She then attended Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University, where she graduated with a Master of Science degree in public policy and management in 2005.
[6] In 2022, deeming the result of the gubernatorial election critical to protecting abortion rights in Pennsylvania, the group endorsed and helped to organize voters for Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro.
[5][7] In 2008, New Voices for Reproductive Justice was among the leading groups to lobby for the creation of human relations commissions at the county and state levels to enforce statutes of non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
[14] In her announcement, she said that she was motivated to run to improve community health in the district, with a particular focus on addressing inequities in healthcare that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
[1] Mayes also asserted that her extensive experience in the field of reproductive justice was relevant in an atmosphere of political threats to abortion access and comprehensive maternal healthcare,[1] arguing that she would be the strongest candidate to protect abortion rights in Pennsylvania if Roe v. Wade would be overturned (which indeed occurred in June 2022 in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization).