Istra Fuhrmann was the program assistant for nuclear disarmament and Pentagon spending for 2021-2022. In this role, she edited and disseminated the Nuclear Calendar and sought to build a safer world by lobbying for arms control and de-escalation policies such as No First Use.
Istra joined FCNL in 2020 as an Advocacy Corps Organizer lobbying in Texas for immigration justice. She also helped lead the Texas delegation at Spring Lobby Weekend 2021 in advocating for police reform and demilitarization. As a former immigration organizer, Istra is passionate about bringing an intersectional approach to the nuclear field and underscoring the devastation of nuclear testing and nuclear weapons on refugees and our changing climate.
Istra graduated from Swarthmore College, where she double-majored in international politics and Mandarin Chinese. While studying in Kunming, she wrote her Mandarin-language thesis on involuntary migration in Southwest China. Istra recently served for a year as a Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow in Atlanta, where she worked at the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence providing post-conviction relief services for incarcerated survivors. She currently attends the San Antonio Friends Meeting.