Dear Friends and Colleagues,
First and foremost, we hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and safe during these challenging times. And for those of you who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we send you healing thoughts.
We are writing to share some important news. Ginny will be stepping down from her role as Chief Executive Officer at Power to Decide at the end of April to pursue an opportunity that will allow her to be closer to her family on the West Coast. This was not an easy decision under any circumstances, and the current crisis makes the decision that much more bittersweet for all of us.
Ginny’s departure is a great loss to us. In 2015, she inherited an organization led by founding CEO, Sarah Brown. It had contributed to an unprecedented impact on teen and unplanned pregnancy in the United States. Ginny led us through many organizational and strategic transitions that strengthened our ability to ensure that all young people – no matter who they are or where they live - have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstance to get pregnant and have a child.
Under Ginny’s leadership, Power to Decide sharpened its focus on reducing the troubling systems inequities that have led to persistent and disproportionately high rates of unplanned pregnancy for women of color, systems-involved youth, and women living in poverty. We recognize that this has nothing to do with the women themselves; it has to do with the systems that are failing these women. To meet these challenges, we have redoubled our efforts to develop and share relevant and resonant sexual and reproductive health resources that meet young people where they are. We have raised awareness about widespread contraceptive access barriers in the United States, including the fact that more than 19 million women in need live in contraceptive deserts, or counties in which there is not reasonable access to the full range of contraceptive methods. We have expanded our education and advocacy efforts to address access to the full spectrum of reproductive health services, including abortion. We have worked to ensure that young people have the belief and agency to live their best lives and created tools for us all to be their champions and trusted confidantes.
The Board of Directors and deeply talented staff are committed to staying the course on our current efforts to ensure equitable access to quality sexual health information and reproductive health services for all young people. We have appointed Dr. Gillian Sealy as the Interim Chief Executive Officer. Gillian has served as Chief Program Officer at Power to Decide for three years and brings more than 20 years of non-profit leadership experience to the organization. The Board and staff are grateful to Gillian for her willingness to play this expanded leadership role.
We have begun a national search for the permanent Chief Executive Officer and we have retained Russell Reynolds Associates to conduct the search. Russell Reynolds is a global search and leadership advisory firm with deep experience across multiple sectors, including social justice, philanthropy, and impact investing. This firm also placed Ginny Ehrlich as our CEO five years ago. To reach out to their team directly with questions or suggestions, please contact: [email protected].
Thank you for all that you do to support us and for our shared work on behalf of young people. We look forward to working alongside you to ensure our next chapter is as robust and meaningful as the previous ones.
Be Well,
Stephen Weiswasser and Ginny Ehrlich
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