Serra Sippel, Executive Director,Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)On behalf of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), I am delighted to announce that Mary Beth Hastings has recently been named the organization’s deputy director.
Ms. Hastings has worked with CHANGE as a senior consultant for more than a year, and most recently has taken a leadership role in the organization’s strategic planning process. As the deputy director, Ms. Hastings will work to strengthen CHANGE’s internal and fundraising infrastructure, while also supporting the organization’s program development.
Ms. Hastings brings to CHANGE extensive program management expertise along with eighteen years of international academic and professional experience, primarily focused on the rights and wellbeing of women globally. From 1999 to 2004, she directed the gender and equality program for Partners of the Americas , where she developed and oversaw a portfolio of projects on reproductive health, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s legal rights and gender integration. Prior to that, she managed international outreach and training programs for the League of Women Voters Education Fund. Ms. Hastings holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University .
A firm believer in the continuum of sexual and reproductive rights, Ms. Hastings also serves locally on the volunteer board of Birth Options Alliance of the Capital Area, which urges policymakers and insurance companies to support the rights and choices of pregnant women.
(The Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization whose mission is to ensure that U.S. international policies and programs promote sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls worldwide. CHANGE believes that every individual has the right to basic information, technologies, and services necessary to enjoy a healthy and safe sexual and reproductive life free from coercion and preventable illness.
CHANGE works to ensure that U.S. foreign policy accurately considers the linkages between HIV/AIDS, family planning, reproductive health, violence against women and stigmatization of vulnerable populations.
CHANGE advances its mission by monitoring the impact of U.S. policies and programs overseas, and advocating for effective, evidence-based policies and increased funding for critical HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and family planning programs.)