Samuel Agyeman is the managing director of development at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he Serves as deputy and thought partner to the Vice President for Development to develop a long-term growth plan for fundraising, including strategies, capacity needs, goals, and benchmarks.

Prior to his work at the National Partnership, Samuel worked in different fundraising roles with several organizations such as IESC, Christian Relief Charities, Global Ministries and CARE International.

Samuel is originally from Ghana and moved to the US in 2017 to pursue a graduate degree in International Development. He’s a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). Outside of work, Samuel enjoys watching soccer and can be found cheering DC United at Audi field.

Tucker Ball is chief digital officer at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he leads a fabulous team responsible for the organization’s digital communications and engagement efforts … from social media to online fundraising to website development to email outreach and more. Tucker was the organization’s first full-time digital hire, joining the communications team in 2006.

Prior to his work at the National Partnership, Tucker served as chief marketing officer at Sojourners in Washington, D.C., as a mission volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and as a webmaster for a TV station in Seattle.

Outside the office, Tucker is all about spending time with his kids and loved ones — including two impossibly sweet doggos — and enjoying the great outdoors, live music, stand-up comics and offbeat television.

Lorena Bonet Velazquez is the Health Justice Policy Associate at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she supports the health justice team across its three focus areas: maternal health, reproductive health and rights, and health system transformation.

Before joining the National Partnership, Lorena worked with various direct service nonprofits, providing resource support to underserved communities, including immigrant populations. She brings extensive experience in advocating for reproductive rights, leading sexual health programming, and addressing gender-based violence in her undergraduate college. Most recently, she served as the Sexual and Reproductive Health Coordinator at the Latin American Youth Center in DC, where she oversaw STI, HIV, and pregnancy testing and counseling services.

Outside of work, Lorena enjoys using theater to raise awareness and inspire action on social justice issues, experimenting with new recipes to share with friends, and dancing her heart out to Caribbean music.

Sarah Broudy is the Director of Individual Philanthropy at the National Partnership for Women and Families, where she develops and executes the strategy for individual giving, including major gifts, the annual campaign, grassroots fundraising, and planned giving, and manages the team responsible for cultivating, stewarding, and soliciting individual donors.

Before joining the National Partnership, Sarah was an Associate Director at LAPA Fundraising, a full-service nonprofit fundraising consulting firm, where she led the assessment and strategy work, evaluating clients’ current fundraising efforts and existing operations. Serving as a Trusted Advisor to her clients’ senior leadership, she designed strategies and project plans to enhance systems, launch campaigns, and build best-in-class development programs. Prior to LAPA, Sarah served as the Director of Development at the National Council of Jewish Women New York, where she helped the 125-year-old organization update and elevate its fundraising strategies and systems, resulting in increases in individual giving by 68% and institutional funding by 60%.

Originally from Metro-Detroit, Sarah received her BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration Nonprofit Management and a Master of Hebrew and Judaic studies at NYU through the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and the Skirball Department’s dual MPA-MA program. After more than a decade as a New Yorker, she now resides in the Philadelphia area with her husband.

Sarah Coombs is director for health system transformation at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages policy and programmatic work on health access and system transformation, including health equity, health coverage and affordability, and payment and delivery system transformation.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Sarah worked in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she contributed to the policy development and implementation of the Affordable Care Act and delivery system transformation initiatives. Before that, Sarah worked at the Office of Management and Budget, where she coordinated the Health Division’s development of the federal health budget and oversight responsibilities of Medicare, Medicaid and Marketplace coverage. Sarah received her master’s in public health from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University and her bachelor’s in government and legal studies and French from Bowdoin College.

Sarah is a proud Bostonian and moved to Washington, D.C., in 2012. She enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and young son.

Jaclyn hails from Dallas, Texas, and is the proud daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. She is the Director of Congressional Relations, Reproductive Health, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages the organization’s relationships on the Hill and its key legislative priorities on abortion and contraception. Jaclyn is passionate about working with Congress on reproductive rights through an intersectional and racial justice lens that centers the full lived experiences of people who can become pregnant.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Jaclyn was the Policy and Government Affairs Director at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, where she worked at the intersection of reproductive health and immigrant rights. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco and worked for Annie’s List, which helps elect pro-choice, Democratic women to statewide office in Texas.

Jaclyn holds a BA in Political Science and Sociology from Rice University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. Outside of work, she can be found working author events with Loyalty Bookstore in DC, reading, bouldering, doing yoga, crocheting, and caring for her houseplants and fluffy orange cat.

Rolonda Donelson is currently the Huber Reproductive Health Equity Legal Fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Prior to starting at the Partnership, Rolonda was the 2023-2024 Meave McKean Fellow at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and the O’Neil Institute for National and Global Health Law through the Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP). During her previous fellowship Rolonda analyzed HIPAA and data privacy concerns related to sexual and reproductive health services and advocated for equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services specifically through Medicaid. During law she interned at the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Immigration Legal Services Section of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington.

Rolonda received her J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. with dual majors in Politics and International & Global Studies (IGS) from Brandeis University. She is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Corinna Dragulescu is the chief financial officer at the National Partnership for Women & Families. As chief financial officer, Dragulescu has primary oversight responsibility for strategic financial planning for the National Partnership. She manages all accounting and financial functions, ensuring compliance with government regulations at the federal, state and local levels; monitors cash flow; and manages the annual budget and audit. She also works with the director of administration in monitoring the organization’s fringe benefits.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Dragulescu was chief financial officer for Goodwill of Greater Washington in D.C. Before holding that position, she worked as a certified public accountant for the public accounting firm of Rubino & Company in Bethesda, Md.

Dragulescu has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from George Mason University and received her certified public accountant license in 1996.

Email Corinna at cdragulescu@nationalpartnership.org.

Ashley Emery (she/her) is the Senior Policy Analyst for Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Natasha Ewell is the senior operations and human resources manager at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to keep the office running smoothly day to day.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Natasha has worked with different nonprofits in various administrative roles.

Michelle Feit is the Director of Congressional Relations, Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Michelle develops and executes federal legislative strategy for the National Partnership’s economic justice portfolio, which focuses on policies that promote workplace equity and combat discrimination. Her key issues are paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, and any policy related to workplace leave; fair pay; pregnancy discrimination; and workplace harassment.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Michelle spent five years on Capitol Hill serving on the policy teams for Senator Barbara Mikulski and Congresswoman Jackie Speier. While on Senator Mikulski’s team, she led the effort to bring the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument into the National Park System. Outside of work, Michelle has volunteered with Jews United for Justice, the DC Paid Family Leave Campaign, and various national and local political campaigns. A lifelong Marylander, Michelle lives in Silver Spring with her husband and child, and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Katherine Gallagher Robbins is a Senior Fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to build the Partnership’s research capacity to tell a more holistic story of how the policies the National Partnership has pushed for over the last five decades support women with a focus on women of color, disabled women, LGBTQIA+ women, and women with other marginalized identities. She works alongside the organization’s health justice team in its call for access to abortion and an improved healthcare system focused on equity in underserved communities; and she contributes to the economic justice team’s goal of passing a national paid family and medical leave program and winning other policies supporting women at work.

Katherine brings to the role over a dozen years of experience in policy and advocacy organizations, with work on a range of issues, including economic justice, caregiving, racial, and gender equity. Her research and commentary have been featured in The New York Times, NBC, CNN, CBS, Vox, The Economist, and numerous other news outlets. Before joining the National Partnership, Katherine worked in leadership roles at TIME’S UP, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Center for American Progress, and the National Women’s Law Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Santa Fe, NM.

Sara Goldberg is the vice president of development at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she leads the organization’s efforts to engage and raise funds from foundations, corporations, and individuals to drive the greatest possible impact.

Over more than two decades, Sara has held roles in various aspects of non-profit fundraising, communications, strategy and operations at organizations including the National Down Syndrome Society, Humanity & Inclusion and JDRF/Breakthrough T1D. She is passionate about building community and empowering change through philanthropy.

A Midwest native, Sara holds a bachelor’s degree in history and women’s studies from Luther College and a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago. She lives in Takoma Park, MD and is the mother of three humans, two dogs, and a bearded dragon.

Tanya L. Goldman is a senior fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she provides expertise and supports the Economic Justice team’s research, advocacy, and policy work to pass a national paid family and medical leave program and win policies urgently needed for women’s employment.

Tanya brings over 15 years of experience litigating, advocating, and working in federal government to advance gender and economic justice for workers. Before joining the National Partnership, Tanya served in leadership roles in both the Biden and Obama administrations, most recently as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor. Her time in federal government also included prosecuting violations of federal civil rights laws at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Tanya has worked at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), where she focused on policy solutions to improve job quality for workers, strengthen worker protections, and increase economic security for low-income working families, with a focus on paid leave and paid sick days. She also clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and taught at Georgetown Law and Tulane University Law School. Tanya received her B.A. from Stanford University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Shaina Goodman is the director for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She manages policy and legal work on reproductive health, rights and justice issues, including federal and state policy on abortion coverage and access, contraception, and other sexual and reproductive health issues. She also provides strategic, policy and technical assistance to policymakers, researchers and advocates, and collaborates across National Partnership programs to holistically address the barriers that women face and advance proactive policy solutions.

Shaina’s prior experience has focused on issues of gender-based violence, including the intersection of domestic violence and family policy, economic justice, housing and public benefits. She has also deeply engaged in work related to social justice and movement building, and is a trained dialogue facilitator.

Shaina received her JD, master’s in social work, and bachelor’s degree in women & gender studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland.

Stephanie Green is a coalition and partnerships manager on the Health Justice team at the National Partnership, where she coordinates projects that intersect health policy and community engagement. On her current project, she is assisting measure developers and other health care stakeholders collaborate with patients and families to ensure that care design and delivery meet the needs of patients and families.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Stephanie has worked in social services as a support broker for a D.C.-based self-directed disability caregiving program, called Services, My Way. She has many years’ experience working in and understanding caregiving services for the elderly and disability populations and in helping individuals navigate social services programs. Before that, she has also worked to addressed food insecurity in the District for The Food Research and Action Center and D.C. Hunger Solutions as a bilingual outreach associate hosting workshops on barriers to access and assisting elderly individuals apply for SNAP benefits. Stephanie graduated from University of Maryland-College Park with major in family science and minor in human development.

Stephanie is a native Washingtonian, currently residing in Silver Spring, MD. She enjoys watching 90’s sitcoms, like Boy Meets World, indulging in true crime podcasts and playing with her black cat Rosemary.

Sharita Gruberg is Vice President for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she will lead the economic justice team in providing expertise and thought leadership in research, advocacy and policy work around many of the issue areas the organization has led on in its 50-year history.

Sharita most recently conducted successful advocacy campaigns, engaged with diverse stakeholders and led policy change at the Center for American Progress. There, she served as vice president for the think tank’s LGBTQI+ Research and Communications Project where she worked to expand legal and lived equality for LGBTQI+ people, particularly those living at the intersection of multiple identities.

Throughout her career, Sharita has made it clear that the best way to advance economic justice policies that benefit women and families is to develop them through a lens of racial justice and with an awareness of the history that systemically has left out underrepresented communities.

Sharita earned her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, and her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Areeba Haider is the Senior Executive Administrator and Research Manager at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she supports research for President Jocelyn Frye and the Partnership’s cross-cutting priorities. Prior to her role at the Partnership, she was a Policy and Data Analyst at the Georgetown Center for Poverty and Inequality, where she conducted policy research and data analysis on projects related to market power, health and human services, and racial equity. She was also previously a research associate with the Center for American Progress Poverty to Prosperity team, supporting research on vital anti-poverty programs including SNAP and the Child Tax Credit. When she isn’t working, she enjoys attending concerts, buying cookbooks, and taking the scenic route.

Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, JD, is a vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she leads the Health Justice team. She is a national health and health care equity policy and advocacy thought leader with 25 years of experience advancing equal opportunity for women and families of color, and almost 20 years advocating for increased health care access and improved quality of care for underserved communities. Sinsi is deeply committed to transforming our health care system to meet the needs of our rapidly evolving nation so we can all thrive together. She believes that our future prosperity depends on ensuring our health care system routinely provides excellent, comprehensive, culturally centered and affordable care for every single person, family and community, and that this requires the dismantling of structural inequities including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and religious bigotry.

Sinsi is a recognized leader in the national health equity movement, a sought-after strategic advisor and a dynamic, inspiring speaker. She has presented at national events across the country and served on numerous advisory committees for organizations including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs and the American Association of Pediatrics. She has published extensively and has appeared in national and state level English and Spanish television, radio and print media.

Sinsi’s extensive experience in health and health equity policy and advocacy spans the state government, labor and non-profit arenas. Prior to joining the National Partnership’s staff, she was the founding director of Families USA’s Center on Health Equity Action for System Transformation, where she led efforts to advance health equity and reduce disparities in health outcomes and health care access and quality by leveraging health care and delivery system transformation to reduce persistent racial, ethnic and geographic health inequities with an intersectional lens. Prior to that, she advised and represented two governors of Puerto Rico on federal health and human services policies, and she worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a senior health policy analyst and national campaign coordinator for their Healthcare Equality Project campaign to enact the Affordable Care Act.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sinsi is bilingual and bicultural. She earned an A.B. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow, and won the Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship. She lives in Fairfax with her husband, teenage son and two rescue dogs. She loves sci-fi, board games and expressing her love for family and friends by feeding them.

Travis Hunter is the director of information technology at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he oversees the streamlined operation of the organization’s IT infrastructure and ensures that it aligns with the strategic objectives of the organization.

Llenda Jackson-Leslie is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to showcase reproductive health and health care issues.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Llenda was a senior communications associate at McKinney & Associates, where she led campaigns on transformative justice, gender justice and health equity. Previously, she served as director of legislative communications for the American Civil Liberties Union where she managed communications initiatives to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.

A native Detroiter, Llenda served as communications director for Michigan’s largest trial court and marketing director for the Detroit Branch NAACP before moving to Washington, D.C.

Danielle Hosein Johnson is the director of institutional relations at the National Partnership for Women & Families, overseeing the organization’s corporate and foundation fundraising.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Danielle was grants manager for the National Health Law Program (NHeLP). In this role, she amplified the organization’s work as a grant writer, efficiently managed the full pre and post-award grant portfolio, played a pivotal role in shaping the foundation fundraising strategy, and skillfully built a system for administering subgrant awards to state-based advocacy partners.

With more than a decade of experience in advancing nonprofit missions, Danielle has focused on addressing issues impacting communities of color, women and children. She is passionate about fostering cross-sector collaboration, encouraging diverse stakeholders to align efforts and confront root causes of issues by transforming systems, policies and power dynamics to improve how people live, work, learn and play. Before NHeLP, she held various program and development positions in local, state and national nonprofit organizations, working on issues ranging from youth tobacco prevention, smoke-free housing, reducing cancer disparities in Black women, strengthening systems for chronic disease care delivery and improving clinical care provided through school-based health centers.

Danielle earned her BS in Health Service Administration from Lehman College and a Master of Public Health from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. A Bronx, New York native, Danielle now resides in Maryland with her husband, young son and her fur baby, Mars.

Jessi Leigh Swenson is Director, Congressional Relations, Health Justice, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages the National Partnership’s federal government relations and cross-movement strategic partnerships on reproductive health, rights and justice issues. She joined the National Partnership in 2015 as the senior policy counsel for reproductive health and rights. Jessi Leigh has nearly a decade of experience in building effective coalitions to move federal policies forward for women and families. Prior to her work at the National Partnership, she was the Federal Policy Director at the National Abortion Federation, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Rights4Girls, and was an If/When/How and Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow. Jessi Leigh hails from Maine and attended Hampshire College and UC Hastings College of the Law. She loves climbing, boxing, reading and spending time with her partner and their beautiful strong daughter.

Judith L. Lichtman has been a guiding and influential force in the women’s movement for more than 40 years. She stepped down as president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in 2004, and is presently senior advisor at the National Partnership. Her commitment, vision, and talent as an attorney and advocate have made a profound difference for women and families across the United States.

Lichtman often says: “I went to law school because being a lawyer gave me a license for activism.” After receiving her law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1965, Lichtman worked for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Jackson State College, the Urban Coalition, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as legal advisor to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In 1974, Lichtman became the executive director and first paid staff person for the Women’s Legal Defense Fund (WLDF), which became the National Partnership for Women & Families in February 1998.

Under Lichtman’s leadership, the National Partnership has been at the forefront of every major piece of civil rights legislation related to women and families for more than 40 years. Founded as a small volunteer group, the National Partnership has grown into a national organization with thousands of members and has become one of the country’s most influential strategic forces, shaping national policy through its advocacy, lobbying, litigation, and public education. Lichtman’s vision and the National Partnership’s strength and direct leadership have resulted in the passage of some of the most important legal protections for American women and families, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. In 1996, the National Partnership helped shape key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that make it easier for women and their families to get and keep health coverage. More recently, Lichtman has led efforts to promote patient protections and to bring paid family and medical leave to California.

Lichtman has been recognized by civic and legal organizations, business and labor leaders, and others for her strategic abilities, political savvy, effectiveness in creating powerful and diverse coalitions, and her tireless commitment to building a truly just society. President Clinton called Lichtman “a remarkable national treasure,” and Washingtonian magazine has identified her as one of Washington, DC’s most powerful women and Washingtonian of the Year in 1986. The Sara Lee Corporation awarded her the 1989 Frontrunner Award in the area of Humanities. That same year, the Women’s Bar Association named her Woman Lawyer of the Year. In 2000, Lichtman received the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Hubert H. Humphrey Award for her contributions to the advancement of human and civil rights.

Says Lichtman, “For over 40 years, I’ve tried to make this world a better place for women and families. We’ve come a long way, but our work is far from done. My daughters, and all our children, deserve a future where every school and workplace is truly free of discrimination, and where all families have the support they need to succeed at home and on the job. I know from experience — if we can imagine it, we can make it happen.”

Lichtman lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband Elliott. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Hang Liu has composed speeches and shaped messaging strategies for two cabinet secretaries, the leaders of global businesses and major nonprofits, and a presidential campaign. Today, at the National Partnership, he draws upon this experience to help craft executive communications on behalf of President Jocelyn Frye.

Before his current role, Hang served as director of speechwriting at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where he supported Secretary Marcia Fudge in championing all housing-related initiatives of the Biden-Harris administration. Prior to that position, he worked as a director with the speechwriting firm West Wing Writers—and as director of speechwriting at the Center for American Progress, one of the country’s leading progressive think tanks. Hang also served previously at HUD as a speechwriter for then-Secretary Julián Castro. In 2016, he joined the communications team of the Hillary for America campaign, where he helped prepare Hillary Clinton for her national media interviews.

Hang is a graduate of Harvard College and Brooklyn Law School. The son of Chinese immigrants, he was born and raised in New York City.

Dvora Lovinger is the Vice President of Congressional Relations and Social Impact at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she leads the development and implementation of the organization’s congressional relations strategy and promotes corporate engagement for social impact.

Dvora has more than two decades of experience working on Capitol Hill in both the House and Senate. Most recently, she served as Chief of Staff for Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD), where she was the Congressman’s top advisor on all legislative, political, and communications issues. She also held several roles in the office of former Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and has experience with non-profit organizations, including advocating for affordable housing issues at Enterprise Community Partners. She began her professional career working on women’s equality and reproductive justice at the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Dvora has a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a master’s degree in political science along with a graduate certificate in Women, Policy & Leadership from American University.

Betsy Macdonnell is the executive assistant to the President at the National Partnership.

Erin Mackay is the managing director for health justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Erin supports strategic and operational planning, and also leads a portfolio of Health Justice programs and projects. Erin is a respected consumer advocate with subject matter expertise in health information technology policy and consumer health data access. She represents the consumer voice in federal and private sector efforts, including participation in expert panels and working groups on health data and privacy, patient-centered care, and quality measurement. She is gifted writer, communicator and coalition-builder who brings humor and joy to her work. Erin has undergraduate degrees in English literature and women and gender studies from the University of Virginia, and a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in community health from George Mason University.

When not hard at work building a better health care system, Erin enjoys teaching yoga and baking chocolate chip cookies.

Anwesha Majumder is the first Economist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she will play a central role in the National Partnership’s development of quantitative economic research to advance the organization’s research and policy agendas.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Anwesha pursued health equity and health care quality improvement at the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and the US News & World Report Best Hospitals team, as well as economic justice for women of color at TIME’S UP. She has also performed field epidemiology for vaccine-preventable diseases and monitored public health priorities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Anwesha holds a Master of Health Sciences in infectious disease epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a bachelor’s in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. Outside of work, she can be found tending to her houseplants and house rabbits, volunteering, running slowly, and exploring interior design and fashion.

Jessica Mason is the senior policy analyst for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she oversees in-house research and data analysis, tracks developments in academic and other research and develops advocacy resources related to the workplace and economic security agenda. She also helps find ways to engage with current and new allies in this work.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Jessica was an instructor in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a researcher on economic justice and anti-corruption issues for the Center for Media and Democracy. She has also conducted research on gender politics, nationalism, social movements and authoritarianism in contemporary Russia. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A Midwesterner, Jessica enjoys regular trips back home to visit family and friends, sample cheese and marvel at affordable housing prices.

Danielle Mathias is the Senior Digital Content Specialist at the National Partnership.

Jesse Matton is the director of corporate social impact policies on the congressional relations and social impact team. Jesse builds alliances with corporations and other private sector stakeholders to identify common policy priorities and develop partnerships that further joint policy goals and systems change. Jesse also leads the National Partnership’s Business Working Group for Gender Equity and works collaboratively with the Economic Justice and Health Justice teams to make an impact in the private sector.

Jesse comes to the National Partnership with over 10 years of nonprofit experience, which covered partnerships, operations, and programming related to social investments, corporate citizenship and ESG strategy. Jesse was the Director of Economic Opportunity and Empowerment at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center where she led strategic programming and partnership opportunities to further the business communities’ impact on women’s economic empowerment, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality, supplier diversity, and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Jesse hails from Northern Virginia and attended University of Tennessee where she studied International Business, Russian, and Economics. She lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, son, and dog.

Lauren Morrissey is the Email Marketing and Advocacy Specialist at the National Partnership for Women and Families where they are responsible for developing, executing, and analyzing the National Partnership’s email marketing program. In this role, they use storytelling and creative writing to put a human face on our issues and inspire people to take action and get involved.

Prior to their work at the National Partnership, Lauren served in communications and digital organizing roles at Catholics for Choice and Sojourners. She is also the co-founder of the Student Coalition for Reproductive Justice, a student-powered coalition of organizers at Catholic colleges and universities across the U.S. providing essential access to sexual and reproductive health care to young people. Lauren volunteers as an abortion doula with D.C. Doulas for Choice, and previously served on advisory boards with the American Society for Emergency Contraception and Advocates for Youth’s Youth Abortion Support Collective.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lauren is a life-long bi-coastal resident and currently lives in Washington, D.C. She holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and religious studies from Loyola University Chicago. In their free time, Lauren can be found on a sand, grass, or indoor volleyball court; watching classic horror movies; or keeping their Goodreads profile up to date on her latest read.

Mona Papillon is the chief operating officer at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she is responsible for leading National Partnership infrastructure and operations functions to ensure effective management and oversight across the organization and to ensure that internal operations align with the Partnership’s priorities and mission.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Mona spent over 20 years at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and began her career as a legal associate specializing in employment law and labor management relations at a large law firm.

Mona is a first generation Haitian-American and grew up in Chicago and Florida before moving to Washington, DC to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is a graduate of Columbia University Law School and is avid traveler and polyglot who enjoys exploring new cities and cultures.

Email Mona at mpapillon@nationalpartnership.org.

Aimee D. Peoples is Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism (DEIA) at the National Partnership for Women & families. As the first person to hold this role, Aimee’s work is focused on taking intentional and significant steps to transform the National Partnership to live our values both internally and externally, operationalizing strategic initiatives, and confronting and disrupting bias in all of its forms.

An unapologetic DEIA agent of change and “good troublemaker,” Aimee brings over 15 years of knowledge and experience advocating for and creating positive change in workplaces. An experienced employment attorney and advisor, Aimee is also a trained mediator, workplace investigator, and labor negotiator. Aimee is a transformational leader with a proven history of using equity-driven design thinking to solve specific problems and using policies to cultivate a culture of accountability, equity, and inclusion.

Aimee is a proud graduate of Howard University (B.A.) and earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School. In addition to her passions around DEIA, Aimee has is committed to serving her community and has been recognized for her service, including being honored as a finalist for the Heroines of Washington award by the March of Dimes.

Kiera Peoples is a Policy Analyst on the Health Justice team at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works with Sarah Coombs on the Health System Transformation portfolio. In this work, she advocates for policies that improve quality, experience, and equity in the health care system through care delivery and payment reform.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Kiera worked as a Program and Policy Analyst at Nemours Children’s Health for two years, focused on improving pediatric health care and equity through advancing whole child health initiatives, such as integrating care and social supports and promoting prevention strategies in primary care settings. While in this role, Kiera received her master’s in public health from Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She found her passion for health equity during her undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated in 2021. This passion continues to fuel her to do this work and be the voice for health care’s most vulnerable populations.

Kiera grew up in Georgia, but currently resides in the nation’s capital. Outside of work, you can find her at live concerts, the gym, or trying a new spicy food.

Karen Pesapane Zadravec is the director for data strategy at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Karen has more than 15 years of progressive fundraising experience and enjoys learning something new every day. She feels fortunate to raise her children in the Washington, D.C. area and to work for a mission-driven organization that reflects her values. Karen’s commitment to fighting for equality and fairness comes from her younger sister Alicia, who has Downs syndrome and is the most beautiful person inside and out.

Emily Roe is a Senior Communications Associate at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Emily provides communications and administrative support to the communications team, and works to amplify the voices of women who face the greatest barriers to equity and opportunity but are often excluded from the narrative.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Emily worked as a Digital Fundraising Strategist at a small firm where she spearheaded digital fundraising programs across a diverse client portfolio as well as at several state-based reproductive justice organizations on communications and community outreach.

Emily was born and raised in the DC suburbs and graduated from Boston University. In her free time, you can find her reading with her cat Ivy, baking challahs, or working on her homemade hot sauce, Female Rage.

Carol Sakala leads maternal health and maternity care programming at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She is a long-time maternity care advocate, educator, researcher, author and policy analyst, with a continuous focus on meeting the needs and interests of childbearing women and their families. Sakala sits on advisory bodies and work groups focusing on payment reform, performance measurement and other ways to improve the quality of maternity care. She has been an investigator on all national Listening to Mothers surveys (2002-) and was principal investigator of the most recent Listening to Mothers in California survey. She helps create or commission foundational resources for the field on such topics as the cost of having a baby, maternity care and liability, evidence-based maternity care, effectiveness of labor support, hormonal physiology of childbearing and performance of the nation’s maternity care system. She led the National Partnership’s recent convening and collaboration of 17 national leaders resulting in the consensus report, Blueprint for Advancing High-Value Maternity Care Through Physiologic Childbearing. Through her guidance, the National Partnership maintains childbirthconnection.org, which features results of systematic reviews to support childbearing women in informed maternity care decision making and helps them navigate the maternity care system. She was a Pew Health Policy fellow at Boston University, where she received her doctorate in health policy through the University Professors Program, and has master’s degrees from the University of Utah and the University of Chicago.

Dior Seck is the Senior Accountant at the National Partnership for Woman & Families. Reporting directly from the Director of Finance, Dior Seck is responsible for performing accounting, financial processing, and data management functions. This includes systems administration and management of NetSuite functions, maintaining and reconciling the general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, month-end and year-end closings, preparation of audit schedules, assisting with forecasting and budgeting and other critical fiscal management responsibilities.

Dior Seck has over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance working with for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi, Canada and her M.B.A. from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Dior speaks French and loves to cook.

Amaya Smith is vice president for marketing and communications at the National Partnership for Women & Families. In that role she oversees strategic messaging as well as digital and earned communications around issues important to women and families. These issues include reproductive justice, women’s health care and workplace fairness. Smith works to ensure that stakeholders and the public understand that women’s health and reproductive freedom is inextricably entwined with economic justice. Before joining National Partnership she served as Communications Director and Strategic Advisor to the President, at the AFL-CIO. Prior to joining the AFL-CIO Smith served as a Press Secretary for the American Association for Justice (AAJ). She also served as the South Carolina Press Secretary for the Obama for America campaign during the 2008 Democratic primary.

Smith developed experience working with diverse media outlets and constituencies as a Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee, where she handled press for the women’s, African American, labor, faith, college and youth communities. She got her start in legislative advocacy working for former Congressman Albert R. Wynn, her local representative. She served as a Communications Director for Congressman Wynn for four years and built relationships with Capitol Hill and Washington reporters. Smith is a graduate of American University and is originally from Silver Spring, Md. Her passion for social justice and women’s health comes from a mom who is a retired registered nurse and an eternal activist.

Girado Smith II is the Senior Development Operations and Outreach Specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he manages day-to-day development operations and provides direction and oversight on all functional and operational elements that support fundraising excellence.

Prior to his work at the National Partnership, Girado was the Onboarding and Workflow Manager in the Member Services Department at First Book. He spent over eight years working at First Book after graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park with a bachelor’s degree in Japanese.

Girado is a native to the Washington DC Metropolitan area. He has a desire to help improve the lives of others whenever he can and is a fitness fanatic. He runs his own business as a certified personal trainer and nutritional coach helping to improve the quality of life of his clients. When not in the office or training clients, you can find him engaging in fun activities, such as weightlifting, basketball, walking, gaming, and spending time with his loved ones.

Anagha Sreevals is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (DEIA) associate at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She works with Aimee Peoples to drive DEIA initiatives through actionable insights and goals. Both in and out of the workplace, Anagha plans to intentionally cultivate a more inclusive environment and address barriers to equity.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Anagha worked at a healthcare company where she spearheaded several initiatives on the Diversity & Inclusion committee. During this time, she realized the need for purposeful and mindful approaches to DEIA work. In addition to DEIA, her passions include locally led community development, immigrant justice, and improved access and support for disabled persons.

Anagha moved to Northern Virginia for her undergraduate degree at George Mason University where she studied international development and cultural studies. She loves language learning, baking, and reading historical fiction!

Nan Strauss is the Senior Policy Analyst for Maternal Health at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she advocates for policies that center the needs of women and families of color, with the aim of dismantling racism. She previously served as the Managing Director of Policy, Advocacy & Grantmaking for Every Mother Counts, where she led the organization’s efforts to improve access to quality, respectful, and equitable maternity care, both globally and in the U.S. As the Director of Maternal Health Research and Policy at Amnesty International USA, she co-authored the groundbreaking report, Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA. Nan has led extensive federal and state policy work, including the development and implementation of legislation and policy strategies to advance maternal health, human rights, and birth justice. As a staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nan litigated cases in federal court, including a successful challenge to the U.S. FDA’s refusal to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter, as well as challenges to abortion bans.

Constance Torian is the chief of staff at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she manages internal and external strategy for the President and organization. She has spent her professional career as an operator, using and growing multiple skill sets to reach success and drive institutional priorities. Prior to her time at the Partnership, she was the associate director of outreach and special events at the Center for American Progress where she led strategic outreach and directed many high-impact, high-visibility projects specifically focused on criminal justice, racial justice, women’s rights, and c4 outreach. Prior to joining American Progress, she was the deputy scheduler for Sen. Mark Warner’s re-election campaign where she assisted with his campaign schedule, built and advanced multiple campaign events, and led areas of political outreach. She also spent three years working in marketing and promotions for the University of Virginia Athletics program, while also earning her B.A. in government.

In her personal time, she enjoys curating playlists, trying new restaurants, and watching her cat have the zoomies.

LaKisha Wiley is the accounts payable specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Brittany Williams joins the National Partnership as Policy Counsel on the Economic Justice team. Brittany has a background reproductive justice, religious equality, and victim-centered advocacy for survivors. As Policy Counsel, Brittany’s portfolio includes advocating for equal pay and nondiscrimination in the workplace.

Gail Zuagar is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to amplify the organization’s economic justice work to a range of audiences. Prior to joining the National Partnership, Gail developed a passion for combining communications with advocacy and outreach in previous roles at The Education Trust and the National Women’s Law Center.

Gail earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University and her master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their children.