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, 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.
 

 

 

 

 

PAULA AVILA - GUILLEN, JD, has fourteen years of experience in designing and implementing advocacy and litigation strategies to address a variety of human rights issues. Her keen political judgment and ability to identify opportunities have led her to advance strategies that have created long-lasting social impact.
As Executive Director of WEC, Paula serves as a principal strategist and leads WEC's campaigns and operations. WEC's campaigns include efforts to end the total abortion bans in El Salvador, and the total emergency contraception ban in Honduras, as well as to support the movement to legalize abortion and expand women's rights in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.
Prior to working with WEC, Paula worked at the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) where she successfully created and implemented advocacy strategies and identified entry points for reproductive rights issues to be addressed in complex political arenas such as the Organization of American States and the United Nations. Working with the communications team, she conceptualized and led CRR's advocacy strategy to hold the Salvadoran government accountable for convicting dozens of women of aggravated murder following miscarriages and stillbirths. This strategy has significantly contributed to the release of thirty-five women so far, and it is now being implemented by a coalition of organizations, including WEC. Paula plans to keep fighting until all the women are released.
Paula has been published on many issues related to health, reproductive rights, and public policy, and has spoken at various conferences and universities, including Harvard and Georgetown University. She has also served as an expert consultant for the World Bank regarding the Zika epidemic and its human rights implications. Through her women's rights advocacy work she has been interviewed, published, and quoted by the New York Times, The Economist, The Miami Herald, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNN en Español, NTN24, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and others.
Paula received her law degree from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and she received an LL.M. with a concentration in Human Rights Law from the Washington College of Law at American University. Paula was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2012.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
 

 

 

 

 

LUBNA BHAYANI, MSc, is the Director of Partnerships for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). With a career spanning more than 15 years and several countries across Africa and Asia, Lubna's has held senior roles at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the World Bank and UNICEF, where her focus as a Health Economist has been on designing and directing programs, in multi-sectoral and multicultural environments, with a strong focus on integrated stakeholder engagement, and building strategic partnerships; ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially for structurally excluded communities.
Lubna is known for her leadership in diverse teams, leading innovative strategies, and impactful initiatives. In her capacity at GEAPP, she leads building winning coalitions for energy transition, especially those that champion access to renewable, green energy, integrating gender transformative approaches for women's empowerment and climate justice.
Fluent in multiple languages, Lubna holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University in Canada, and master's degrees from both the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK; and has been serving on the Board of the Canadian Association for Global Health since 2023.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
 

 

 

 

 

SUSAN EKBERG STIRITZ, PhD, is the chair of the Sexual Health and Education Specialization in the Master of Social Work program. Dr. Stiritz has conducted research centered on sex positive, holistic sexuality and taught developmental sexuality for more than twenty years. She also designs and teaches Brown School courses to help students fulfill the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) certification requirements.
Dr. Stiritz has published papers in various peer-reviewed journals, including the American Journal of Sexuality Education. Previously, she founded and ran a Model Cities Day Care Center and worked as Director of Education and Training at the St. Louis Family Planning Council. From 2020-2022, Dr. Stiritz served as president of AASECT and on Planned Parenthood of St. Louis's Board of Directors. She is also a Certified Sexuality Educator and a Certified Sexuality Education Supervisor, and she is a member of the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute faculty. In 2002, Dr. Stiritz was named a Washington University Distinguished Alumna. In 2013, she was honored as the AASECT Sexuality Educator of the Year. Dr. Stiritz has served as a member of Washington University's LGBT Advisory Board and was awarded Holobaugh Honors for service to and advocacy for the LGBT community in 2014. In April 2024, The Gephardt Institute awarded Dr Stiritz Washington University's Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award for her engagement with and contributions to the St. Louis Region.
 

 

 

 

 

FAYSAL EL KAK, MD, MS, ARCOG, Clinical Associate of Obstetrics and Gynecology Sexual Health, coordinator of Women Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Program, Department of Obstetrics Gynecology, AUB Medical Center, senior lecturer of public health and sexuality at Faculty of Health Sciences- AUB. He is a member of Strategic Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE)- WHO and sits on the Reproductive Health Working Group at the AUB. He is the President of the East Mediterranean Federation of Sexual Health (EMFeSH)- World Association for Sexual Health, member of the global committee of the International Society for Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH). Past Vice President of FIGO and past President of the Federation of Arab Gynecology and Obstetrics Societies (FAGOS). Throughout his career, Faysal has worked locally and internationally to advance health equality and gender equity promoting SRHR across life course. He has consulted a number of UN organizations on reproductive sexual health issues and led several initiatives on SRH in Lebanon and globally with FIGO. Faysal has published extensively on sexual reproductive health issues, especially related to youth, refugees, LGBT groups and maternal mortality. He has a strong presence on both traditional and social media platforms and is regularly invited to speak in conferences and meetings. He regularly appears on media channels (Newspapers & TV) addressing contemporary reproductive and sexual health issues and promoting gender equity and inclusivity in healthcare.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
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.
 

 

 

 

 

CAROLYN FLOREY, MA, is a Digital Development Specialist at the Asian Development Bank, headquartered in Manila, Philippines. In this role, she is responsible for promoting digital transformation in Asia and the Pacific region. She works to formulate and implement digital technology strategies tailored to specific needs and priorities of each region. Prior to this, Carolyn was the Senior Director, Technology for Development at Mercy Corps where she was responsible for guiding organizational and programmatic vision and strategy on the application of digital and data services. Prior to Mercy Corps, she was the Technology for Development Lead at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, where she led the Digital Tools and Big Data Research Unit and worked to leverage digital technologies for agricultural research for development. Carolyn has previously worked at the World Bank, United Nations Foundation, USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, a women's health NGO in Delhi, India (Breakthrough) and as a Fulbright grantee in Jeonju, South Korea. She holds an MA in International Development and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BA in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University.
 

 

 

 

 

BETH FREDRICK is a leader, advocate, and authority in population, human rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRRH). As an executive and spokesperson for high-profile, nonprofit organizations and initiatives she has led multi-million-dollar U.S. and global research, policy analysis, advocacy, and communication programs and partnerships. For 14 years she led the Advance Family Planning (AFP) initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute on Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH). AFP pioneered a results-based advocacy approach that stimulated 3,454 policy improvements and mobilized $185.7 million from low- and middle-income governments and corporations. She served as Deputy Director of the Gates Institute and co-founded the BSPH Center for Public Health Advocacy. She holds a faculty appointment in the BSPH Population, Family and Reproductive Health Department, developing and teaching an online course that enables students to apply the SMART Advocacy approach pioneered by AFP. Beth is also Senior Advocacy Advisor for the William H. Gates Institute.
Before joining BSPH in 2009, Beth was Executive Vice President of the International Women's Health Coalition and Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for Programs of the Guttmacher Institute. In both positions she guided strategic planning and was a lead architect of and fundraiser for major research, policy, and communication initiatives.
Beth served as Board Chair of Ibis Reproductive Health, Scenarios USA, and the AIDS and Adolescents Network of New York, and helped to launch the Baltimore Abortion Fund. She is currently a member of the Asia Research Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) U.S. board and Global Treasurer of EMpower, a grantmaking organization in emerging markets. She was a Bell Fellow with Harvard University, an adjunct faculty with New York University's Wagner School for Public Service and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.
Beth lives in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and has co-created and supported local and global initiatives with researchers, advocates, policymakers, and donors throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
 

 

 

 

 

TRACIE GREGORY GOFFE, MBA, has over 25 years of experience in the financial service industry, Tracie joined Midwest Trust in 2021 with experience as a tax accountant at Big Six accounting firms Coopers & Lybrand and Arthur Andersen, financial advisor at American Express Financial Advisors, director of client services at Buford, Dickson Harper & Sparrow, and account manager in the trust department at The Northern Trust Company. Tracie has a Master of Business Administration from Webster University and a Master of Accounting/Taxation from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
 

 

 

 

 

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 the Senior Policy Manager at National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). She is a skilled legal advocate with substantial experience in organizing, policy and legislative advocacy focused on reproductive rights and justice. Previously, as Senior Advisor at the Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access, she cultivated impactful partnerships and led initiatives to enhance contraceptive access. Her consultancy with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders included developing strategic recommendations to improve community services. She has collaborated closely with state advocates to champion proactive measures and combat restrictive legislation, notably on issues like abortion rights, immigrant health care and campus sexual assault. Ms. Ebrahim draws from her experience as a former board member of Surge Reproductive Justice, a prominent nonprofit in Washington state dedicated to advancing reproductive and racial justice. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned a JD from the School of Law and an M SW from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. Ms. Ebrahim earned her bachelor’s degree in religion and creative writing from Oberlin College. She was born and raised in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
 

 

 

 

 

PAMELA SCHNEIDER is the former Executive Vice President, Operations Chief of Staff, and member of the Management Committee at Corning Incorporated. Prior to her 25-year career with Corning, Pamela was an auditor at the Raleigh, NC office of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. from 1981 to 1986. Pamela has over 30 years' experience with accounting, financial planning and management, human resource management, and strategic leadership. Pamela served on not-for-profit boards in the Corning, NY area, including Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes, The Alternative School for Math and Science, The Rockwell Museum of Art, and The Corning Childrens Center. In Central Florida Pamela serves as a volunteer tax preparer for the AARP Tax Aide Program. Pamela received her MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her CPA license (currently inactive) from North Carolina, a Master of Arts in Counseling from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College. Pamela retired from Corning Incorporated in 2011 and is now focused on equestrian pursuits in Central Florida.
 

 

 

 

 

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.
 

 

 

 

 

ALLANA WELCH, MBA, MPP, brings over a decade of experience in international development, technology, communications, and international emergency recovery/response. She most recently led the implementation of USAID's Digital Strategy, and the development of USAID's ten-year Digital Policy, which will guide how the Agency leverages technologies in their programmatic work and in support of governments and societies around the world. Ms. Welch was formerly the Global 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 and hosted 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.