Ibis Reproductive Health

ibis reproductive health

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Why “Ibis”?

Our Founder,
Charlotte Ellertson

Accomplishments

staff

Cambridge, Massachussets
San Francisco, California
Johannesburg, South Africa

Staff in Cambridge, MA

Kelly Blanchard
President

Kelly Blanchard, President, holds both a Master of Science in Population and International Health and a Bachelor's degree in social studies from Harvard. Ms. Blanchard held a Fulbright Scholarship in Ghana. Prior to joining Ibis, Ms. Blanchard worked at the Population Council as a Program Associate, where she managed a growing program on reproductive health in South Africa and the Southern Africa region. Her most recent research has focused on emergency contraception, medical and surgical abortion, and microbicides. Ms. Blanchard has authored or co-authored over twenty articles on reproductive health issues in developing countries.

Amanda Dennis, Research Assistant, holds a Master’s of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College. Prior to joining Ibis Reproductive Health, she worked as a counselor at an ambulatory surgery center specializing in 2nd trimester abortion care and as a counselor at a domestic violence shelter. Her most recent research has focused on the juncture of disability rights and reproductive health and the role of male partners in abortion services. She is presently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Health, specializing in social and behavioral aspects of health care, at Boston University.

Angel M. Foster, Senior Associate, joined Ibis Reproductive Health as in 2002. She received her DPhil (PhD) in Middle Eastern studies from Oxford University, attending as a Rhodes Scholar, and her MD from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Foster also holds both a Master's degree in international policy studies and a Bachelor's degree in international relations and biology from Stanford University. Dr. Foster has conducted both qualitative and quantitative research in the US, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, and Egypt and has authored and co-authored a number of articles, book chapters, and reports dedicated to reproductive health issues in both the Middle East and the US. She has previously served on the board of directors of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, on the American Academy of Family Physician’s Public Health Commission, and as the 2003-2004 President of the Board of Directors of Medical Students for Choice. Dr. Foster currently serves on the advisory committee of the Global Network of Researchers on HIV/AIDS in the MENA region, the steering committee of International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, and the advisory board of the Abortion Access Project and in 2004 was named one of Choice USA’s “30 Under-30 Activists for Reproductive Freedom.”

Courtney B. Jackson, Ellertson Fellow, received a PhD in sociology and a graduate certificate in women’s studies from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in women’s studies from Colorado College. Her dissertation research addressed the increase in births attended by nurse-midwives from less than 1% in 1975 to over 8% in 2002. Drawing upon sociological theories of the professions, she analyzed factors that explain state differences in supply, use, and regulation of nurse-midwifery. More recently, she started a project on the declining rate of Vaginal Births after Cesarean Sections (VBACs). Her fellowship projects will address access to abortion services, focusing on the provision of abortion services by nurse-midwives. In addition, she plans to study perceptions of Ob/Gyn residents to better understand why new doctors plan to include or exclude abortion services from their practice. Prior to the fellowship, she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bowdoin College where she taught Introductory Sociology, Statistics, and Women and Work. She also taught Sociology at the University of Southern Maine, including a course on Gender and Reproduction. Dr. Jackson has over 10 years experience conducting applied research in the areas of public health and community development. Most recently she conducted a needs assessment for Maine’s HIV Prevention Program.

Deborah Kacanek, Senior Associate, is a social epidemiologist with a Doctor of Science degree in Health and Social Behavior and Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from Harvard School of Public Health. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University. Prior to joining Ibis this year she was an NIAID fellow in HIV/AIDS at Tufts-New England Medical Center and Tufts University Medical School, where she teaches medical students in the MPH program. She has conducted research on physical and sexual assault and HIV risk behaviors among young incarcerated women and men and was an investigator for a multi-site CDC-funded STD/AIDS risk reduction trial for young men leaving prison. Dr. Kacanek uses qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the social determinants of the use of HIV/AIDS prevention technologies (e.g. women-controlled HIV prevention methods, HIV counseling and testing) and HIV care and treatment. Additional research interests include gender-based violence and health disparities. She has also worked in Thailand, the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan.

Laurel Morrison, Director of Finance and Administration, is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining Ibis, Ms. Morrison served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Administration at Charles River Associates. Ms. Morrison has extensive experience in financial and operational oversight.

Kelsey Otis, Project Manager, holds a Master of Arts degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Anthropology with a minor in Spanish from Northwestern University. Prior to joining Ibis Reproductive Health, she worked as a Project Manager for Socios en Salud in Lima, Peru, managing an income-generation project for low-income, recovered Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis patients. She has also worked as an Evaluation Research Analyst for the Center for Research in the Health and Behavioral Sciences, evaluating STI/HIV physician training courses offered through the CDC’s Prevention Training Centers, as a meeting leader for the Kaiser Permanente Viva Bien project for Latina women with diabetes, and as a limited English proficiency Project Coordinator for the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern University. Her most recent research focuses on women’s access to reproductive health care services at the time of birth in rural Bolivia.

Jessica Stone, Office Manager, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from Georgetown University. Prior to joining Ibis in May 2008, she worked as a staff assistant at Women Work!, a Washington, DC-based organization advocating for women’s economic security, where she collaborated on communications and advocacy projects.

Britt Wahlin, Associate for Development and Communications, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Thought and Literature and a Master’s degree in Humanities from Stanford University. Before joining Ibis in January 2007, she was a consultant specializing in philanthropy and social-issue media. She spearheaded film-based public awareness campaigns for the nonprofit media organization, Active Voice, as well as helped secure foundation funding and new business for Active Voice campaigns on topics ranging from immigration and political asylum to gender equity in science. For Greater Boston Funders for Women and Girls, she planned events and led outreach and communications efforts to educate private foundations about the benefits of funding women- and girl-serving organizations. Previously, she was a program officer at The Women’s Foundation in San Francisco (now the Women’s Foundation of California), where she made grants to women’s and girls’ advocacy organizations, ran a program that taught leadership and philanthropy skills to young women, and directed a mentorship program for welfare recipients transitioning into the workforce. She has served on the boards of the Girls After School Academy in San Francisco, Sojourner Feminist Institute, and Women in Film & Video/New England, and has published articles in film, nonprofit, and feminist publications.

Staff in San Francisco, California

Dan Grossman, Senior Associate, received his Bachelor’s in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and an M.D. from Stanford University. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to joining Ibis in 2005, he held the position of Health Specialist at the Population Council in Mexico City. While at the Council, his work included qualitative research on women’s experiences with misoprostol abortion, developing an acceptability trial of female-controlled barrier methods, designing training materials on emergency contraception, and training on medication abortion. His current work focuses on improving access to contraception and safe abortion in both the US and Latin America, as well as on barrier methods for HIV prevention. Dr. Grossman also works as a clinician part-time at St. Luke’s Women’s Center in San Francisco and has a clinical faculty appointment at UCSF in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences.

Sarah Jane Holcombe, Associate, received both a Master’s in Public Health and a Master’s of Public and Private Management from Yale University and she holds a Bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard College. Prior to joining Ibis, Ms. Holcombe worked as a Program Officer for the Population Program at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation where she designed and led grant-making programs for reproductive health in Mexico, Ethiopia, and Sudan as well as for reproductive rights in the United States. She also worked for the Department of Health and Human Services as a Health Policy Analyst. Ms. Holcombe has extensive experience in developing both domestic and international grant-making strategies.

Signy Judd, Senior Project Manager, received a B.A. from Occidental College, a Master’s in Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in medical sociology at UCSF. Prior to coming to Ibis she served as Director of International Training Programs at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at UCSF. In this position she worked with leaders from diverse regions, religions, and disciplines to create sexual and reproductive health programs and policies based on sound science. Before this, Ms. Judd designed, implemented and evaluated programs at the local, state and international levels for organizations ranging from Planned Parenthood to the California Office of Family Planning and CARE International. Ms. Judd Her current research focuses on how people, practices, medicines and technologies–specifically those related to abortion—migrate across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Staff in Johannesburg, South Africa

Naomi Lince, Associate, holds a Master’s of Public Health and Master's of International Affairs from Columbia University as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and International Affairs from Macalester College. Prior to joining Ibis, Ms. Lince worked in Uganda, Brazil and the US on projects including economic development and microfinance, welfare reform, and family planning knowledge and preferences. Her research interests include STI and HIV/AIDS prevention, abortion rights, and regulatory and economic barriers to the introduction of new technologies.

Mthokozisi Radebe, Project Manager, joins Ibis from the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit where he worked as a senior counselor and recruitment strategist for three years. He has extensive experience with clinical trials namely microbicides phase I and II trials and SPARTAC, which focuses on anti-retroviral therapy for seroconverters. He is also experienced in community outreach work, facilitating support groups and training sessions with couples and families.

Adila Hargey, Project Manager, joins Ibis with a human rights background focusing on gender. She holds a Bachelors/Honors Degree in Gender and Transformation from the University of Cape Town and is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Education for Sustainable Development with the London South Bank University. Her previous work, at the South African Human Rights Commission, includes research, policy analysis, and training on gender and socioeconomic rights as well as gender equality.