Kelly Blanchard
President

Kelly Blanchard holds a Master of Science in Population and International Health and a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies from Harvard University. Prior to joining Ibis Reproductive Health, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana and worked as a Program Associate at the Population Council in New York and South Africa, where she managed a growing regional program on reproductive health. Kelly joined Ibis in 2003 as an Associate and opened our Johannesburg office. Her research has focused on emergency contraception, medication and surgical abortion, microbicides, and barrier methods for HIV prevention; she has authored or co-authored more than 40 articles on reproductive health in developing and developed countries. In 2006 Kelly received the Outstanding Young Professional Award from the Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section of the American Public Health Association. She also received the Darroch Award recognizing excellence in research to advance sexual and reproductive health from the Guttmacher Institute in 2009. Our Board of Directors appointed Kelly President of Ibis in November 2004.

Amanda Dennis
Associate

Amanda Dennis, Associate, received her Doctorate in Public Health from Boston University. Dr. Dennis also holds a Master’s degree in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College. Prior to joining Ibis, she worked as a counselor at an ambulatory surgery center specializing in second-trimester abortion care and as a counselor at a domestic violence shelter. Currently, she directs Ibis’s research on the Hyde Amendment, as well as several projects focused on health care reform in the US. Other research interests include reproductive health for women with disabilities and health care disparities.

Angel Foster
Affiliated Scholar

Angel M. Foster joined Ibis Reproductive Health 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 over thirty 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 Nursing Students for Choice and in 2004 was named one of Choice USA’s “30 Under-30 Activists for Reproductive Freedom.”

Kate Grindlay
Senior Project Manager

Kate Grindlay holds a Master of Science degree in Global Health and Population from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining Ibis Reproductive Health, she worked at UCSF’s Women’s Global Health Imperative as a Site Leader and Data Manager Assistant on the MIRA trial to evaluate the diaphragm as a possible method of female-controlled HIV and STI prevention. She has also worked on qualitative research projects in South Asia, including assessing the impact of microfinance on women’s leadership and community development in India, and analyzing reasons for discontinuation among community health workers in Bangladesh. Her current work focuses on expanding the availability and accessibility of reproductive health services for women in the US and internationally.

Ruth Manski
Project Manager

Ruth Manski is a Research Assistant at Ibis Reproductive Health. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Grinnell College. She recently completed a Fulbright Research Fellowship in Sri Lanka, where she conducted in-depth interviews and surveys with women about female kitchen culture and cooking practices. Prior to joining Ibis, Ruth interned with Healthy Acadia where she researched pandemic flu preparedness and food insecurity among low income women. 

Becky Nelson
Office Assistant/Bookeeper
Becky Nelson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature as well as a certificate in Culture, Health and Science from Smith College. She also spent a year in Scotland studying English and Health at the University of Edinburgh. She continues to work as a part-time counselor at Four Women Health Services, a Massachusetts reproductive health clinic.

Sarah Roberts
Project Manager

Sarah Roberts holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Vermont. Her background is primarily in behavioral health science research on and outreach for women’s sexual health, intimate partner violence, and substance abuse. Prior to joining Ibis, Sarah completed a number of internships and research positions including two years of intensive psychophysiological data collection examining the sexual function of adult survivors of childhood maltreatment. She has provided quantitative and qualitative research support for a variety of projects addressing race and gender equity in medical academia, health-care based interventions for domestic violence survivors, and alcohol use harm-reduction in college athletes. Presently, she contributes to several projects at Ibis pertaining to HIV care access and utilization in South Africa, improving access to oral contraceptives in the United States, and promoting reproductive health care for women in the military.

Megan Smith
Social Media Coordinator and Office Manager

Megan Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bryn Mawr College. Prior to joining Ibis, she worked as an access counselor at Women’s Medical Fund, an abortion fund based in Philadelphia. Megan is a playwright, artist, activist, and blogger. Her play The Waiting Room, which tells the stories of low-income women unable to afford an abortion, has been produced three times and has raised over $3500 for abortion funds. She is also the founder of the Repeal Hyde Art Project, a community art installation to raise awareness and increase dialogue about the Hyde Amendment that has been used by organizations across the US as an educational platform.

Britt Wahlin
Director of Development and Communications

Britt Wahlin 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. 

Dan Grossman
Vice President for Research

Dan Grossman received his Bachelor’s of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and an MD 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. His current research includes both clinical and social science studies aimed at improving access to contraception and safe abortion in the US, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as evaluating the impact of integrating reproductive health and HIV services. He also coordinates the Oral Contraceptives Over-the-Counter Working Group. He has published over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals and serves on committees for professional organizations such as the American Public Health Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Grossman is also Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF and works as a physician part-time in the San Francisco Bay Area.