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Jill Sheffield | |
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![]() Jill Sheffield (left) at 21 Leaders Honorees | |
Born | Jill Sheffield |
Known for | Advocating internationally for women's sexual & reproductive rights as well as decreased maternal mortality |
Notable work | Founder of Women Deliver |
Jill Sheffield is a global advocate for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as for the reduction of maternal mortality worldwide. She is the founder of Women Deliver [1] [2] and Family Care International [3] [1] (integrated into Management Sciences for Health in 2015). [4]
Sheffield received a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1961 from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) [5] and Master of Arts in comparative and international education in 1963 from Columbia University. [3] [6]
Sheffield's advocacy career began while volunteering in the family planning clinic at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Kenya in the 1960s. [7] It was the first such clinic in East Africa. [8] At the time, Kenyan women who went to the clinic were legally prohibited from using contraception without their husbands’ permission. [7] Sheffield transitioned from teaching to advocating for women's reproductive, sexual, and maternal rights. [7] [9] [10] Sheffield served as director of the Carnegie Corporation of New York's International Program [6] [1] and as director of Africa and Latin America programs and regional representative for World Education. [11]
In 1987, Sheffield co-founded Family Care International (FCI), [3] [1] a non-profit global organization focused on improving the maternal health of women in the world's poorest nations; she served as its president for 20 years. [9] FCI was the first international organization founded specifically to focus on maternal mortality. [12] FCI was integrated into Management Sciences for Health in 2015. [4]
In 2007, Sheffield founded Women Deliver, [1] [2] originally a conference focused on maternal health that evolved into an advocacy organization. [13] It seeks to generate political commitment and financial investment to reduce maternal mortality and increase access to reproductive health. [14] In 2016, Sheffield retired from the organization. [15]
In 2011, Sheffield served as one of 30 commissioners on the UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health. [6] Sheffield has been involved with the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, [6] [7] and Population Communications International. [16] Sheffield has been Chair of Woman Care Global (now Catalyst Global), [6] Chair of the FIGO Committee on Contraception and Family Planning, [6] [17] External Advisor to the IPPF Governing Council, [6] and Senior Adviser to Global Health Strategies. [6] In 2018, Sheffield was named a board member of Catalyst Global (formerly WCG Cares). [6]
The American Public Health Association granted Sheffield its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, [18] the same year that Family Care International received the United Nations Population Award for outstanding work in sexual and reproductive health and rights. [19] [20] Sheffield has also been recognized as a distinguished alumna by Columbia University's Teachers College. [3]
Along with Melinda Gates, Sheffield was awarded the 2016 Champions for Change Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). [21]
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