We are thrilled to announce that Regina Tamés and Jay Zussman have joined the Ibis Board of Directors as Members at Large, and Fatimah Gifford is starting her term as Board Chair. Fatimah will be building on the work of former Board Chair Thoai Ngo to continue to advance racial justice and equity on our Board and in our work. Read their reflection on this transition here.
Regina (she/her) is currently the deputy director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. Previously, Regina was the Executive Director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), one of the leading reproductive justice organizations in Mexico, and Program Officer for Latin America at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, where she provided technical assistance to local organizations working directly with historically discriminated communities. A lawyer with over 25 years of experience in women’s rights advocacy and litigation, Regina has taught undergraduate and master's-level courses on human rights and gender at universities in Mexico. She actively participates in several governing bodies of local organizations and has received awards for her outstanding work as a women's rights activist.
Jay (they/them) is currently a third-year MD-PhD student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. Jay is a Steering Committee member of the UCSF REPAIR Project, a strategic scholar-activist initiative working toward reparations, medical abolition, and decolonization in the health sciences by bringing together Black and BIPOC voices in biomedicine and Bay Area community organizations. Jay is also actively engaged in curricular activism at the UCSF School of Medicine to improve and center gender and sex inclusivity; they are a lead author on two forthcoming studies on transgender, non-binary, gender-expansive, and intersex-inclusive approaches in medical education and clinical practice. Jay recently began their PhD in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, focusing on ovarian development and the establishment of the ovarian reserve.
Fatimah (she/her) joined the Ibis Board in 2017. Fatimah is the Executive Director of Provide, a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with health and social service providers throughout the US South to build a health system equipped to respond to health care needs around sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including abortion. She began her career in marketing, public relations, and communications nearly 23 years ago, creating and executing strategic marketing, communications, and public relations campaigns throughout various industries. She began her work in sexual and reproductive health as VP of Marketing and Communications for Whole Woman's Health in 2013, quickly committing herself to building resources for those who are under-resourced and underserved—specifically Black folks.
Please join us in welcoming Regina and Jay, and congratulating Fatimah!