Meet our Maternal Health Visionaries

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By: Staff, Maternal Health Task Force

At the 10th anniversary celebration of the Maternal Health Task Force, The Global Maternal Health Symposium, 10 Maternal Health Visionary awards were presented. The recipients were honored for the impact, innovation, inspiration, leadership, and future vision they have provided to the field of Maternal Health. This blog series highlights the work of these maternal health visionaries.

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, wearing a white doctor's coat, stands outside.

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry

Dr. Crear-Perry, an Ob/Gyn and the National Birth Equity Collaborative founder and president, calls on us to value every woman to achieve maternal health equity and eliminate racial inequities in maternal and infant health.
Read Joia's story
Theresa Shaver, Maternal Health Visionary

Theresa Shaver

White Ribbon Alliance founder and currently a Senior Maternal Health Advisor, in the Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, USAID Bureau for Global Health, reminds us to stay bold together as we continue to work toward a global movement to end Maternal and Neonatal Mortality.
Read Theresa's story
Hawa Abdullahi Elmi

Hawa Abdullahi Elmi

Maternal health in Somalia is often associated with high mortality rates, but Hawa Abdullahi Elmi is changing the narrative. Learn about her Mogadishu Midwifery School program that empowers local women to become midwives.
Read Hawa's story
Photo: Dr. Linda Valencia

Dr. Linda Valencia

Dr. Linda Valencia has relentlessly dedicated her career to improving health outcomes for mothers in Guatemala as Head of Residency for Gynecology at a large public hospital, through her work with the Ministry of Public Health, and as Planned Parenthood’s first local doctor in the country.
Read Linda's story