Amy Merrill is an artist and activist working at the intersection of creative communications, technology and social change.
Her design studio Eyes Open leads digital communications for purpose-driven individuals and organizations, and in 2015, she co-founded Plan C to transform access to abortion pills by mail in the US. Under her co-leadership Plan C has grown to an annual audience of 2M+ website visitors, nationwide partnerships in research, creative and tech, and “Plan C” as a household name for abortion pills: all serving to empower people with information and normalize self-directed care in the US.
Amy holds 20+ years navigating complex social issues from human trafficking to economic injustice to gender equity: which led to reproductive health and access as her current focus. After studying nonprofit management and questioning old models of making “impact,” Amy spent years working with a leading anti-sex slavery activist as the issue came into public awareness, guiding celebrity supporters and brands on this complex issue as they took a stand. She then pivoted into “tech for good,” helping to build an experiential fundraising tech company that allowed individuals to fund homes and schools with personal video asks.
Struck by this new dimension of empathy, she cofounded social enterprise Journey in 2015, which in two years led 500+ people on international trips to build homes and schools with local communities and organizations and experience their impact. Upon sunsetting Journey, her purpose-led web design studio Eyes Open grew. And as the U.S. spiraled into reproductive health crisis, the initiative she co-created with three public health researchers and a simple website — Plan C — rose to national awareness: alongside artists and activists, researchers and grassroots organizations envisioning a new more hopeful future of online abortion access in the form of safe, effective abortion pills by mail.
In her truest nature, Amy is an artist, futurist and musician. She writes and performs with her partner in post-apocalyptic concept space folk band Formerly Alien, and solo as Amy Batara. She is based in the California Bay Area.