Dallas Gilpin, President is a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), and has spent over 10 years working in finance. She became involved in maternal health after the birth of her daughter in September of 2014. Most recently, she was the Vice President, Portfolio Manager at Goldman Sachs, serving the insurance industry. Prior to that, she worked at Merrill Lynch and at ACA Financial in Structured Finance. She graduated with a BA in Finance from the City University of New York and graduated with an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business in May 2016. She is also a founding member and on the Board of the New York State Birth Center Association.
Cassandra Clark, Secretary heads the J.P. Morgan Asset Management- Global Real Assets’ Debt Capital Markets Group. An employee of J.P. Morgan since 2002, she is responsible for debt procurement and mezzanine loan strategy for the domestic platform. During her time in GRA, she has closed over $12Bn of transactions. Prior to joining Global Real Assets, Cassandra spent five years in the Commercial Bank. In 2003, Cassandra started the New York City alumni chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit institutions of higher education, where she served as President until joining the National Board in 2012. Cassandra graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and daughter, who was born at home.
Kay Hallenbeck, Treasurer is a governance professional with extensive experience in local, national and international non-profits in the UK, EU, Africa and most recently in the USA. In her role at the College Board, she provides governance advice and support to the Board of Trustees and its Advisory Councils. Kay is passionate about maternal health and believes that when women are able to make informed choices, their health, and the health of their babies, is enhanced for a lifetime. Kay holds a B.A. in French and Political Science from the University of Bradford, UK, and is currently a student on the NYU Wagner Executive MPA program, specializing in Non-profit Management.
Megan Meagher became passionate about empowering families to have the birth experience they choose after giving birth to her daughter in December 2013. Megan currently serves as a sales consultant for start-ups in the beauty and fashion space. Previously Megan was the Senior Vice President of Sales at Stylesight, a trend forecasting and analysis company. In her role Megan oversaw the strategy and execution for annual business development. As the 4th employee of the company Megan enjoyed nearly 10 years of leadership until the sale of the company of 2013. Prior to joining Stylesight in 2004, Megan served as the development coordinator for The Doneger Group, responsible for both account management and project management in a role that solidified her experience and knowledge of the industry. She holds a B.A. from Spring Hill College.
Prerna Kapur has over a decade of professional experience in the world of finance. She is a passionate advocate for maternal health. She holds an MS in Finance and Economics from Columbia Business School, and a BA from Mount Holyoke College.
Elizabeth Jones, MPA, is the Director of Service Delivery Improvement at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), a national non-profit organization representing publicly funded family planning and sexual health service providers. In this role, Ms. Jones provides capacity-building support on quality improvement to NFPRHA’s membership, which includes health departments, freestanding family planning agencies, Planned Parenthoods, hospitals, and Federally Qualified Health Centers. She also serves as a representative on national work groups convened to establish and promote clinical quality measures related to reproductive, maternal, and infant health. Prior to working at NFPRHA, Ms. Jones was the Director of Health Systems Improvement and a Senior Technical Advisor at Cicatelli Associates, Inc. (CAI), where she oversaw the New York State Center of Excellence for Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services. Ms. Jones also worked at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the nation’s oldest and largest local health department, where she oversaw special project aimed at increasing access to reproductive health services and improving the health equity of mothers and infants in New York City. Elizabeth holds her Masters degree in Health Policy and Management from New York University, and her BA from Claremont McKenna College in California.
Francie Webb is a mother, teacher, business owner, and Harlem resident. She grew up in a large, loving family in Virginia. She attended Duke University and earned Masters’ Degrees from Pace University and Bank Street College of Education. She spent 13 years as a middle school teacher and learning specialist in NYC and NC, including 10 at the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). She now works part-time at KIPP while running TheMilkinMama, the business she founded in late 2015. Using her own #gomilkyourself method, she and her 16 teachers at TheMilkinMama empower women across the world through online and in-person workshops and private sessions, all with the goal of helping all breastfeeding mamas learn to hand express effectively. She discovered hand expression as a new mom going back to work, first out of necessity, and then because she found it so much more convenient than the pump. She has been breastfeeding nearly continuously for nearly five years, and she hasn’t used a pump since October 2012. She is the author of Hand Expression: An Honest Guide to Making the Most of Your Breast Milk, and is working on another book due in early 2017. You can find more at www.themilkinmama.com, or on Instagram, @themilkinmama. Francie is also a birth doula who aims to help women feel empowered by their birth experiences. She lives in NYC with her husband, two daughters, and cat. Her first daughter was born in a hospital, and her second was born at home. She loves meditation, yoga, Tough Mamas workouts, writing, reading, and spending time with loved ones. She is training to become an IBCLC and hopes to become a midwife one day.
Ricki Lake, Honorary Board Member added to her award-winning work as iconic actress in her teens (Hairspray, Cry-Baby for John Waters), Emmy Award winning television host/producer, feature film and indie movie star, with her highly praised 2008 feature film documentary, The Business of Being Born. As an outspoken advocate of home birth since the birth of her second son, Owen, Ricki developed, financed and appeared in The Business of Being Born with partner filmmaker Abby Epstein. With unanimous praise from all quarters, including The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, The Business of Being Born has inspired a groundswell of interest in the topic nationally and internationally. Her book based on The Business of Being Born entitled Your Best Birth will be published in Spring 2009. Additionally, Ricki’s advocacy in health, fitness and wellness has led to her tackling the area of childhood obesity and she is currently developing a multi-media project that deals with this topic. Ricki and her two sons live in Los Angeles, California.
Élan McAllister, Founder and Director Emerita In the arts, as a doula, and at CiC, Élan McAllister has always been drawn to profoundly creative acts. Élan is the founding director of Choices in Childbirth building the organization from the ground up and helping dozens of women with the sacred and powerful work of labor and birth. , Élan reaches thousands of women across the country through her work, and supports them through the epic journey of childbirth. Élan worked for 12 years as a DONA-trained doula in New York City.
A TONY award-winning producer, Élan brings a wealth of communications and media expertise to the birth field. Combining her talent for production with her passion for childbirth, Élan helps to capture mainstream audiences and get them excited about maternity care issues. She has a B.A. in Gender and Sexuality Studies from New York University. Élan has found her calling in helping mothers have healthy birth experiences. When she’s not pioneering maternal rights, you can find Élan lounging on the beach in Hana, Maui or at a Broadway show as a Tony voter.
Alexandra Hochman, Esq., Director Emerita is an attorney who worked in Family Court in New York City until 2008. She received her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2001 where she developed a passion for public interest law. Starting with her work as a battered women’s advocate and continuing into child protective law and foster care cases, Alexandra has focused her career on the safety of women and children, most recently working as a Law Clerk for a Family Court Judge who handles child abuse and foster care cases. She was a founding member of Choices in Childbirth. Alexandra resides in Connecticut with her husband and three children. Her first son was born in 2005; her daughter was born in 2007 and youngest son born in 2009, the last two born at home.