Future of Maternal Care Summit

Dr. Diana Derige is the Vice President of Health Equity Stragy at the American Medical Association’s Center for Health Equity. In this role she provides strategic direction for the Center for Health Equity through alliances and programming. The role of the Center for Health Equity is to embed health equity across the AMA so that health equity becomes part of the practice, process, action, innovation, and organizational performance and outcomes. Over the past twenty years, Diana has designed and managed several private philanthropic, government, and non-profit programs.  She has supported local and national investments by serving as a convener, collaborator and catalyst, responsible for nurturing opportunities for affecting positive systemic change in communities. Throughout her career, she has concentrated on promoting public health and social equity for marginalized communities. Dr. Derige is currently adjunct faculty and the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, and has held positions as co-director of the Center for Latina Maternal and Family Health Research at the University of Houston, program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust and National Director of MCH Initiatives at Urban Strategies. Dr.Derige holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and women’s studies and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Public Health from the University of North Carolina. She also holds a certificate in executive education from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and completed a leadership development program through the Center for Creative Leadership-Europe in Brussels, Belgium.

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, five-time author, international speaker and strategist for maternal and infant health. A former senior editor at ESSENCE and writer at FORTUNE magazine, Kimberly is a leading voice on birth, breastfeeding, and motherhood
at the intersection of race, class, and policy. She is the executive
director of Narrative Nation, the only Black woman-led non-profit that creates narrative-centered multi-media platforms and technology
products to address racial disparities in maternal and infant health. She is the creator and founder of Irth, (as in Birth but without the B for bias), the first-of-its-kind “Yelp-like” review and rating app for Black and brown women and birthing people to leave and find reviews of Ob/GYNs, hospitals, and pediatricians as a digital tool to address bias and racism in care and to drive transparency and accountability in the medical system. Irth was a winner in the 2020 MIT Solve Global Challenge in the Anti-Racist Technology category and a recent recipient of the Goldman Sachs Impact Grant for Black Women. With funding from the California Health Care Foundation, Narrative Nation also launched Birthright— a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth to counter the doom and gloom mainstream narrative in Black maternal health. Kimberly’s fifth book, The Big Let Down—How Medicine, Big Business and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2017. Her next book, Birthing in Colour—A Black Woman’s Guide to Birth & Breastfeeding, will be published in the UK by Pinter & Martin in Fall 2023. A frequent contributor to The New York Times and Washington Post, HuffPost, Slate and others, her online commentaries received over 10 million page views last year. Kimberly was named one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s eNews for her media advocacy work in maternal and infant health. As a consultant, Kimberly creates narrative strategies for non-profit organizations and for-profit brands that serve mothers and babies, with an expertise in engaging communities of color. In 2022, she was named an Ascend Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

For nearly a decade, Kimberly has created and directed innovative community-partnered projects in New Orleans, Birmingham, Detroit and Philadelphia, among other cities, working to improve birth, breastfeeding, and maternal health outcomes. She is the creator and co-founder of Black Breastfeeding Week and previously served as editorial director of the Maternal and Child Health Communication Collective, a national consortium of over 80 organizations, working to shift the narrative of maternal and infant health, funded by the W.K.Kellogg Foundation.

A born and raised Queens native, Kimberly is also the author of The Mocha Manual series of books, published by HarperCollins (2006-2009) and founded an award-winning pregnancy and parenting destination for Black parents in 2007. Her first book, The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and turned into a DVD sold at Walmart. The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit and The Mocha Manual to Military Life round out the top-selling series.

Kimberly has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, Cheddar TV, Anderson Cooper, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Fox News and has been featured in various international and national media outlets, including the British Medical Journal, The Guardian (U.K.), Essence, Pregnancy and in various online media.

Kimberly is a graduate of NYU and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A divorced mother of two, she lives in Queens, NY. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @iamKSealsAllers. Follow @theIrthApp on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Learn more at www.KimberlySealsAllers.com , www.IrthApp.com

Whitney Perkins Witt, PhD, MPH, serves as the Vice President of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) at Highmark Health. She is an internationally recognized senior leader, executive, and scholar in maternal and child health, the social determinants of health (SDoH), and health innovation. Dr. Witt has nearly 30 years of experience leading multidisciplinary teams to develop and implement strategic health initiatives, conduct research and evaluation, and launch innovative programs. In addition, she has grown portfolios of work, particularly in healthcare delivery and financing, to improve cost, quality, and
patient-related outcomes. Dr. Witt has had a significant impact on the field, exemplified by significant federal and foundation funding, influential publications, and leadership positions.

Amanda P. Williams, MD, MPH, FACOG is the Medical Director at Mahmee, a maternal healthcare company dedicated to improving health equity and empowering all families with wraparound care during the pregnancy and postpartum period. In this role, she oversees the company’s clinical programming to better support mothers and birthing people, while fostering institutional partnerships with academic medical centers, health systems, and payers. Dr. Williams also acts as the Clinical Innovation Advisor to the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the OBGYN Department at Stanford University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Mahmee, Dr. Williams worked at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center where she served as Director of Maternity Services. Additionally, she oversaw the maternity continuum for the Chiefs of OBGYN across Kaiser’s 15 medical centers in Northern California. She has also served on several state and national committees, such as the California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review committee and the National Quality Forum Maternal Morbidity and Mortality work group.

Dr. Williams is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University in Cambridge, MA where she majored in American Medical History and Biochemistry. She completed her medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA where she also received a master’s degree in public health, focusing on health policy and management. She completed her graduate medical training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Williams has been a prominent voice on maternal health and health equity in 2023. Her expertise has been showcased through Grand Rounds at prestigious institutions like Rush, Stanford, and Howard Universities. A sought-after speaker, she has been featured at the The Future of Maternal Care Summit, The Fortune 500 Most Powerful Women Next Generation Conference, and The Doula Expo. Finally, she has been interviewed on national television outlets such as PBS, BET, CNN and MSNBC and in print media such as, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Rosemond Sarpong Owens – Champion of Racial and Health Equity and Maternal Health Advocate.

Rosemond Sarpong Owens is a seasoned leader with a distinguished career in the field of racial and health equity, particularly within healthcare. With a deep-seated passion for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and a Master’s in Public Health specializing in MCH, she is on a mission to eliminate maternal inequities and drive transformative change. Having worked across various healthcare organizations, Rosemond possesses a wealth of experience and insights into the complexities of the healthcare system. She is known for her ability to navigate intricate organizational landscapes and design innovative solutions that foster truly inclusive environments.

Rosemond sees herself as an architect of change, constantly working to shape a more just and equitable society. Her expertise in crafting and executing strategic priorities for equitable outcomes has left an indelible mark.

In a world where diversity, equity, and inclusion are more crucial than ever, she stands as a beacon of hope and progress. Her mission is to continue shaping the future of healthcare and society at large, ensuring that every individual has access to the care and opportunities they deserve. Additionally, Rosemond was recently appointed as the incumbent Board Chair of March of Dimes in Minnesota, a position that aligns perfectly with her unwavering commitment to maternal and child health.

As a visionary in the field of Maternal and Child Health, Rosemond serves as a source of inspiration for many, demonstrating that true change is possible. She reminds us all that we have the power to create a brighter, more equitable future.

Jyesha Wren is a certified nurse-midwife and mother who is passionate about
innovating community grown evidence-based systems of care for health equity,
liberation and justice.
She is a Co-Founder and the Director of Beloved Birth Black Centering: Group Perinatal
Care by, for, and with Black People. Beloved Birth is a collaboration of Alameda Health
System and the Alameda County Public Health Department, transforming Black perinatal
care from within the public safety-net healthcare system. Beloved is all about
empowering Black women and community to lead health system innovation and
redefine perinatal care for the Black birth justice movement, working to eliminate
racism-based disparities in Black birth experiences and outcomes.
Jyesha has a background in Sociology and completed a Master’s degree in Nurse
Midwifery at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Since graduating in 2015 she
has worked as a full-scope midwife for Alameda Health System (AHS). She provides
labor and delivery care at AHS’s Wilma Chan Highland Hospital in Oakland CA, and
prenatal and postpartum care at Eastmont Wellness Center in East Oakland.

Dr. Genen is an experienced physician executive who has spent her career focused on improving the lives of women and children. Having worked as a clinician and engaged with health plans across the nation, Dr. Genen brings the lens of medical science, statistical analysis, health plan medical policy, billing/claims, and population health thus seeing the larger picture of health care’s complex system. She has insight into the digital health space of FemTech, vetting out companies for investment opportunities by venture capital, private equity and health plan innovation centers.

In her current role as Chief Medical Officer at ProgenyHealth, she oversees clinical operations and is responsible for the advancement of products supporting women and children. She designed, launched, and scaled the Maternity Care Management program to complement ProgenyHealth’s other offerings in the NICU space. In addition to her clinical thought leadership, Dr. Genen is pivotal in the sale cycle, analyzing pre-sales data and presenting to various senior executive leaders at Health Plans across the country. As Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealth Group Research and Development, she advanced innovations in healthcare in women’s health. Understanding the need to reach more women, she created and scaled a Virtual Centering Pregnancy program that was rolled out to all 23 Medicaid States of United Healthcare. Preceding her move to R&D, she was the Chief Medical Officer for Women’s Health at Optum servicing Fertility, Maternity and Neonatal programs and had responsibility for a P&L of $35M. She shaped the operations of these programs by directing clinical and product teams, enhancing reporting, advising analytics, and supporting sales. She is known for her pioneering approach in designing population health programs for both Commercial and Medicaid markets and received the Innovation Award in 2019 from UnitedHealth Group.

Linda currently serves as a Board Member for Hera Women’s Health, a Maternal Fetal Medicine practice backed by private equity and consults on various healthcare enterprises. She is zealously interested in technology and machine learning applications that will help ensure timely care and improve outcomes. In addition to her full-time role and board service, she is a Distinguished Mentor at Stanford Medical School in the Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management (MCiM) program.

Dr. Genen is affiliated as a neonatologist at Northwell Cohen Children’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Hofstra University Medical School. She participates in clinical research and serves on the inaugural committee of American Academy of Pediatrics Women in Neonatology promoting female leadership in the realm of Neonatology. Dr. Genen earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry graduating with honors from Wellesley College. She received her Doctor of Medicine from the SUNY – Downstate. She completed her pediatric residency at Columbia Presbyterian Babies and Children’s
Hospital and her neonatology fellowship at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. During her fellowship, she earned a master’s degree in public health at Yale School of Public Health.

When it comes time to relax, Linda cherishes time with her husband and two sons. She enjoys digital photography, hiking, planning fun family adventures and checking out the newest restaurants when not creating in the kitchen.

Over 30+ years, Linda has invested in public and private life science companies as an institutional investor, a corporate M&A executive, a hedge fund analyst, and a private venture investor; she’s held roles at companies including Essex Investment Management, Banc of America Securities, Novartis Diagnostics, Applied Biosystems (sold to Life Technologies Corp.) as well as at venture-backed life science companies such as VitaPath Genetics, Singulex, Raindance Technologies (sold to Bio-Rad), and Linkage Biosciences (sold to Thermo Fisher). Her areas of expertise includes finance, operations, and mergers and acquisitions and, within the life sciences specifically, diagnostics, genomics, healthcare services, and life science tools. In 2019, she co-founded Avestria Ventures, which invests in early-stage women’s health and female-led life science ventures.

Celeste Beck is an Associate Research Scientist at Heluna Health. She has a dual-title PhD in both
Nutritional Science and Clinical and Translational Science from The Pennsylvania State University, and a
Master of Public Health degree from the University of Utah. Her doctoral training focused on nutrition as
it relates to pregnancy and maternal health outcomes, and on how to communicate research findings to
enhance clinical care and public health programs aimed to improve the health of mothers and infants.
She has over 15 years of experience working in public health and research settings, including work at the
Utah Department of Health, the Intermountain Healthcare hospital network, and across multiple
academic institutions. In her current role, Celeste continues to conduct research and program
evaluation projects focused on maternal and child health; she has authored multiple publications in the
fields of public health and maternal and child health.

Adrienne Griffen, MPP, is the Executive Director of Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on improving maternal mental health care through advocacy and policy.  Adrienne is a nationally-recognized subject matter expert in maternal mental health with lived experience and over two decades of leadership in the field. Adrienne is a member of the National Task Force on Maternal Mental Health, and is on the Boards of Directors of the Marce Society of North America and the Mental Health Liaison Group.

Melissa Layne is the Director of Population Health Clinical Development Program Management at Centene Corporation. In this role she leverages her clinical and program development skill to bring Maternal and Child Health programs and initiatives to market that fill gaps and further Centene’s whole-health strategy.

Melissa is a registered nurse and has 17 years of clinical and managed care experience. She holds a Master of Science in Nursing Administration and Financial leadership from Nova Southeastern University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida Atlantic University. Melissa is committed to being a part of the solution in improving the outcomes within maternal health care. She recognizes her current role as the most impactful and personally fulfilling role of her nursing career.

Adimika Arthur is a visionary and strategic executive
who has spent over two decades in healthcare and
whose research experience in health equity,
investments and disruptive technologies provides
companies insights while competing in a rapidly
shifting market. Mrs. Arthur is well versed in
transforming business use cases and leveraging
partnerships in complex domestic and global
regulatory environments. She works cross-functionally
across all disciplines to help foster creative and
customer-responsive solutions to the biggest
challenges and to deliver meaningful and quantifiable
results. She inspires high-growth companies ranging
from early-stage start-ups, public and privately held
payer and provider systems, policymakers and
community leveraged non-profit and private models.
Her career experience provides boards with a valuable
understanding of innovations that impact how a
company’s products, services and experiences will fare
with the competition moving ahead.

Adimika Arthur is an experienced clinical
epidemiologist and hospital/health system executive
who loves to help people better understand health,
wellbeing and healthcare through storytelling,
connection and culture. She uniquely brings her
population health focus on improving health and tech
equity and access to quality care for vulnerable
populations. She serves as the founding Executive
Director and CEO for Health Tech for Medicaid (HT4M).
HT4M is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting
innovation in Medicaid, the nations’ largest insurer, and
further improving the quality, equity and access to care
for vulnerable populations, their families and
communities. HT4M is radically changing the pace of
innovation in Medicaid through innovative program
service delivery, infrastructure/ecosystem development
and issue/policy advocacy to facilitate cutting-edge
forums and partnerships for entrepreneurs, payers,
providers, policymakers, advocates, investors and the
Medicaid community. HT4M sits at the intersection of
where health equity and tech equity meet and is
considered a mission-based market enabler that
facilitates cross-sectoral, collaborative partnerships in
health technology nationwide.
Mrs. Arthur has domain expertise in multiple levers of
the technology and healthcare industries with
expertise in convening investors, executives and
boards to create shareholder and stakeholder value
and optimized performance. Her proven healthcare
executive skills, with a strong management track
record, and leadership positions on many global
private board of directors, including a Canadian
modular solutions company, Fero International, and
multiple advisory boards (clinical and non-clinical),
always center in empathy as well as business acumen.

Mrs. Arthur is a mom of two boys, an active
community volunteer and advocate for liberation of the
outdoors for all to enjoy. She traverses hiking trails
around the world, runs daily and enjoys learning about
new cultures while traveling. She has an MPH from the
University of Washington, a BS from Clark Atlanta
University and studied at Boston University School of
Medicine.

Kimberly Durdin is a Licensed Midwife, Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant,Entrepreneur
Speaker, Educator & Doula Trainer. As a mother of six and grandmother of five, Kimberly credits her
children (and grandchildren) as her greatest teachers.
Over the last 33 years, Kimberly has interwoven her life with the lives of thousands of families throughout
New York City, Washington DC Metro Area & Los Angeles. Be it through her work of providing lactation
care, postpartum support, groups, counseling, childbirth education, labor support or through her work
mentoring current and future birthworkers, her dedication has allowed her to fully enjoy the fruits of her
labor in the faces of the communities served.  She and business partner Allegra Hill are co-owners and
co-founders of Kindred Space LA, Los Angeles’s only Black-owned Birth Center and hub for midwifery
care, out of hospital birth, doula support and training, lactation consulting, education, parenting support
groups, enrichment, movement & more. KindredSpaceLA is preparing to open additional locations in the
Southern California region. The need is great as more communities nationwide are facing a lack of
maternal healthcare options, commonly known as “maternity care deserts”.
Her non-profit the Birthing People Foundation empowers People of Color by providing free and low cost
education, training and certification pertaining to pregnancy, birth and postpartum; such as doulas,
childbirth educators, lactation consultants, birth assistants and midwives. It is designed to address the
maternal and infant health disparities in communities of color and other marginalized groups and to help
change birth outcomes for marginalized people, while bringing Black and Brown women/people back to
their roots as indigenous wellness providers.
Kimberly is stepping into an additional role as Midwifery Network Engagement Director of Birth
Center Equity (BCE), a 501c3 created to make birth center care an option in every community by
growing and sustaining birth centers led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Her position will play a
pivotal role in advancing the mission and impact of BCE by providing midwifery leadership, guidance and
support to birth center leaders in the BCE network.
KImberly and her work as a midwife, was recently featured on CNN’s “The Whole Story” with Anderson
Cooper and Abby Phillips on solutions to maternal health disparities. The program can be found on
streaming at HBO Max. (The program originally aired on December 18, 2023)

Sherenne Simon, MPH is a public health strategist and business advisor with 20+ years of expertise in maternal and child health, health equity, health system change, and organizational transformation. Her work has received recognition from President Obama’s White House with additional accolades domestically and globally. As the principal of Global Simon Group, her firm has worked with companies such as The Gates Foundation, Octapharma, USAID, and Tufts Black Maternal Health Center to advance social impact with innovative sustainable solutions. As the former Head of Health Equity at March of Dimes, Sherenne is dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes. Personally, Sherenne is mom to a son who was born premature, spent 100 days in the
NICU, and is now joyful and thriving.

Dr. Renaisa Anthony is a licensed physician by training, public health and policy practitioner by passion, and the Founder of MOMentum Park. Dr. Anthony is personally
and professionally dedicated to health equity by improving the health and lives of underserved and low-resourced communities through medicine, public health, policy, and technology. She built MOMentum Park to continue and expand these decades-long efforts. With 15 years of interdisciplinary experience in medicine, public health, administrative leadership, academics, health policy and social entrepreneurship, her areas of expertise include maternal & child health, women’s health, health disparities & equity, community engagement, partnerships, diversity, inclusion & equity and
technology.

My name is Alisa Marie, and I have three roles. Firstly, I am a mother of three; secondly, a business strategist and consumer insights executive passionate about the women’s reproductive health market; and thirdly, a professional doula serving U.S. Military families in San Diego. After a successful C-suite career and several entrepreneurial exits, I now focus my “time, treasure, and talents” on improving maternal health outcomes in the U.S. I work with companies specializing in fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. My company, Anchor Strategy Group specializes in boosting business performance and ramping up market momentum with tailored go-to-market strategies and consumer insights research, both in numbers and real talk, to create hit-it-out-of-the-park product sales based on the lost art of real human feedback and insights. Known for guiding companies through business crises or growth transitions with clarity and purpose, I have consistently enhanced client growth metrics. My leadership has been instrumental in both establishing and exiting several of my own ventures, as well as those led by clients, from inception to exit. Additionally, I played a key role in the executive team of a $300 million division of a global consulting company, following its acquisition of my firm. My background includes managing projects for over 125 global and domestic agency clients and directing more than 250 team members. My extensive client roster includes pumpspotting, Nestlé Health Science, Biora Therapeutics, Prometheus, Bausch Health, Baxter, DuPont, Galderma, L’Oréal, Dow, CBS/Sony, Estée Lauder, Mary Kay, Avon, Bath & Body Works, GeneIQ, Dionysus Health, Intrivo Diagnostics, Relavo Medical, Syntrillo, iCardio.ai, Band Connect, FlexPerc Medical, Sholom Healthcare Communities, Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Imperial Chemical Industries, and over 75 start-ups.

Wen Ting “Wendy” Fung is the Breastfeeding Services Manager/Regional Breastfeeding Liaison at PHFE WIC in Los Angeles County, a program of Breastfeeding and Nutrition Services at Heluna Health. She also serves as co-founder of Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Breastfeeding Task Force. In these roles, she helps moms to overcome breastfeeding challenges and strives to establish connections with other organizations to improve breastfeeding support, encourage moms to persevere with their breastfeeding goals, and promote exclusive breastfeeding. Wendy’s journey into breastfeeding support and
advocacy began when she started working with WIC as a Registered Dietitian in 2011. Wendy enjoys learning about the struggles of her community and uncovering the barriers that affect their willingness to support long-term breastfeeding. Wendy works to raise awareness about Asian American Pacific Islander breastfeeding and solicit general community support in helping Asian community members to breastfeed more.

K’Lynn Mitchell is a dedicated Registered Dietitian and the CinnaMoms Project Coordinator at PHFE WIC. Her role as CinnaMoms Project Coordinator involves managing various grant projects, supervising a team of project specialists and collaborating closely with community organizations to address and reduce health disparities, particularly in Black infant and maternal mortality. Her journey in nutrition and maternal health began at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned her bachelor of science degree in Applied Nutrition. At PHFE WIC, she has grown in her career from a nutritionist to her current leadership role, advocating for vulnerable populations and championing health equity among Black/African American/African WIC families. In addition to her nutritional expertise, K’Lynn is a professional movement teacher and certified yoga instructor. For the past four years, she’s been teaching yoga, emphasizing joyful movement for all body sizes. This unique skill set enhances her work at CinnaMoms, where she leads meditations, yoga sessions, and mindfulness activities. When not immersed in her professional endeavors, K’Lynn is an avid cook, focusing on vegan and vegetarian cuisine. At home, she is a proud dog mom to Lolo, a lab, and Coco Chanel, a yorkie. She is also currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health from Cal State LA, focusing on urban communit health.

Sarah Chen, MD is VP of Clinical Innovation at Maven Clinic, the largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health globally. Her personal experience as a Maven member brought her to join Maven, where she leads the team responsible for designing and executing evidence-based clinical programming to drive impact and better health outcomes. Through previous leadership roles at McKinsey, Clarify Health and Verily Life Sciences, Sarah has built extensive experience intersecting the clinical perspective with product, strategy and operations. Sarah received her MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in Biology and Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Crystal Pirtle Tyler PhD, MPH brings over 15 years of experience advancing reproductive and maternal health equity. As the Chief Health Officer at Rhia Ventures, she translates the needs of the women and birthing people most affected by systemic inequity into programming that fosters equitable reproductive health products and services. Most recently, Crystal served as the Executive Director of Ci3 at the University of Chicago, a research center addressing the social and structural determinants of adolescent reproductive health and well-being through design, storytelling, play, and policy change.

Crystal began her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta first as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer then as an Epidemiologist within the Division of Reproductive Health. There, she served as a subject matter expert on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and translating research to public health and clinical practice. From CDC, Crystal became the Director of the Michigan Public Health Institute’s Center for Child and Family Health, where she implemented systems level improvements to promote equity in the quality and availability of public health programs. She also served as a Senior Research Leader at IBM Watson Health, where she supported state implementation of Medicaid policy changes to advance maternal and child health outcomes. Crystal serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of Family Planning, Orchid Capital Collaborative, and the Black Woman’s Health Imperative. She has published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Journal of Adolescent Health, Contraception, the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, among others. Crystal completed both her Ph.D. and MPH in Epidemiology at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, respectively, and her Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies at Spelman College.

Sarah is a political social worker who has spent her career engaging young adults and womxn in government and politics. Sarah has started Youth Advisory Boards for 4 Congressmembers, mobilizing over 500 students. At Vote Mama PAC, she leads the political and programmatic work to support mamas running for office. This includes coordinating candidate endorsements, fundraising decisions, campaign contributions, and mentorship opportunities across different states. Previously, Sarah served as NY Chief of Staff for a member of the U.S. House, where she worked on supporting family-friendly legislation among other important initiatives. Sarah holds an MSW degree from Columbia University School of Social Work and a BA in Social work, Sociology, and Peace and Conflict Studies from Gordon College.

Talia trained at UCSF where she received her Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) degrees, after receiving her Nursing degree from Columbia University. She is passionate about innovating perinatal care, reproductive rights and access, reducing health disparities and providing healthcare for queer communities.

Kiran Saluja is the Executive Director of the PHFE WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children), the largest local WIC agency in the country, serving approximately 4% of the nation’s total and 23% of California’s WIC recipients. Ms. Saluja is a Registered Dietitian. She obtained her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the UCLA School of Public Health. She also holds a Masters and Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi, India. Ms. Saluja is a passionate supporter of breastfeeding and has participated in numerous breastfeeding coalitions, task forces and special committees at the local, state and federal levels. She served on the Board of the National WIC Association for seven years and was Board Chair in 2012. She has spoken widely about WIC, breastfeeding and nutrition education, including before the U.S. Congress in 2010 and at the Institute of Medicine in 2011.

Jenny Carrillo, PhD, is inspired by innovative technologies that improve global health and is
committed to achieving health equity and removing barriers to quality care. Dr. Carrillo serves as
President at Ovia Health, a healthcare technology, whose mission is to “make a healthy, happy
life possible for everyone.” Delivered through mobile apps, the Ovia platform leverages analytics
to identify possible risk earlier through real-time, self-reported data and equips individuals with
personalized health information and a Care Team to improve health outcomes for them and their
families. Ovia has expanded its impact after its acquisition by Labcorp where she also serves as a
Vice President. Trained as a Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Carrillo has more than 25 years of leadership
experience in healthcare, serving in various Executive positions and boards. She has contributed
to publications and panels, speaking extensively about achieving health equity, and as a Latina,
amplifies the concerns of the Latine community. Dr. Carrillo received a NIH National Research
Service Award, her Ph.D. from Yale University, MBA from University of Oxford, and was a
consultant with McKinsey & Co.

Dr. Leslie Saltzman is the Chief Medical Officer at Ovia Health, a Labcorp subsidiary and the leading digital women’s and family health platform. Dr. Saltzman has more than 15 years of experience in clinical and business technology settings. She most recently served as vice president of medical at TrialSpark, where she oversaw a team providing cross-functional support across business development, product and operations. Saltzman has a proven passion and commitment to women’s health, having held the positions of chief medical officer and clinical advisor at Rittenhouse Women’s Wellness Center.

Dr. Saltzman is a practicing, board-certified physician specializing in internal medicine. She began her career by founding a primary care practice exclusively for women that combined internal medicine, gynecology, psychology and nutrition. In addition to her clinical experience, she has held leadership positions at early-stage health technology companies, focusing on using clinical data to develop products that support patient care and clinical research.

Anula Jayasuriya is a successful private equity executive and venture capitalist whose background combines deep business, scientific and medical knowledge with broad clinical, industry, entrepreneurial, and investment experience. Anula was among the first investors to recognize the untapped opportunity in the unmet needs in women’s health (WH). Integrating her passion with her investing expertise, in 2013 Anula founded EXXclaim Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on catalyzing innovation,
entrepreneurship and investment in Women’s Health. EXXclaim has invested in a portfolio of diverse WH companies ranging from digital health, medical devices,
and diagnostics to consumer products. EXXclaim’s first investment, nVision Medical, was acquired in 2018 by Boston Scientific Inc. validating the significant business opportunity in women’s health. In 2006 Anula co-founded the “Evolvence India Life Science Fund” (www.invascent.com), the very first fund in India to focus exclusively on health care and invest in Indian pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and contract
services companies. The fund garnered attractive returns to investors. Anula was previously a partner with Skyline Ventures in Palo Alto, and prior to that with the German/US venture capital firm TVM, in San Francisco. Her prior positions include VP Business Development at Genomics Collaborative Inc., and Vice President, Global Drug Development at Hoffman-La Roche for opportunistic infections in AIDS and Transplantation.

Anula serves on the boards of several emerging technology companies, and on two non-profit boards. Anula received a BA from Harvard summa cum laude, and an MD and PhD (in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) from Harvard Medical School. She interned
in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and received an MBA with distinction
from Harvard Business School. Anula also holds a M. Phil. in pharmacology from the University of Cambridge, in England.

Emma Sugerman (née Rosen) is an experienced business strategy and operations leader in digital behavioral health. Emma is passionate about increasing access to and affordability of mental health care, leveraging her early professional years at Optum to build new, more scalable solutions that fit within existing payment paradigms. 

Prior to co-founding Mavida Health, she was the Vice President of Care Strategy for Charlie Health, a virtual intensive outpatient mental health practice for young adults and adolescents. Earlier, Emma was Head of Digital Strategy & Operations for LifeStance Health (NASDAQ: LFST) and Director of Business Strategy for Headspace (now Headspace Health). 

Emma serves as a mentor for First Round Fast Track, a 90-day mentorship experience that pairs hundreds of tech leaders to mentor founders and high-potential operators. She holds her MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business and BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Emma lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Noah, and two children, Levi (6) and Sophie (3).

Dr. Andrea Niles is a clinical psychologist and founder of Prospera Mental Health and Wellness. She completed her PhD at UCLA and was an advanced women’s health postdoctoral fellow at the SFVA Medical Center. She has studied anxiety and depression treatments and maternal mental health for 17 years and is passionate about making high quality mental health care widely accessible and affordable to everyone. Prospera is a mental health platform designed specifically for moms. Prospera provides weekly 1-on-1 sessions with perinatal certified mental health coaches and a library of digital tools specifically designed to support moms mental health.

Ijeoma Uche, MPH, is a co-founder of Birth By Us and a student physician. Prior, she spent her time at UC Berkeley and Brown University researching disparities in maternal health and is thrilled for the growth digital healthcare can bring to reproductive health.

Katie Spiess MBA, MSN, CNM has devoted her career to advancing midwifery and transforming the perinatal healthcare delivery landscape, most recently as associate director of maternal and child health strategy at UnitedHealthcare leading development of innovative perinatal initiatives for Medicaid markets and payor engagement in maternal health policy and care design. She brings to this work nearly two decades of clinical and leadership experience across diverse settings including freestanding birth centers, community hospitals, private midwifery and obstetrical practices, and academic medical centers. She currently holds a board advisory role at Mocingbird, a digital health startup;has severed as an advisor to maternal health startups through the UnitedHealth Group Accelerator program; is a long-term member of the American Association of Birth Centers Finance Committee; and has supported growth of midwifery practices and birth centers as a clinical and financial operations consultant with Primary Maternity Care. She holds an MBA in healthcare leadership from the Yale School of Management, an MSN from the Yale School of Nursing, a nursing degree from Case Western Reserve University, and an undergraduate in Chemistry from Oberlin College.

Holly Smith is a Certified Nurse-Midwife with experience in domestic and
international women’s health policy and program development. Holly trained in
midwifery at Georgetown University 24 years ago, after which she practiced
clinically as a full-scope midwife for 17 years in various hospital-based practices
from public hospitals, a military hospital in Germany, and finally at Kaiser
Permanente. She completed her MPH in 2013 and is pursuing a Master of
Studies in Law at UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings School of Law).
As a midwifery consultant, she partners with community organizations,
nonprofits, and public health policy organizations to improve midwifery integration
in California, including – among others – the California Maternal Quality Care
Collaborative, the California Health Care Foundation, and the California Nurse-
Midwives Foundation. She was the lead editor and author of CMQCC’s Toolkit to
Support Vaginal Birth and Reduce Primary Cesareans and is currently the project
lead for CMQCC’s Community Birth Partnership Initiative. She is also the co-lead
for a 3-year statewide project organized by the Institute for Medicaid Innovation
to improve midwife-led care for California Medicaid enrollees, which includes an
extensive collaboration of midwives across the state, Medi-Cal health plans,
community advocacy organizations, and state agencies. Holly is the Health
Policy Chair for the California affiliate of the American College of Nurse-
Midwives. In that role, she consults on, writes, and advocates for California
legislation promoting improved perinatal outcomes.