BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Evelina Weidman Sterling, PhD, MPH, CHES, CEO, My Fertility Plan, LLC, Marietta,
Evelina Weidman Sterling is an accomplished and well-known fertility expert, public health educator, and researcher. She is currently the CEO of My Fertility Plan (www.myfertilityplan.com), a leading health education consulting firm aimed at providing health care consumers and patients with a wide-range of unbiased and evidence-based educational resources and referrals regarding fertility. My Fertility Plans helps patients better navigate through their fertility care and encourages informed decision-making.
Evelina has co-written several best-selling and award-winning books focusing on reproductive health, including Living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS); Having Your Baby through Egg Donation; and Budgeting for Infertility: How to Bring Home a Baby without Breaking the Bank. She has also published several articles and has given numerous interviews and presentations about various aspects of reproductive health, including the many complex issues associated with overcoming infertility. Evelina holds a PhD in Medical Sociology from Georgia State University as well as a master’s degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University. She also attended the University of Mary Washington where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.
Evelina has over 15 years experience working in public health education and research, primarily in the areas of reproductive and women’s health. Previous experience includes positions at Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies National Coalition, American Association for Health Education, Health Resources and Services Administration, Gallaudet University, and the American Heart Association. She also regularly serves as an independent consultant helping non-profit organizations and government agencies effectively develop, implement, and evaluate public health and health education programs.
Vice-President
Valerie L. Baker, MD
Valerie L. Baker, MD is Medical Director of the Stanford Fertility and Reproductive Medicine Center at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California. She received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and her Master of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University both in 1988. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1992 and her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in 1995 at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Baker is board- certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She directs the program for Primary Ovarian Insufficiency at Stanford.
Secretary/Treasurer
Lawrence H. Hinden (Larry), JD, Chief Operating Officer/Executive Coach
Mr. Hinden, in his role as Secretary/Treasurer, manages the overall business operations of Rachels Well. He is Vice-President/Co-Founder of Managance Consulting (www.managance.com) a Management Consulting Company specializing in improving the perfomance, capacity and results of nonprofit organizations. Larry directs the Managance Consulting work in financial data analysis and entrepreneurial thinking with nonprofits. Larry joined Managance Consulting full time in 2006 following 10 years as President and CFO of T3 Software Builders, a software development and IT consulting company.
Larry brings a diverse perspective to nonprofit clients through a combination of his legal and financial background and many years of experience as a successful entrepreneur. Larry currently volunteers by serving as a Board member of Make Piece/Make Peace, Inc. a Washington DC based organization helping women with low incomes develop skills as artisans and entrepreneurs.
Larry earned his law degree from the University of Maryland in 1990. He received his coach training through Coach U and is a member of the International Federation of Coaches. His coaching clients include nonprofit executive directors/CEOs and other senior staff, board leaders and business professionals.
Executive Director
Denice Rothman Hinden, Ph.D., ACC
For 25 years, Denice has worked in and with socially responsible organizations in a wide variety of ways including project design, grant writing and program implementation; curriculum development and facilitation; facility development, market analysis and survey and qualitative research and board development. Denice has focused on developing her content knowledge in community and economic development and children, youth and family health and welfare, leadership development and supports for people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. She is President/Co-Founder of Managance Consulting (www.managance.com).
Denice is also co-author of the book Hidden Truths: Discovering Your Nonprofit’s Culture and How It Impacts Performance that will be published by Fieldstone Alliance in September 2009. Prior to establishing Managance Consulting, Denice served as Program Director at the Development Training Institute (DTI), Baltimore, Maryland where she directed an unprecedented organizational capacity building program with Indianapolis community development corporations (CDCs) and created DTI’s Greater Philadelphia Leadership Academy, a college accredited program for senior staff and emerging leaders of CDCs. She has also served as Executive Vice President of The Thurston Consulting Group, a Miami firm specializing in nonprofit organization development, strategic planning and evaluation research.
Denice’s current volunteer activity is serving as Vice President of the Board of Make Piece/Make Peace, Inc. a Washington
Denice has a M.S. in Human Services from Nova Southeastern University and a Ph.D. in Public Administration fromFlorida International University. She is certified to administer the Organization Team Culture Indicator (OTCI) through the Center for Applied Psychological Type, Inc. She is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Federation of Coaches. Denice is also fluent in Spanish.
Board Member
Paula J. Adams Hillard, MD
Paula J. Adams Hillard, M.D., is currently a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine where she serves as Chief of the Division of Gynecologic Specialties. Until May of 2007, she was a Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she founded and directed the fellowship program in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology.
Dr. Hillard was a member of the Department of Ob-Gyn at the University of Cincinnati from 1984 to 2007, and was the Director of Women’s Health for the University of Cincinnati college of Medicine. Dr. Hillard has been active on a number of national medical committees, including chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) Committees on Patient Education, Adolescent Health, and Guidelines for Women’s Health; she is a past member of the Gynecology Practice Committee. She is an examiner for the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is an active contributor to the literature in adolescent gynecology and contraception with more than 100 journal articles and abstracts published. She has served as an editorial board member for a number of professional journals.
Dr. Hillard speaks frequently at national and international meetings and postgraduate courses on topics in ambulatory obstetrics and gynecology, pediatric and adolescent gynecology, cervical cancer screening, interpersonal violence, and primary care. She is an Associate Editor of a major textbook, Novak’s Gynecology, the editor of the 5-Minute Consult in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the author of more than 50 book chapters on women’s health. She has been a consultant and a member of task forces and committees for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Board Member
Benjamin Leader, MD, PhD
Dr. Leader, who brings 14 years of clinical and scientific experience with a focus in the field of advanced fertility diagnostics, co-founded ReproSource (www.reprosource.com) with a singular vision: to provide the gold standard in reference laboratory diagnostics and information for fertility testing through large scale clinical validation and research. Dr. Leader, a residency-trained physician scientist who has co-founded several diagnostic companies, additionally brings significant experience in venture capital investment and operational management.
As the former Chief Medical Officer for Repromedix, Dr. Leader has directed multiple clinical investigations evaluating fertility diagnostics. His interest in fertility diagnostics began while pursuing his PhD in molecular genetics. During that time, Dr Leader discovered a gene in both mice and humans that may provide a new diagnostic for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss and egg related chromosomal errors. Dr. Leader works closely with fertility clinicians and researchers throughout the world to pursue the common vision of developing validated fertility tests and improve fertility care.
Dr. Leader received his M.D. and PhD degrees through Harvard Medical School and MIT through the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program. He subsequently completed a residency in Emergency Medicine which included an additional academic teaching year.
Board Member (non-voting)
Yoko Nakamura Nelson, BA, MS
Mrs. Nelson, retired as an art and Japanese language teacher is a co-founder of Rachel’s Well, Inc. Since her retirement, Mrs. Nelson substitute teaches, volunteers for Rachel’s Well, Inc, the Fairfax County Arts Council in Fairfax County, Virginia, and serves as a Japanese interpreter for the Fairfax County Medical Reserve Corps. She holds B.A. in art and M.S. in art education.
Prior to her retirement, Mrs. Nelson was active in educational fields as a classroom teacher, a curriculum writer, presenter of workshops, mentor of other teachers and an officer of art education organizations. Mrs. Nelson has been recognized by a number of awards for teaching excellence both in art and foreign language.