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Ann M. Starrs, President
 Ann Starrs co-founded FCI in 1987, helping to launch the first organization devoted to safe motherhood. FCI’s founding mission was to mobilize action to reduce the half a million maternal deaths that occur every year.
Ann initiated FCI’s in-country programs in Eastern and Southern Africa while based in Uganda from 1989-1992. From 1992-1996 she directed FCI’s Africa program, before stepping into the role of Vice President. She was integrally involved in FCI’s work as the secretariat for the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group, a role the organization fulfilled from 1987 to 2004. She currently serves as co-chair of the Board of the global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, serves on the Technical Advisory Group for Saving Newborn Lives, and has authored numerous publications and scholarly articles on maternal health. She assumed the Presidence of FCI in January 2008.
Jill W. Sheffield, President Emeritus, 1987 - 2007
 Jill Sheffield founded FCI in 1987, in response to a challenge articulated by the World Health Organization in 1985: one woman dies every minute from pregnancy. In the last 20 years, Jill and FCI have been a guiding force that has galvanized international attention and commitment to safe motherhood, and have pointed the way toward effective solutions. The first action undertaken by FCI upon its founding was to coordinate the newly formed Safe Motherhood Initiative. FCI served as the Secretariat of this inter-agency group until 2005.
With FCI, Jill played a central role in several key world conferences, including the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, the Hague Forum, and the UN General Assembly Special Session for ICPD +5. In 2003, she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Columbia University Teachers College.
Prior to founding FCI, Jill served as an Executive Officer for the International Program of Carnegie Corporation of New York. She obtained her MA in Comparative and International Education from Columbia University Teacher’s College and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Education from Glassboro State College.
The Lancet, a pre-eminent medical journal, released a special “Women Deliver” issue in October 2007, featuring a profile of Jill Sheffield. Click here to read it. |
