Board of Directors

Meet the Guttmacher Institute’s Board of Directors. To learn more about each member, please click their name to read their bio.

 

Lilian Abracinskas
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Gail O. Baity, Secretary – Executive Committee
Wendy Bostwick
Ernestina Coast, Immediate Past-Chair - Executive Committee
Lida Coleman
Alex Ezeh
Debra Fine
Susan Frelich Appleton
Caroline D. Greene
Benjamin Kahrl
Michael Klein, Vice-Chair - Executive Committee
Pamela Merritt, Board Chair – Executive Committee
Mugdha Mokashi
Kelli A. Murray
Melissa Murray
Laura Philips, Treasurer – Executive Committee
Jessica Pinckney Gil, Member-at-Large – Executive Committee
Fajer Saeed Ebrahim
Nozer Sheriar
Barbara Singhaus, Member-at-Large – Executive Committee
Allana Welch

 

Charles F. Westhoff, Emeritus

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

LILIAN ABRACINSKAS, BSc, is a feminist activist with vast experience in advocacy and research promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, including safe and legal abortion, in Uruguay and Latin America. She is also the Director of Mujer y Salud en Uruguay (Woman and Health in Uruguay), a feminist organization in defense of sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has studied and interned in various places in Latin America, Europe and the United States of America. She was awarded a scholarship by ISIS WICCE International (France, 1983) for training in women's health and did an internship at the "Dispensaire de Femmes" (Switzerland, 1983–1984) on alternative health care for women, with the support of the Swiss Cooperation. She was the Founder and Director of "María Abella,” the first center for women's health care (Canelones, 1985–1989), and the center "Alternatives in Sexual and Reproductive Rights" (Montevideo, 1992–1995). Ms. Abracinskas was also the Founder of the editorial collective “Cotidiano Mujer” (1985–2004) and of the bilingual (English-Spanish) international feminist magazine “Lola Press” (1990–2002). Between 2002 and 2010, she was Executive Coordinator of the National Monitoring Commission, Women for Democracy, Equity and Citizenship—CNSmujeres. Since 2004, she has been a member of the National Advisory Commission on Sexual and Reproductive Health of the Ministry of Public Health and a member of the National Commission on AIDS (CONASIDA) as a representative of social organizations. Between 2009 and 2012, she was appointed representative of the Participatory Space of Health Users in the National Commission of Bioethics and Quality of Health Care of the MSP. In 2011, she was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Civil Society Task Force (United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS), representing international women's organizations working on HIV. Currently, Ms. Abracinskas is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Latin American Consortium Against Unsafe Abortion and is the national liaison for the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network for her long trajectory in the struggle for free, safe and legal abortion in Uruguay and other countries in the region. She is the author of numerous publications and is a member of several research teams on sexual and reproductive policies in Latin America.
 

 

 


 

 

SABARATNAM ARULKUMARAN, PhD, DSc, FRCS, FRCOG, is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Nicosia, an Emeritus Professor at St. George's University in London and a Visiting Professor at the Global Health Institute, Imperial College, London. Dr. Arulkumaran was born in 1948 in Sri Lanka. In 1997, he moved to the United Kingdom. A prominent doctor and scientist, Dr. Arulkumaran has more than 45 years of clinical practice, research and teaching behind him. From 2012 to 2015, he was President of the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FIGO). From 2001 to 2013, he headed the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. George's University in London. From 2007 to 2010, he was President of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (RCOG), United Kingdom. From 2012 to 2014, he was President of the British Medical Association (BMA). Dr. Arulkumaran was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor by the Universities of Athens, Greece; Lund, Sweden; St George's, London; Odessa, Ukraine; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is an honorary member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. He was appointed as Knight Bachelor by the late Her Majesty the Queen in 2009.
 

 

 


 

 

GAIL BAITY is an experienced HR professional with a passion for development. She applied this passion to leading global talent and organization development efforts at Corning Incorporated, one of the world’s top innovators in materials science. She led a team of knowledge experts who constructed strategic and tactical development processes for Corning’s global workforce and partnered with business leaders to develop and sustain the company’s leadership talent pipeline. Ms. Baity’s professional experience spans multiple focus areas and industries. She has led HR initiatives in employee and labor relations, human resources, diversity/inclusion, and learning and development practice areas for the scientific research, advanced optics, life sciences and consumer products industries. Most notably, she was the driving force behind Corning’s global leadership competencies and led the creation of the framework for the company’s first leadership development curriculum. Ms. Baity has served primarily on boards in the educational field from early childhood through higher education, where she served as a community college trustee, and she is a proud founding member of the Fund for Women of the Southern Tier in New York, an organization that supports women and girls in the broader community.
 

 

 


 

 

WENDY BOSTWICK, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in Population Health Nursing Science, College of Nursing, at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She received her MPH and PhD in community health sciences from UIC and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan. Wendy conducts research related to health inequities among sexual and gender minority populations, with a focus on mental health and substance use among bisexual people. Wendy is particularly interested in how stigma, prejudice and discrimination influence health outcomes. Her research incorporates multiple methods including survey research, qualitative interviews and electronic diaries. Wendy has been an invited speaker at the National Institutes of Health; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; the Society for Sex Research and Therapy; and many other organizations. Some of her leadership roles include serving as Associate Department Head in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at UIC, co-leading the Community Engagement and Dissemination Core of the Center for Health Equity Research Chicago and serving as the Co-Chair for the National Institutes of Health’s first-ever workshop on bisexual health research.
Wendy’s research has been supported by such organizations as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the American Institute of Bisexuality, among others. Wendy served on the Board of Directors of the Guttmacher Institute for six years, including as Vice President. She also served on the board of Howard Brown Health, one of the nation's largest FQHCs serving the LGBTQ+ community, including as the inaugural Co-Chair of the board's DEI committee. She is currently an adjunct faculty at the Fenway Institute, in Boston, MA. In her free time, Wendy volunteers at her local animal shelter and enjoys crossword puzzles, dogs and hop-flavored beverages.
 

 

 


 

 

ERNESTINA COAST, PhD, is a Social Scientist who researches sexual and reproductive health (with a focus on abortion) in low- and middle-income countries. She is currently a Professor in Health and International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she is the Program Director for the MSc in Health and International Development. Her research has been funded by the Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, DFID, Wellcome Trust and the Nuffield Foundation. In addition to her research projects, she has conducted research for organizations (including WHO, Ipas, DFID and UNAIDS) and has been a Visiting Scholar at the African Population and Health Research Centre in Kenya.
 

 

 


 

 

LIDA COLEMAN, CPA, is one of the founding members of the predecessor of Coleman Huntoon & Brown PLLC in Chapel Hill, NC, and served as the managing partner for thirteen years. Ms. Coleman is in charge of the Audit practice of the firm and specializes in not-for-profit tax, audit and other consulting engagements for such organizations. In addition, she manages a large number of tax and financial statement engagement clients. She has been a member of many local, national and international boards; she currently serves on the boards of the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club and Pathfinder International, and is completing her final year as a board member of Ipas, Inc. She recently completed board terms at the Galloway Ridge Retirement Community and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Alumni Association. Ms. Coleman previously served on the board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) as a member of the Finance Committee and Chairman of the Audit Subcommittee; she also served as Treasurer. For three years, she was Chairman of the board of lPAS and Chairman and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Women's Center (of Orange County, NC). Ms. Coleman also served on the Institute’s Board as Chair of the Finance Committee. She has been a Certified Public Accountant in the state of North Carolina since 1979 and is currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BS in economics and business administration. Ms. Coleman has led several sessions for women clients of the firm on topics of interest in their financial lives. Volunteering her skills to many not-for-profit boards of directors is important to Ms. Coleman.
 

 

 


 

 

ALEX EZEH, PhD, is Dornsife Professor of Global Health in the Department of Community Health and Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. He brings decades of experience in research, research capacity strengthening and policy advocacy on a range of global health and development issues. Dr. Ezeh served as the founding Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), and over a period of 17 years, he guided APHRC to become Africa’s foremost regional research center addressing population, health, education and development issues.  He initiated and directed the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), an initiative to strengthen doctoral training and the retention of academics at African universities. Dr. Ezeh’s work focuses on addressing the challenges that come with the growth of slums around the world and the continuing rapid population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). He has served on several Lancet Commissions, including the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health and the Lancet Commission on the Future of Health in Africa, and he co-chaired the Guttmacher–Lancet Commission on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Dr. Ezeh is currently co-chairing a new Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. Dr. Ezeh is a seasoned, visionary leader in the global SRHR community and a thought leader in the movement to decolonize global health and global development. He worked with the Guttmacher Institute as their 2020–2021 Bixby Fellow to help reshape their approach to partnership, with an eye toward equitable, sustainable and responsive collaborations. This perspective will be valuable as the world and our field continue to evolve rapidly toward more of a Global South-led agenda. He serves on the boards of several organizations, and he is the recipient of The World Academy of Sciences 2018 Prize for the Social Sciences.
 

 

 


 

 

DEBRA FINE, MBA, is the Chair and Founder of Fine Capital Partners, a hedge fund founded in 2004 in New York City. She is one of a handful of women who owns and operates a $1B+ firm that manages assets for university endowments, foundations and family offices. Ms. Fine is an expert in corporate financial matters, creating shareholder value and corporate governance. She has a depth of experience in effective shareholder communications and capital markets. In January 2020, Ms. Fine stepped down as CEO of her firm but remains Chair. Ms. Fine has deep expertise in evaluating capital allocation decisions. She is sought out by CEOs as a sounding board on financial structure decisions and strategic direction. Ms. Fine is skilled at understanding the key drivers of profitability and evaluating senior leadership across many industries, including manufacturing, defense, commodities, insurance, business services, retail, media, financial services, logistics and real estate. She has decades of experience evaluating the efficacy of strategic plans and a deep understanding of creating and maintaining effective board governance. Ms. Fine is also an expert in understanding shareholder expectations and communications with Wall Street. 
Before founding Fine Capital, Ms. Fine was Director of Global Equities at Loews Corporation (1999–2004), a diversified conglomerate where she built and managed an internal hedge fund. Ms. Fine was a Senior Buy-Side Analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein (1992–1999). She was Chief of Staff for the NYC Sanitation Commissioner (1991–1992). She began her career as an Investment Banker at Salomon Brothers (1985–1990).  She earned a bachelor of arts degree, cum laude, from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. br/> Ms. Fine serves on the board of GrafTech International (Audit Committee), a public company listed on the NYSE. Ms. Fine is the founding Board Chair of 8B, a venture-backed student lending business for African students attending world-class universities outside of the continent. Ms. Fine is a board member of Edge Certification, a venture-backed SaaS Swiss-based gender-equity certification firm serving global multinational corporations. She is also Vice-Chair of the board for Save the Children US ($1B) and Vice-Chair of Save the Children International ($3B), which has 25,000 employees and works in more than 170 countries, and where she has served as Interim Chair and sits on the Audit, Risk, Finance, Search and Special Committees on workplace matters. She is a board member of the Center for Global Development, a Washington, DC, think tank focused on reducing global poverty through innovative economic research. Ms. Fine serves on the board of Simprints, a UK-based social enterprise that provides biometric digital identification for last-mile delivery of aid.  She is the Lead Independent Director of Pursuit Public Benefit Corporation, in New York City, which provides workforce development services for technology employers. She also serves on the board of iTrek, which fosters graduate student engagement with Israel. She is an advisor to the Economic Growth Center at Yale University and to Malengo, which focuses on economic migration for African learners.
 

 

 


 

 

SUSAN FRELICH APPLETON, JD, is the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. A nationally known expert in family law, her research, scholarship and teaching address such legal issues as reproductive justice, parentage, gender and sexualities. She has co-authored a family law casebook as well as a casebook on adoption and assisted reproduction, and she has published extensively in law reviews and scholarly collections. In 2018, she received a Dukeminier Award from UCLA’s Williams Institute, which recognizes the best publications on sexual orientation and gender identity law, and in 2021, she received from the Section on Family and Juvenile Law of the Association of American Law Schools its inaugural award for outstanding contributions and achievements in the field. Ms. Appleton is also a prolific speaker and panelist on family law and related topics at workshops, conferences and other venues throughout the US and abroad, including Berlin, Prague, Padua, Herzliya (Israel), Shanghai, Mexico City, Toronto and Rome. She is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as an adviser on two projects ALI projects—Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses and Restatement of the Law: Children and the Law. Previously, Ms. Appleton held the office of Secretary of the ALI (2004–2013), sat on the ALI Council (1994–2016 and continuing now as a member emerita) and served as an adviser to the ALI’s Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. She has also engaged in significant fundraising for the ALI. In addition to her work with the ALI, she has served on the Board of Directors of the American Bar Foundation (2004–2014) and worked as a consultant to the New Jersey Bioethics Commission, assisting that agency in its recommendations for laws addressing surrogacy arrangements (1989). Ms. Appleton has also been extensively involved with Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, including by serving on its board (since 1997) and engaging in fundraising for the organization. She is a graduate of Vassar College and University of California’s Berkeley School of Law.
 

 

 


 

 

CAROLINE D. GREENE, MBA, is Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) at VillageCare of New York, a not-for-profit organization serving people with chronic care needs through community-based services; several Medicaid and Medicare managed long-term care programs, including plans for individuals who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare; and a residential assisted-living program. Based in lower Manhattan, VillageCare has grown over its 40+-year history to become one of the largest managed long-term care (MLTC) plans in New York State, with combined annual revenues across programs of approximately $1B. In her role as CAO, Caroline is responsible for a reorganized data, analytics and reporting team, as well as for oversight of the human resources function and management of major projects. Caroline served previously for eight years as Senior Vice President (SVP)/Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Population Health at Maimonides Medical Center, providing financial management and related services to a variety of programs and entities. While at Maimonides, Caroline established and served as Executive Director of Community Care of Brooklyn IPA, Inc., a nonprofit organization seeking to sustain work begun during the NYS Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program, supporting a network of six hospitals, five federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and several community-based physician practices. Before joining Maimonides, Caroline served as the CFO for St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, and before that as CFO for the National American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She served as CFO of Planned Parenthood of New York City, Inc., for five years prior to joining ACLU, and as President of Progressive Management Consultants of New York, LLC, an organization she cofounded in early 2003 to provide strategic planning, financial management and executive-level management support to hospitals, integrated delivery networks and managed care organizations. Caroline served as Vice President (VP) for Network Management at Group Health Incorporated (now Emblem Health), a nonprofit health plan with three million members throughout New York State; as SVP for Physician Integration and Managed Care Services at Saint Barnabas Health Care System (now RWJ Barnabas Health); as VP for Planning at Lenox Hill Hospital; and as VP for Planning at Cabrini Medical Center. Caroline rejoined the Guttmacher Board in the fall of 2022, having previously served two terms. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors at thisabilitynotdisability.org and is the past President of the NY Society for Health Planning. She served as a member of the needs and cost assessment workgroups of the NYC Aids Task Force, and as a member of the faculty at the New York University (NYU) Wagner School of Public Service, where she has taught graduate courses in health care financial management. Caroline has an MBA in finance from the Stern School of Business at NYU and a BA in economics from Wellesley College.
 

 

 


 

 

BENJAMIN KAHRL is currently a board member of Dignity Matters, Inc. He was previously a social studies teacher at Brookline High School, where he coordinated global health trips to professional conferences including Women Deliver and the World Health Summit. Mr. Kahrl also organized trips to project sites in Tanzania and India with Pathfinder International, an international organization founded by his grandparents, where he served as board member from 1998 to 2014, and again from 2018 to 2021. Mr. Kahrl serves on several boards, including Dignity Matters, Inc. and as Chair of the Board of Directors of Moving Health. He is also a philanthropic decision-maker on the Trotula Fund.
 

 

 


 

 

MICHAEL KLEIN is the US Director for Itad who brings 15 years of experience in leading assignments focused on the use of digital and data innovations for development. His technical expertise focuses on open innovation, Information Communication Technology (ICTs) for development, applied data science, data governance, responsible data and knowledge management systems.
Tangibly, this includes programs ranging from the design of data transformation strategies (e.g. UNHCR’s Data Transformation Strategy) to running open innovation programs (e.g. the FCDO COVIDaction Data Challenge) and originating and managing a sub-award under the USAID/PEPFAR funded Data.FI program—a global project that helps countries strengthen and sustain access to key, high-quality data to accelerate and maintain HIV and COVID-19 epidemic control. A central tenet of his work is to help organizations improve their aid and development programs with the application of innovative tools and processes. Prior to joining Itad, Mr. Klein served as Director for IMC Worldwide’s US office, where he helped found the organization’s Digital and Data Governance practice, and as a partner at International Solutions Group. He joined Itad in 2021, as US Director. In addition, he serves as an Executive Committee Member of the Guttmacher Institute, is a member of SID-Washington, ALNAP, and is a regular guest lecturer at American University.
 

 

 


 

 

PAMELA MERRITT is the Executive Director of Medical Students for Choice (MFSC), where she leads a dynamic team working to create tomorrow’s abortion providers and prochoice physicians. With more than 13 years of leadership in the reproductive justice space, Ms. Merritt has worked tirelessly to advance progressive policy through advocacy and outreach at Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri and Progress Missouri. Prior to joining MSFC, she co-founded and served as the Co-Director of Reproaction, a national organization that leads bold action to increase access to abortion and advance reproductive justice. She is a founding member of the Trust Black Women Partnership and was a 2017 Reproductive Health, Rights, & Justice Fellow at the Rockwood Leadership Institute. She serves as Honorary Chair of Reproaction’s Advisory Council, on the NARALPro-Choice Missouri Foundation Board, and is a member of the Our Bodies Ourselves Today Leadership Council.
 

 

 


 

 

MUGDHA MOKASHI, MD MPH, is an obstetrics and gynecology resident at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. Previously, she received her medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School and a master’s in public health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a proud Alabamian and her current research interests involve understanding mifepristone access in her home state. She is the former President of the Board of Directors of Medical Students for Choice and is presently on the board of URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity and Provide. She is passionate about providing compassionate, queer-inclusive reproductive health care, including abortion services.
 

 

 


 

 

KELLI A. MURRAY, JD, MBA, is a Systems and Strategic Specialist with a flair for people development and relationships. Hailing from Miami, Florida, as the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Ms. Murray has been directed by a relentless drive from an early age to both learn and serve with humility.
Her professional career began as an attorney at a prestigious law firm and eventually evolved from direct legal practice to higher education, providing support to students and leading nonacademic financial, people and facility strategic operations in a way that felt both organic and impactful. Ms. Murray has two bachelor's degrees and an MBA from the University of Florida, and a law degree from Florida State University College of Law. She is licensed to practice law and holds a SHRM-SCP certification. Ms. Murray is keenly aware that her success is due to sacrifice and great opportunities and, as a result, she believes strongly in providing those opportunities to others.
 

 

 


 

 

MELISSA MURRAY, JD, is a leading expert in constitutional law, reproductive rights and justice, family law and criminal law. Ms. Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University School of Law and Faculty Director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network. Ms. Murray spent more than a decade at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, receiving several teaching awards and serving as Interim Dean. Her scholarly publications have appeared in many highly respected legal journals, and she often voices her views in the popular press, including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation and Newsweek. She appeared as a witness in the 2018 hearings on the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. She is a frequent legal contributor to MSNBC, CNN, NPR, PBS and ABC, and co-hosts Strict Scrutiny, a podcast about the Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Much of Ms. Murray’s work centers on reproductive rights and justice. Ms. Murray co-authored Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice (2014), the first casebook for law school courses to focus on reproductive rights and justice, and co-edited Reproductive Rights and Justice Stories (2019). In 2016, she received the Center for Reproductive Rights’ award for Innovation in Scholarship. In 2017, If/When/How (formerly Law Students for Reproductive Justice) awarded Ms. Murray its Outstanding Faculty Award. She clerked for Sonia Sotomayor, then a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Stefan Underhill of the US District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is a member of the American Law Institute and the New York bar. Ms. Murray serves on the boards of the Brennan Center and the American Constitution Society. She is positioned to make important contributions to the work of the Guttmacher Institute. A well-respected scholar in the field of reproductive rights and justice, she provides guidance and insight into the Institute’s extant research portfolio, while also identifying prospects for future research endeavors. Further, Ms. Murray’s deep connections in legal academia, as well as her work among Supreme Court watchers and media more generally, provides additional opportunities to connect the Institute and its work with legal practice and public policy and to enhance the Institute’s visibility. Finally, as an African-American woman, she has been a reliable voice in efforts to broaden the scope of reproductive rights to include issues of concern to underrepresented communities.
 

 

 


 

 

LAURA A. PHILIPS, PhD, MBA, is the Founder and CEO of Spheryx, Inc. Spheryx provides a revolutionary approach to suspension analysis for the biologic pharmaceuticals, semiconductor, water quality and consumer products industries; its R&D, manufacturing and quality assurance applications provide safer, higher-quality products resulting in cost savings for companies and consumers. She serves on the boards of DiaMir, a medical diagnostics company for neurodegenerative diseases; the POGIL Project, an NSF-funded nonprofit that trains educators and promotes student-centered learning environments in more than 1,000 colleges and high schools nationally; and is a member of the Finance and Investment Committees at IPPF/Western Hemisphere Region. She formerly served as Board Chair for Boyce Thompson Institute, a research institute associated with Cornell University (2014–2018); on the Board of Directors of Americans for UNFPA (2010–2015); and was Chair of the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood, New York City (2006–2009). Dr. Philips served in the Clinton administration in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary Ron Brown in the Department of Commerce. She was Congressional Science Fellow for Senator Joe Lieberman (1994–1995). She was on the faculty of Cornell in the Chemistry Department (1987–1993). From 1985–1987, she was a National Institutes of Health Post-Doc Fellow at the University of Chicago in chemistry. She holds a PhD in chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Cornell.
 

 

 


 

 

JESSICA PINCKNEY GIL is the Executive Director at ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, an organization devoted to removing barriers to sexual and reproductive health care by providing information and practical support on all aspects of reproductive justice. She believes in a holistic approach to reproductive justice advocacy and movement building. Ms. Gil previously dedicated her skills and time to building relationships with congressional offices, activating communities and her own individual networks, and applying thoughtful, thorough analysis to policies and legislation through her work as Vice President of Government Affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda. Prior to that, she served as Government Relations Manager for YWCA USA, where she formed relationships with legislators and staff as principal contact to Capitol Hill to further federal priorities on racial and gender equity. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity), California Abortion Alliance and SPARK! Reproductive Justice Now. Ms. Gil previously served as Co-Director of the Washington, DC, chapter of the New Leaders Council and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC, Inc.
 

 

 


 

 

FAJER SAEED EBRAHIM, JD, MSW, is State Legislative Analyst on the State Advocacy Team at the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she works to advance proactive reproductive rights legislation and defeat restrictive reproductive rights legislation. Prior to that, Ms. Ebrahim worked at Legal Voice as Policy Counsel and If/When/How Reproductive Justice Fellow, helping to train and mobilize law school students and lawyers around issues of reproductive justice. Her work there focused on sexual assault on college campuses and reproductive equity. She also served as Title IX Project Manager at the University of Washington. Ms. Ebrahim has worked at Advocates, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri as Policy Fellow, where she managed volunteer, community education, outreach/coalition, canvassing and reproductive justice projects, as well as organizing reproductive justice and labor trainings for local nonprofits. She taught “Women and the Law” to undergraduate students at Washington University, St. Louis, and has served on multiple university-wide sexual assault and relationship violence task forces, helping produce comprehensive reports focused on the elimination of sexual assault. Ms. Ebrahim grew up in Bahrain, where, at a young age, she began to form an understanding of the law’s disparate impact on the lives of women. Having attained a full scholarship from her home country, she pursued education in the United States, specifically choosing law to advocate for reproductive rights and justice.
 

 

 


 

 

NOZER SHERIAR, MD, DNB, FRCOG, FICOG, FCPS, DGO, is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist with a long-standing commitment to the advocacy and promotion of women's rights and access to safe abortion. In clinical practice for over 30 years, he practices at the Breach Candy, PD Hinduja and Holy Family hospitals in Mumbai, where he is a postgraduate teacher. Dr. Sheriar is a member of the governing boards of the Guttmacher Institute, the Centre for Catalyzing Change and the Family Planning Association of India and is a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Maternal and Child Health of the Southeast Asia Region of the WHO. He has served as a member of the governing board of Ipas and as member of the Regional Council, South Asia region, and the governing council of IPPF.
He is Co-Chair of the Medical Advisory Panel, FPA India. He was a gold medalist at every postgraduate examination and a Young Gynecologist Awardee of Asia Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has been awarded the FRCOG Honoris Causa by the Royal College in acknowledgement of his support of women’s health. He has edited 15 books and is Series Editor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Perspective, a series of 10 monograms, and has contributed 75 chapters to books and 40 papers in scientific journals. He served as a member of the Scientific Committee of FIGO from 2013– 2021 and was the Scientific Chair of the XXII FIGO World Congress at Rio de Janeiro. He served as the Secretary General of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India and President of the Mumbai Obstetric and Gynecological Society. As past Chairperson of the MTP Committee, FOGSI and member of the Technical Advisory Panel, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, he participated in the amendment of the MTP Act and the development of the national comprehensive abortion care guidelines. In recognition of his work, he was awarded the Dr. Ganatra Community Service Award, the Dr. Desai Excellence Award, and the Mr. and Mrs. Pandit Women's Empowerment Award. His research contributions include the Collaborative Eclampsia Trial; the Western India Trial of the Hay’s obstetric forceps; the MVA Pilot Project of the GOI, WHO and FOGSI; the FOGSI Ipas Multicentric Trial of MVA; and the CELECT study of FOGSI and MSD on contraceptive choice; and he assisted the Guttmacher Institute in the landmark prevalence study of abortion in India.
 

 

 


 

 

BARBARA L. SINGHAUS, CPA, is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. As a member of the affiliate’s senior leadership team, she provides a leadership role to the Board Investment Committee in coordination with investment advisors; serves as the primary Financial Officer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio (c-4) and related ancillaries; provides input on major investments in specific projects, such as purchasing, selling, renovating or leasing the affiliate’s properties; and is in the process of establishing a statewide PPGOH Planned Giving and Legacy Giving program. Prior to that, she served the affiliate as their Chief Financial Officer. (CFO). Her background includes being a founding partner in a local CPA firm that specialized in accounting and auditing with a concentration in the areas of not-for-profit corporations. She went on to provide organizational and financial consultation to not-for-profit corporations and governmental funding and planning boards, primarily in the field of behavioral health. Ms. Singhaus joined the Planned Parenthood board in Stark County, Canton, Ohio, in 1978 and continued to serve through 2006, during which time she served two terms as Chair and facilitated the merger of five northeast Ohio affiliates into Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio (PPNEO). In 2011, as Chair of this board, she facilitated the merger of two regional affiliates (PPNEO and PPCO) into the Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio after the advantages of a statewide affiliate became more and more evident. At the national level, Ms. Singhaus served on the boards of PPFA (Treasurer), PPIC and Affiliate Risk Management (ARMS) and several local boards, including Kent State Tuscarawas Foundation. Ms. Singhaus received her MS in business administration from the University of Akron, Ohio, and is a licensed CPA in Ohio.
 

 

 


 

 

ALLANA WELCH, MBA, MPP, brings over a decade of experience in international development, communications, training and international emergency recovery/response. She is currently leading the implementation of the digital strategy at USAID, responsible for a portfolio that will shift the agency to utilizing digital technologies and approaches by default, particularly in procurement and program management. Ms. Welch was formerly the Director for the Principles for Digital Development, an internationally recognized set of best practices for the use of technology in development and humanitarian work. Prior to that, Ms. Welch worked on USAID’s Ebola Task Force, leveraging the use of technologies in the response and recovery efforts of the 2015–2017 West Africa Ebola outbreak. Through her years of experience working across the development ecosystem, Ms. Welch brings extensive relationships with major donor organizations in the development and humanitarian communities to her Board membership with Guttmacher. Ms. Welch has also published several articles, as well as hosting her own podcast (Pulse on the Principles). She holds a master of business administration, a master of public policy, and a bachelor of arts in political science. She previously served on the Board of Directors for Girls Health Ed, a nonprofit that invests in holistic health education for girls in the United States, Canada and Kenya.
 

 

 


 

 

CHARLES F. WESTHOFF (Emeritus), PhD, is an emeritus Professor of Demographic Studies and Sociology, Office of Population Research, Princeton University. Charles also acts as a technical advisor to the Demographic Health Surveys. He has served on the boards of the Guttmacher Institute, Population Reference Bureau, Population Communications International and the Population Resource Center. He spent a month as a scholar-in-residence at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study and Conference Center, where he worked on projects about birth intervals in Africa and abortion in Central Asia. He also participated in an international symposium on unmet need in Kenya and presented the findings of research on abortion and contraception in the former Soviet Union in briefings at the US House of Representatives and the Senate. Charles is the author of numerous papers and articles, which have appeared in such journals as International Family Planning Perspectives, Demography and Sciences. His research interests include population policy, comparative fertility, family planning in developing countries and fertility surveys. Charles has long served on the Guttmacher Board, including a term as its Chair, and is a lifetime emeritus member.