Independent Women’s ambassadors are first identified as storytellers through Independent Women’s Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of Independent Women. From there, ambassadors are equipped with media training, messaging guidance, and strategic support—allowing them to operate with confidence and consistency across platforms.
With the backing of Independent Women’s policy, communications, legal, and grassroots teams, ambassadors are prepared to engage effectively with lawmakers, reporters, and communities—extending their reach far beyond what would be possible alone.
“I’ve traveled coast to coast with our ambassadors—to state capitols, congressional hearings, court steps, media studios, and community events,” said Brianna Howard, ambassador program manager at Independent Women. “What sets this program apart is that our ambassadors are never sent out on their own. They are trained, supported, and strategically placed so that when they testify or appear in the media, their voices carry real weight. Time and time again, we’ve seen that when people hear their voices, they don’t just understand the issue, they take up the ambassadors’ cause as their own.”
The 2026 ambassador class continues Independent Women’s record of pairing authentic voices with serious infrastructure—ensuring that the people most affected by today’s policies are not just heard, but taken seriously by those in power.
AMBASSADOR CLASS OF 2026
Allie Coghan is standing up for the preservation of women-only spaces after her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, allowed a trans-identifying male to become a member during her senior year. She graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2023 with a degree in agricultural business with a concentration in farm and ranch management.
A plaintiff in Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma, Coghan and a few of her sorority sisters are fighting back against the blatant violation of KKG’s bylaws, which has provided a self-described “single-sex haven” in the largely co-ed environment of college campuses since its founding. Kappa’s bylaws provide that a “new member shall be a woman.” In 2023, a Wyoming judge threw out the case, citing that KKG does not define “woman.” Afterwards, Independent Women’s Law Center appealed to the Tenth Circuit. On June 12, 2024, the Tenth Circuit panel ruled it lacked appellate jurisdiction to hear the case and dismissed the appeal. On June 9, 2025, plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the state of Wyoming. Allie has been featured on Fox News, Evie Magazine, The Megyn Kelly Show, Newsmax, and OANN.
Amie Ichikawa is sounding the alarm about women being harmed as a result of males gaining access to female prisons. She is one of the founders of Woman II Woman, a nonprofit organization providing re-entry services, parole hearing prep, and advocacy for the safety and dignity of incarcerated women in California. Ichikawa co-founded this nonprofit after her own five-year incarceration at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. She maintains contact with women in the Central California Women’s Facility and the California Institution for Women, serving as their advocate.
Ichikawa, in partnership with Independent Women, is blowing the whistle on how, behind bars, incarcerated women are “sitting ducks,” vulnerable to violence at the hands of biological males who enter into prisons self-identifying as women. Ichikawa has been featured in Daily Caller, Mike Rowe’s Podcast, “The Way I Heard It”, The Megyn Kelly Show, and Townhall.
Claire Abernathy is a detransitioner who was fast-tracked into medical transition as a young girl. Claire and her mother Carrie’s story were told together for the first time through Independent Women’s Features’ “Identity Crisis” series. Claire was exposed to transgender ideology through social media at age 14. Identifying as a boy, she then underwent surgical and hormonal treatments. Later on, she realized just how manipulated she was, and made the choice to detransition. Claire is now an avid spokeswoman against the harmful practice of gender ideology, and has appeared on Ingraham Angle and the Will Cain Show.
Linnea Saltz is a former NCAA track and field athlete. During her senior year at Southern Utah University, she was forced to compete against the first male athlete to compete in Division I cross country. When she voiced her concerns to the NCAA, they did nothing, fueling her passion to speak out against the opportunities she—and countless other women—are losing across the globe. In 2025, Linnea joined Attorney General Bondi for her announcement about the U.S. Department of Justice taking legal action against Maine in a move to defend women’s rights. Linnea continues to speak out about the dangers of males competing in women’s sports, and has been featured in Washington Examiner, Fox Business, and Dr. Phil Primetime.
Luke Healy is a detransitioner and a national advocate against gender-affirming procedures for children. At the age of 13, Luke was groomed online, affirmed by clinicians, and placed on a fast-tracked path to transition. His transition was only halted due to his mother, a nurse of over 30 years, who saw what was truly going on behind the scenes and refused to consent. Today, Healy is shedding light on what he describes as the “medical betrayal” that almost destroyed his family. Healy has testified in the California state legislature in opposition to SB 497, and has been featured on Morning Wire and The College Fix.
Madisan DeBos was a cross country and track athlete at Southern Utah State University. During the 2020 season, Madisan’s relay team lost to a team that included a trans-identifying athlete. DeBos joined Independent Women for its 2024 NCAA “We Won’t Back Down” rally and landmark coast-to-coast “Take Back Title IX” summer 2024 bus tour. This experience inspired Madisan to speak out about the broader issues that result from allowing males to compete with women, and has been featured on Fox News and Fox Business.
Payton McNabb is a former North Carolina high school volleyball player and three-sport athlete whose life was permanently changed in 2022, when she was severely injured by a male competing on the opposing girls’ volleyball team. She joined Independent Women to share her personal experience and to further her desire to speak out to keep women’s sports female.
McNabb has become one of the nation’s most recognized voices on this issue.
She first testified before the North Carolina General Assembly in April 2023 to advocate for the passage of the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (HB 574/SL 2023-109). Since then, McNabb has testified before multiple state legislatures across the country, and has testified before Congress on the discrimination and dangers of allowing men to compete in women’s sports. At President Trump’s joint address to Congress in 2025, McNabb was honored for her courage and bravery in standing up for women’s sports, and attended the signing of President Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order. She appears regularly in the media and has been featured in Outkick, Mike Rowe’s Podcast, Fox News, Fox Business, and more.
Prisha Mosley is a detransitioner and ambassador at Independent Women. As a teenager, doctors and counselors set Mosley on a path of medicalized “gender transition,” telling her that changing her body through large amounts of testosterone and undergoing surgery to remove her breasts would cure her mental health problems. After detransitioning, Mosley reclaimed her voice, and her advocacy footprint has skyrocketed since first telling her story through IW Features and joining the ambassador program.
Today, Mosley is a leading advocate for reform, having emerged as one of the nation’s most authoritative critics of what she describes as “gender-affirming harm.” She has testified before state legislatures across the country, on Capitol Hill, and has spoken outside of the Supreme Court. Last summer, Mosley testified alongside other detransitioners at the Federal Trade Commission’s workshop titled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors” to shed light on the true harms of medicalized “gender” treatments on minors. Recently, Prisha filed an appeal in her lawsuit against the doctors who misled her, attempting to get justice after medical negligence and malpractice. Mosley resides in Michigan and recently gave birth to a baby boy. She appears regularly on outlets including on Fox News, Newsmax, The Megyn Kelly Show, and more.
Soren Aldaco is a detransitioner. Soren first discovered gender ideology after being exposed to online forums and blogs. Later on, she began the process of transitioning by taking hormones and having a double mastectomy at 19. After severe complications began, she realized just how gaslit she was about the risks and issues of transition. After detransitioning, she began the important work of fighting against this dangerous ideology being spoon-fed to kids across the country. On February 11, the Texas Supreme Court will hear Soren’s appeal in a lawsuit against her former therapist and Three Oaks Counseling Group over a recommendation letter that led to her undergoing a double mastectomy.
Aldaco is a consultant and subject matter expert specializing in gender identity, disability in education, internet subcultures, and the impact of social media on youth, and is currently pursuing graduate studies in Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She has also been featured on Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey, The College Fix, and speaks out regularly through attending events and forums.
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