Ashi Arora is a health justice policy associate at the National Partnership.

Tucker Ball is chief digital officer at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he leads a fabulous team responsible for the organization’s digital communications and engagement efforts … from social media to online fundraising to website development to email outreach and more. Tucker was the organization’s first full-time digital hire, joining the communications team in 2006.

Prior to his work at the National Partnership, Tucker served as chief marketing officer at Sojourners in Washington, D.C., as a mission volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and as a webmaster for a TV station in Seattle.

Outside the office, Tucker is all about spending time with his kids and loved ones — including two impossibly sweet doggos — and enjoying the great outdoors, live music, stand-up comics and offbeat television.

Lelaine Bigelow is the vice president for social impact and congressional relations at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she is responsible for creating and executing strategy to turn our policy work into social change. She shapes the direction of the National Partnership’s congressional relations and corporate outreach programs to translate day to day meetings into effective relationships and long-term policy wins.

Prior to this role, Lelaine was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama Administration. Her Capitol Hill experience includes working for Rep. Judy Chu and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Rep. Corrine Brown, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler. In 2012, she was named a Champion for Children by First Focus and established a National Commission on Children and Disasters in 2008. She also worked for a political communications firm and a federal agency focused on promoting the growth and development of minority businesses.

Lelaine graduated from the University of Florida and the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. She lives a quaint city life in Capitol Hill with her husband and son. A true Filipina, she loves to cook and eat and proudly passed those same values to her energetic son.

Blen Yilma Asres is a Health Justice Intern at the National Partnership.

James Campbell is the health justice policy analyst at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he plays an integral role in implementing the Partnership’s delivery system transformation, health information technology, and payment reform advocacy policy initiatives. Currently, he engages and utilizes his policy expertise to track and analyze legislative and regulatory developments, contribute to policy positions, develop relationships with patient and provider advocacy groups, and represent the Partnership at policy tables and coalitions.

Prior to his work at the National Partnership, James held various positions while earning his J.D. most recently he served as a law clerk for Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) focusing on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity, and as a legal intern for the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. His main interest is at the intersection of health care, law, and technology focusing on the ethical and policy implications of increasing technological integration into health care systems. James received his B.A. from the University of New Mexico and his J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law.

Sarah Coombs is director for health system transformation at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages policy and programmatic work on health access and system transformation, including health equity, health coverage and affordability, and payment and delivery system transformation.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Sarah worked in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she contributed to the policy development and implementation of the Affordable Care Act and delivery system transformation initiatives. Before that, Sarah worked at the Office of Management and Budget, where she coordinated the Health Division’s development of the federal health budget and oversight responsibilities of Medicare, Medicaid and Marketplace coverage. Sarah received her master’s in public health from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University and her bachelor’s in government and legal studies and French from Bowdoin College.

Sarah is a proud Bostonian and moved to Washington, D.C., in 2012. She enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and young son.

Elisa Davila is the Economic Justice Policy Associate at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Jaclyn hails from Dallas, Texas, and is the proud daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. She is the Director of Congressional Relations, Reproductive Health, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages the organization’s relationships on the Hill and its key legislative priorities on abortion and contraception. Jaclyn is passionate about working with Congress on reproductive rights through an intersectional and racial justice lens that centers the full lived experiences of people who can become pregnant.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Jaclyn was the Policy and Government Affairs Director at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, where she worked at the intersection of reproductive health and immigrant rights. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco and worked for Annie’s List, which helps elect pro-choice, Democratic women to statewide office in Texas.

Jaclyn holds a BA in Political Science and Sociology from Rice University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. Outside of work, she can be found working author events with Loyalty Bookstore in DC, reading, bouldering, doing yoga, crocheting, and caring for her houseplants and fluffy orange cat.

Marissa is a disabled activist and attorney. She serves as the Disability Economic Justice Counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Prior to her time at the National Partnership, she was a Staff Attorney at Tzedek DC, a non-profit dedicated to safeguarding the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with low incomes dealing with debt and consumer issues. She led and formed Tzedek DC’s Disabilities Community Project.

Prior to joining Tzedek DC, Marissa served as a litigation fellow at the AARP Foundation, where she assisted with legal research on cases involving age discrimination, reverse mortgages, nursing facilities, elder abuse, and other issues facing Americans ages fifty and older. Marissa’s legal research on issues including disability rights, reproductive justice, and workers’ rights has been featured in publications such as the National Lawyers Guild Review; the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law; and the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. Marissa is a former leader of the National Disabled Law Students Association and an organizer and founder of the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association.

Marissa graduated magna cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law in 2019. She is an inaugural Capital Chai of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington awardee and a 2022 Brandeisians of the Last Decade (BOLD) 9 award recipient.

Corinna Dragulescu is the director of finance at the National Partnership for Women & Families. As director of finance, Dragulescu has primary oversight responsibility for strategic financial planning for the National Partnership. She manages all accounting and financial functions, ensuring compliance with government regulations at the federal, state and local levels; monitors cash flow; and manages the annual budget and audit. She also works with the director of administration in monitoring the organization’s fringe benefits.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Dragulescu was chief financial officer for Goodwill of Greater Washington in D.C. Before holding that position, she worked as a certified public accountant for the public accounting firm of Rubino & Company in Bethesda, Md.

Dragulescu has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from George Mason University and received her certified public accountant license in 1996.

Email Corinna at cdragulescu@nationalpartnership.org.

Erica (she/her) is the Director of Foundation Relations. In this role, she oversees foundation fundraising at National Partnership for Women & Families.

Erica previously served as Manager of Foundation Relations with the National Women’s Law Center and Grants Manager with the National Partnership for Women & Families. She also served as Prevention and Social Change Initiatives Coordinator with the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Erica’s career commitment to improving the lives of Black girls and women began in direct services as Director at YWCA McLean County where she was responsible for the fiscal and programmatic oversight of the Stepping Stones sexual assault program and the Girls Be U empowerment program. She was also the Regional Campaign Coordinator for People Over Politics (American Civil Liberties Union), for the North Florida region, where she helped secure the passage of two state Constitutional redistricting amendments.

Born and raised on Chicago’s southside, Erica is a graduate of Illinois State University where she majored in Philosophy with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. An avid reader, Erica is always eager to discuss her latest read and recommendations.

Natasha Ewell is the senior operations and human resources manager at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to keep the office running smoothly day to day.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Natasha has worked with different nonprofits in various administrative roles.

Dr. Katherine Gallagher Robbins is a Senior Fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to build the Partnership’s research capacity to tell a more holistic story of how the policies the National Partnership has pushed for over the last five decades support women with a focus on women of color, disabled women, LGBTQIA+ women, and women with other marginalized identities. She works alongside the organization’s health justice team in its call for access to abortion and an improved healthcare system focused on equity in underserved communities; and she contributes to the economic justice team’s goal of passing a national paid family and medical leave program and winning other policies supporting women at work.

Katherine brings to the role over a dozen years of experience in policy and advocacy organizations, with work on a range of issues, including economic justice, caregiving, racial, and gender equity. Her research and commentary have been featured in The New York Times, NBC, CNN, CBS, Vox, The Economist, and numerous other news outlets. Before joining the National Partnership, Katherine worked in leadership roles at TIME’S UP, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Center for American Progress, and the National Women’s Law Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Santa Fe, NM.

Shaina Goodman is the director for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She manages policy and legal work on reproductive health, rights and justice issues, including federal and state policy on abortion coverage and access, contraception, and other sexual and reproductive health issues. She also provides strategic, policy and technical assistance to policymakers, researchers and advocates, and collaborates across National Partnership programs to holistically address the barriers that women face and advance proactive policy solutions.

Shaina’s prior experience has focused on issues of gender-based violence, including the intersection of domestic violence and family policy, economic justice, housing and public benefits. She has also deeply engaged in work related to social justice and movement building, and is a trained dialogue facilitator.

Shaina received her JD, master’s in social work, and bachelor’s degree in women & gender studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland.

Jasmine Goodrich is vice president for development at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she leads all fundraising efforts and donor engagement strategies across the organization.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Jasmine worked in the central offices of advancement at the Smithsonian Institution and the George Washington University. In these roles, she focused on corporate relations and major gift opportunities for pan-institutional initiatives centered around women and diversity. Jasmine graduated from Indiana University with a major in African American African Diaspora Studies and Sociology and a minor in Public and Environmental Affairs.

Jasmine is a proud Hoosier from Indiana and an avid volunteer in the Washington, D.C., area. She is the Chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ African American Affinity Group Leadership Council and former Co-Chair of the affinity group. In addition, she volunteers at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and a number of other nonprofits. She is also a proud mom of guinea pigs, rescuing seven over the years. When not volunteering or playing with animals, Jasmine enjoys interior decorating, fashion and music.

Venicia Gray is the senior manager for maternal and infant health at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Stephanie Green is a coalition and partnerships manager on the Health Justice team at the National Partnership, where she coordinates projects that intersect health policy and community engagement. On her current project, she is assisting measure developers and other health care stakeholders collaborate with patients and families to ensure that care design and delivery meet the needs of patients and families.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Stephanie has worked in social services as a support broker for a D.C.-based self-directed disability caregiving program, called Services, My Way. She has many years’ experience working in and understanding caregiving services for the elderly and disability populations and in helping individuals navigate social services programs. Before that, she has also worked to addressed food insecurity in the District for The Food Research and Action Center and D.C. Hunger Solutions as a bilingual outreach associate hosting workshops on barriers to access and assisting elderly individuals apply for SNAP benefits. Stephanie graduated from University of Maryland-College Park with major in family science and minor in human development.

Stephanie is a native Washingtonian, currently residing in Silver Spring, MD. She enjoys watching 90’s sitcoms, like Boy Meets World, indulging in true crime podcasts and playing with her black cat Rosemary.

Sharita Gruberg is Vice President for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she will lead the economic justice team in providing expertise and thought leadership in research, advocacy and policy work around many of the issue areas the organization has led on in its 50-year history.

Sharita most recently conducted successful advocacy campaigns, engaged with diverse stakeholders and led policy change at the Center for American Progress. There, she served as vice president for the think tank’s LGBTQI+ Research and Communications Project where she worked to expand legal and lived equality for LGBTQI+ people, particularly those living at the intersection of multiple identities.

Throughout her career, Sharita has made it clear that the best way to advance economic justice policies that benefit women and families is to develop them through a lens of racial justice and with an awareness of the history that systemically has left out underrepresented communities.

Sharita earned her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, and her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Areeba Haider is the Senior Executive Administrator and Research Manager at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, JD, is a vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she leads the Health Justice team. She is a national health and health care equity policy and advocacy thought leader with 25 years of experience advancing equal opportunity for women and families of color, and almost 20 years advocating for increased health care access and improved quality of care for underserved communities. Sinsi is deeply committed to transforming our health care system to meet the needs of our rapidly evolving nation so we can all thrive together. She believes that our future prosperity depends on ensuring our health care system routinely provides excellent, comprehensive, culturally centered and affordable care for every single person, family and community, and that this requires the dismantling of structural inequities including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and religious bigotry.

Sinsi is a recognized leader in the national health equity movement, a sought-after strategic advisor and a dynamic, inspiring speaker. She has presented at national events across the country and served on numerous advisory committees for organizations including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs and the American Association of Pediatrics. She has published extensively and has appeared in national and state level English and Spanish television, radio and print media.

Sinsi’s extensive experience in health and health equity policy and advocacy spans the state government, labor and non-profit arenas. Prior to joining the National Partnership’s staff, she was the founding director of Families USA’s Center on Health Equity Action for System Transformation, where she led efforts to advance health equity and reduce disparities in health outcomes and health care access and quality by leveraging health care and delivery system transformation to reduce persistent racial, ethnic and geographic health inequities with an intersectional lens. Prior to that, she advised and represented two governors of Puerto Rico on federal health and human services policies, and she worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a senior health policy analyst and national campaign coordinator for their Healthcare Equality Project campaign to enact the Affordable Care Act.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sinsi is bilingual and bicultural. She earned an A.B. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow, and won the Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship. She lives in Fairfax with her husband, teenage son and two rescue dogs. She loves sci-fi, board games and expressing her love for family and friends by feeding them.

Travis Hunter is the director of information technology at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where he oversees the streamlined operation of the organization’s IT infrastructure and ensures that it aligns with the strategic objectives of the organization.

Llenda Jackson-Leslie is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to showcase reproductive health and health care issues.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Llenda was a senior communications associate at McKinney & Associates, where she led campaigns on transformative justice, gender justice and health equity. Previously, she served as director of legislative communications for the American Civil Liberties Union where she managed communications initiatives to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.

A native Detroiter, Llenda served as communications director for Michigan’s largest trial court and marketing director for the Detroit Branch NAACP before moving to Washington, D.C.

Olga Juarez is a development associate at the National Partnership for Women & Familes, where she provides support for major gift fundraising and the annual gala. In addition, she assists in cultivation and stewardship activities.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Olga worked in various direct service nonprofits in the metropolitan area. Most recently, she worked as a bilingual Client Services Coordinator for Nourish Now, a local food recovery food bank in Montgomery County. Previously, she was an Americorps member with Rebuilding Together Montgomery County, where she served as the Client Coordinator.

Olga joins us with an interest to further her advocacy work from direct service to fundraising for programs that improve the lives of women and families.

Josia Klein is the Huber reproductive health equity legal fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she contributes to policy and legal work on reproductive health, rights and justice issues, including federal and state policy on abortion coverage and access, contraception, and other sexual and reproductive health issues.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Josia served as a judicial law clerk for two federal judges at the district court and appellate levels. She received her JD from the University of Chicago and her BA from The Ohio State University. In law school, she was a managing editor of The Law Review, involved in the International Human Rights Clinic, and president of the student reproductive justice group.

Josia is a proud Midwesterner, an avid reader, and a doting cat parent.

Jessi Leigh Swenson is Director, Congressional Relations, Health Justice, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages the National Partnership’s federal government relations and cross-movement strategic partnerships on reproductive health, rights and justice issues. She joined the National Partnership in 2015 as the senior policy counsel for reproductive health and rights.Jessi Leigh has nearly a decade of experience in building effective coalitions to move federal policies forward for women and families. Prior to her work at the National Partnership, she was the Federal Policy Director at the National Abortion Federation, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Rights4Girls, and was an If/When/How and Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow.Jessi Leigh hails from Maine and attended Hampshire College and UC Hastings College of the Law. She loves climbing, boxing, reading and spending time with her partner and their beautiful strong daughter.

Judith L. Lichtman has been a guiding and influential force in the women’s movement for more than 40 years. She stepped down as president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in 2004, and is presently senior advisor at the National Partnership. Her commitment, vision, and talent as an attorney and advocate have made a profound difference for women and families across the United States.

Lichtman often says: “I went to law school because being a lawyer gave me a license for activism.” After receiving her law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1965, Lichtman worked for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Jackson State College, the Urban Coalition, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as legal advisor to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In 1974, Lichtman became the executive director and first paid staff person for the Women’s Legal Defense Fund (WLDF), which became the National Partnership for Women & Families in February 1998.

Under Lichtman’s leadership, the National Partnership has been at the forefront of every major piece of civil rights legislation related to women and families for more than 40 years. Founded as a small volunteer group, the National Partnership has grown into a national organization with thousands of members and has become one of the country’s most influential strategic forces, shaping national policy through its advocacy, lobbying, litigation, and public education. Lichtman’s vision and the National Partnership’s strength and direct leadership have resulted in the passage of some of the most important legal protections for American women and families, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. In 1996, the National Partnership helped shape key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that make it easier for women and their families to get and keep health coverage. More recently, Lichtman has led efforts to promote patient protections and to bring paid family and medical leave to California.

Lichtman has been recognized by civic and legal organizations, business and labor leaders, and others for her strategic abilities, political savvy, effectiveness in creating powerful and diverse coalitions, and her tireless commitment to building a truly just society. President Clinton called Lichtman “a remarkable national treasure,” and Washingtonian magazine has identified her as one of Washington, DC’s most powerful women and Washingtonian of the Year in 1986. The Sara Lee Corporation awarded her the 1989 Frontrunner Award in the area of Humanities. That same year, the Women’s Bar Association named her Woman Lawyer of the Year. In 2000, Lichtman received the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Hubert H. Humphrey Award for her contributions to the advancement of human and civil rights.

Says Lichtman, “For over 40 years, I’ve tried to make this world a better place for women and families. We’ve come a long way, but our work is far from done. My daughters, and all our children, deserve a future where every school and workplace is truly free of discrimination, and where all families have the support they need to succeed at home and on the job. I know from experience — if we can imagine it, we can make it happen.”

Lichtman lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband Elliott. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Hang Liu has composed speeches and shaped messaging strategies for two cabinet secretaries, the leaders of global businesses and major nonprofits, and a presidential campaign. Today, at the National Partnership, he draws upon this experience to help craft executive communications on behalf of President Jocelyn Frye.

Before his current role, Hang served as director of speechwriting at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where he supported Secretary Marcia Fudge in championing all housing-related initiatives of the Biden-Harris administration. Prior to that position, he worked as a director with the speechwriting firm West Wing Writers—and as director of speechwriting at the Center for American Progress, one of the country’s leading progressive think tanks. Hang also served previously at HUD as a speechwriter for then-Secretary Julián Castro. In 2016, he joined the communications team of the Hillary for America campaign, where he helped prepare Hillary Clinton for her national media interviews.

Hang is a graduate of Harvard College and Brooklyn Law School. The son of Chinese immigrants, he was born and raised in New York City.

Betsy Macdonnell is the executive assistant to the President at the National Partnership.

Erin Mackay is the managing director for health justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Erin supports strategic and operational planning, and also leads a portfolio of Health Justice programs and projects. Erin is a respected consumer advocate with subject matter expertise in health information technology policy and consumer health data access. She represents the consumer voice in federal and private sector efforts, including participation in expert panels and working groups on health data and privacy, patient-centered care, and quality measurement. She is gifted writer, communicator and coalition-builder who brings humor and joy to her work. Erin has undergraduate degrees in English literature and women and gender studies from the University of Virginia, and a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in community health from George Mason University.

When not hard at work building a better health care system, Erin enjoys teaching yoga and baking chocolate chip cookies.

Marissa is a disabled activist and attorney. She serves as the Disability Economic Justice Counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Prior to her time at the National Partnership, she was a Staff Attorney at Tzedek DC, a non-profit dedicated to safeguarding the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with low incomes dealing with debt and consumer issues. She led and formed Tzedek DC’s Disabilities Community Project.

Prior to joining Tzedek DC, Marissa served as a litigation fellow at the AARP Foundation, where she assisted with legal research on cases involving age discrimination, reverse mortgages, nursing facilities, elder abuse, and other issues facing Americans ages fifty and older. Marissa’s legal research on issues including disability rights, reproductive justice, and workers’ rights has been featured in publications such as the National Lawyers Guild Review; the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law; and the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. Marissa is a former leader of the National Disabled Law Students Association and an organizer and founder of the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association.

Marissa graduated magna cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law in 2019. She is an inaugural Capital Chai of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington awardee and a 2022 Brandeisians of the Last Decade (BOLD) 9 award recipient.

Jessica Mason is the senior policy analyst and engagement manager for workplace programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she oversees in-house research and data analysis, tracks developments in academic and other research and develops advocacy resources related to the workplace and economic security agenda. She also helps find ways to engage with current and new allies in this work.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Jessica was an instructor in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a researcher on economic justice and anti-corruption issues for the Center for Media and Democracy. She has also conducted research on gender politics, nationalism, social movements and authoritarianism in contemporary Russia. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A Midwesterner, Jessica enjoys regular trips back home to visit family and friends, sample cheese and marvel at affordable housing prices.

Danielle Mathias is the Senior Digital Content Specialist at the National Partnership.

Jesse Matton is the director of corporate social impact policies on the congressional relations and social impact team. Jesse builds alliances with corporations and other private sector stakeholders to identify common policy priorities and develop partnerships that further joint policy goals and systems change. Jesse also leads the National Partnership’s Business Working Group for Gender Equity and works collaboratively with the Economic Justice and Health Justice teams to make an impact in the private sector.

Jesse comes to the National Partnership with over 10 years of nonprofit experience, which covered partnerships, operations, and programming related to social investments, corporate citizenship and ESG strategy. Jesse was the Director of Economic Opportunity and Empowerment at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center where she led strategic programming and partnership opportunities to further the business communities’ impact on women’s economic empowerment, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality, supplier diversity, and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Jesse hails from Northern Virginia and attended University of Tennessee where she studied International Business, Russian, and Economics. She lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, son, and dog.

Michelle Feit is Director, Congressional Relations, Economic Justice, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages day-to-day federal policymaker relationships and develops and leverages partner relationships to advance the National Partnership’s legislative agenda. Michelle is primarily focused on educating Congress about the issues within the National Partnership’s workplace and economic security agenda: paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, equal pay, pregnancy discrimination, workplace harassment and fighting harmful proposals that erode workers’ and women’s economic rights.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Michelle spent almost five years on Capitol Hill serving on the policy teams for Senator Barbara Mikulski and Congresswoman Jackie Speier. While on Senator Mikulski’s team, she led the effort to bring the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument into the National Park System.

Outside of work, Michelle is an active member of Jews United for Justice, served as a volunteer leader for the DC Paid Family Leave Campaign, and has volunteered on various national and local campaigns. She also founded the Columbia Heights chapter of Swing Left, one of the most active chapters in the country, which helped elect Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA-07). Michelle lives in Washington, D.C., and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

Miriam Cash is the director of National Media at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she is responsible for developing communications strategy and engaging national press to amplify the National Partnership’s core work to create an equitable economy, advance workplace fairness, and advocate for health and reproductive justice to uplift women and families. She helps to lead the communications team and coordinate with policy staff across the organization to maximize the impact of our policy and advocacy work.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Miriam gained experience advocating for progressive economic and health care policy on Capitol Hill where she helped lead communications strategy and press efforts for U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand – and most recently served as Communications Director for U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones. She was also Press Secretary at EMILYs List, where she built relationships with national political reporters to uplift stories of the historic number of women running for office during the 2018 and 2020 cycles.

Miriam grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania and graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, before moving to Washington, D.C., where she lives with her cat, Ceci.

Mona Papillon is the chief operating officer at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she is responsible for leading National Partnership infrastructure and operations functions to ensure effective management and oversight across the organization and to ensure that internal operations align with the Partnership’s priorities and mission.

Prior to her work at the National Partnership, Mona spent over 20 years at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and began her career as a legal associate specializing in employment law and labor management relations at a large law firm.

Mona is a first generation Haitian-American and grew up in Chicago and Florida before moving to Washington, DC to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is a graduate of Columbia University Law School and is avid traveler and polyglot who enjoys exploring new cities and cultures.

Email Mona at mpapillon@nationalpartnership.org.

Aimee D. Peoples is Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism (DEIA) at the National Partnership for Women & families. As the first person to hold this role, Aimee’s work is focused on taking intentional and significant steps to transform the National Partnership to live our values both internally and externally, operationalizing strategic initiatives, and confronting and disrupting bias in all of its forms.

An unapologetic DEIA agent of change and “good troublemaker”, Aimee brings over 15 years of knowledge and experience advocating for and creating positive change in workplaces. An experienced employment attorney and advisor, Aimee is also a trained mediator, workplace investigator, and labor negotiator. Aimee is a transformational leader with a proven history of using equity-driven design thinking to solve specific problems and using policies to cultivate a culture of accountability, equity, and inclusion.

Aimee is a proud graduate of Howard University (B.A.) and also earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School. In addition to her passions around DEIA, Aimee has been recognized for her commitment to community service and is an active volunteer in the DC area. She currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Critical Exposure.

Karen Pesapane Zadravec is the associate director for digital fundraising and data management at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she manages the online fundraising program. Central to this work is a commitment to cultivating donor relationships and communicating the impact donors have through their support. A database enthusiast, Karen also oversees database operations to support all aspects of the fundraising cycle.

Karen has more than 15 years of progressive fundraising experience and enjoys learning something new every day. She feels fortunate to raise her children in the Washington, D.C. area and to work for a mission-driven organization that reflects her values. Karen’s commitment to fighting for equality and fairness comes from her younger sister Alicia, who has Downs syndrome and is the most beautiful person inside and out.

Ashi Arora is a health justice policy associate at the National Partnership.

Carol Sakala leads maternal health and maternity care programming at the National Partnership for Women & Families. She is a long-time maternity care advocate, educator, researcher, author and policy analyst, with a continuous focus on meeting the needs and interests of childbearing women and their families. Sakala sits on advisory bodies and work groups focusing on payment reform, performance measurement and other ways to improve the quality of maternity care. She has been an investigator on all national Listening to Mothers surveys (2002-) and was principal investigator of the most recent Listening to Mothers in California survey. She helps create or commission foundational resources for the field on such topics as the cost of having a baby, maternity care and liability, evidence-based maternity care, effectiveness of labor support, hormonal physiology of childbearing and performance of the nation’s maternity care system. She led the National Partnership’s recent convening and collaboration of 17 national leaders resulting in the consensus report, Blueprint for Advancing High-Value Maternity Care Through Physiologic Childbearing. Through her guidance, the National Partnership maintains childbirthconnection.org, which features results of systematic reviews to support childbearing women in informed maternity care decision making and helps them navigate the maternity care system. She was a Pew Health Policy fellow at Boston University, where she received her doctorate in health policy through the University Professors Program, and has master’s degrees from the University of Utah and the University of Chicago.

Dior Seck is the Senior Accountant at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Amaya Smith is vice president for marketing and communications at the National Partnership for Women & Families. In that role she oversees strategic messaging as well as digital and earned communications around issues important to women and families. These issues include reproductive justice, women’s health care and workplace fairness. Smith works to ensure that stakeholders and the public understand that women’s health and reproductive freedom is inextricably entwined with economic justice. Before joining National Partnership she served as Communications Director and Strategic Advisor to the President, at the AFL-CIO. Prior to joining the AFL-CIO Smith served as a Press Secretary for the American Association for Justice (AAJ). She also served as the South Carolina Press Secretary for the Obama for America campaign during the 2008 Democratic primary.

Smith developed experience working with diverse media outlets and constituencies as a Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee, where she handled press for the women’s, African American, labor, faith, college and youth communities. She got her start in legislative advocacy working for former Congressman Albert R. Wynn, her local representative. She served as a Communications Director for Congressman Wynn for four years and built relationships with Capitol Hill and Washington reporters. Smith is a graduate of American University and is originally from Silver Spring, Md. Her passion for social justice and women’s health comes from a mom who is a retired registered nurse and an eternal activist.

Joshua Tobing is the Director of Major Gifts at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Constance Torian is the chief of staff at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she manages internal and external strategy for the President and organization. She has spent her professional career as an operator, using and growing multiple skill sets to reach success and drive institutional priorities. Prior to her time at the Partnership, she was the associate director of outreach and special events at the Center for American Progress where she led strategic outreach and directed many high-impact, high-visibility projects specifically focused on criminal justice, racial justice, women’s rights, and c4 outreach. Prior to joining American Progress, she was the deputy scheduler for Sen. Mark Warner’s re-election campaign where she assisted with his campaign schedule, built and advanced multiple campaign events, and led areas of political outreach. She also spent three years working in marketing and promotions for the University of Virginia Athletics program, while also earning her B.A. in government.

In her personal time, she enjoys curating playlists, trying new restaurants, and watching her cat have the zoomies.

LaKisha Wiley is the accounts payable specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Gail Zuagar is a senior communications specialist at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she works to amplify the organization’s economic justice work to a range of audiences. Prior to joining the National Partnership, Gail developed a passion for combining communications with advocacy and outreach in previous roles at The Education Trust and the National Women’s Law Center.

Gail earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University and her master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their children.