Category: Blog

  • Social Activism Rankings: Best and Worst States in 2026

    Social Activism Rankings: Best and Worst States in 2026

    Social activism in the United States has long been a powerful force shaping the nation’s identity, challenging injustice, and expanding rights and opportunities for marginalized communities. From modern digital movements to global advocacy networks, activists have used collective action, storytelling, and grassroots organizing to push for systemic change. While the methods and platforms have evolved,…

  • Book Review: No Woman Left Behind

    Book Review: No Woman Left Behind

    No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth by Kate Grant My rating: 5 of 5 stars No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth is a powerful and deeply moving memoir by Kate Grant, founding CEO of the Fistula Foundation.…

  • Where Families Thrive—and Struggle: Best and Worst States to Raise a Family in 2026

    Where Families Thrive—and Struggle: Best and Worst States to Raise a Family in 2026

    Some states provide better living conditions than others. WalletHub analyzed 50 key factors, including median income, education, childcare, family fun, and affordability, to determine the best and worst states for families to live. Where does your state rank?

  • Skip the Flowers: 5 Gardens to Donate to for a Thoughtful Valentine’s Day Gift

    Skip the Flowers: 5 Gardens to Donate to for a Thoughtful Valentine’s Day Gift

    I’m not sure about you, but I love gardens. They are such pristine, lovely, and inspirational spaces. Even though many gardens are dormant during the winter months, Spring is right around the corner. Donating a thoughtful gift to a loved one or friend for Valentine’s Day is a wonderful way to show you care.

  • Why Women and Girls Are Still the Most Vulnerable in Global Health Crises

    Why Women and Girls Are Still the Most Vulnerable in Global Health Crises

    Amid the global health funding crisis, I often think about the trickle-down effect of the closure of USAID. No matter if some believe the agency was a burden on American taxpayers or not, there is no doubt that the work it accomplished over the decades created measurable change for women and girls, from improved maternal…

  • Exploring Conscious Consumerism: Tea Companies That Give Back

    Exploring Conscious Consumerism: Tea Companies That Give Back

    Today in the first installment of our conscious consumerism series, I talk about three tea companies that give back.

  • What Do We Need to Leave in 2025?

    What Do We Need to Leave in 2025?

    2025 has been intense! What do you hope is left behind?

  • The Most Dangerous Place to Give Birth in the World and Four Ways You Can Help

    The Most Dangerous Place to Give Birth in the World and Four Ways You Can Help

    Despite decades of progress in global health, pregnancy and childbirth remain life-threatening events for millions of women, especially in the world’s most fragile settings.

  • Gates Highlights the Rise in Child Deaths Amid Global Health Cuts

    Gates Highlights the Rise in Child Deaths Amid Global Health Cuts

    Today, the Gates Foundation released its annual Goalkeepers report that tracks the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s report, We Can’t Stop at Almost, highlights the growing number of child deaths given the recent cuts to global health funding.

  • We’ll Always Need the Toilet: The Importance of World Toilet Day

    We’ll Always Need the Toilet: The Importance of World Toilet Day

    Today on this World Toilet Day we are reminded of the 3.4 billion people who still do not have access to safe toilets. Toilets are a human right.

  • Essential Tools for Locating Food Pantries Near You

    Essential Tools for Locating Food Pantries Near You

    Finding local food pantries and free food assistance during this time of decreased SNAP benefits is critical for families. Key web sites and apps are below including how they work, why they’re useful, and tips for using them effectively. Day by day, we are hearing information about the release of SNAP benefits. Earlier this week,…

  • How the Funding Crisis Affects Maternal and Child Health

    How the Funding Crisis Affects Maternal and Child Health

    The Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) recently conducted a snap survey of 20 of its partners to measure the deleterious effects of the funding crisis on global health programs. As expected, the decrease in funding has caused the immediate closure of health programs in lower-and-middle income countries. There is also a severe…

  • Speaking to SayItForward.org about the Birth of Social Good Moms and What’s Next

    Speaking to SayItForward.org about the Birth of Social Good Moms and What’s Next

    I was honored to speak with Sharon D’agostino. She is the founder of Say It Forward and co-host of The Power of Stories Podcast along with Yodit Kifle Smith. We discussed how Social Good Moms started and what’s next for the site and community. I also discussed the importance of women using their voice for…

  • The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max) Review

    The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max) Review

    HBO Max’s short documentary The Devil Is Busy, produced by Soledad O’Brien (SO’B) Productions and co-directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir, is a searing portrait of what it means to provide and seek reproductive health care in the post-Roe era. At its center is Tracii, a staff member at Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center—now…

  • Understanding the America First Global Health Strategy

    Understanding the America First Global Health Strategy

    The Trump administration, through the State Department, released its America First Global Health Strategy. This strategy has been long-awaited. The US global health community saw mass firings and the abrupt dismantling of USAID earlier this year.

  • Signs & Symptoms of Gynecological Cancer: What to Watch For

    Signs & Symptoms of Gynecological Cancer: What to Watch For

    Gynecological cancer is a broad term for cancers that begin in a woman’s reproductive organs. These cancers start in the pelvis—the area below the stomach and between the hip bones.

  • When You Start Knowing Women Who Have Passed Away After Childbirth

    When You Start Knowing Women Who Have Passed Away After Childbirth

    A few years ago a family member died unexpectedly after childbirth. Her passing completely wrecked her family and they still have not recovered from her loss. And recently I learned of the recent passing of another mother who died immediately after childbirth. She was a community activist and focused her efforts on maternal health issues.…

  • Arizona’s Now-Repealed Abortion Ban Serves As a Cautionary Tale For Reproductive Health Care Across the US

    Arizona’s Now-Repealed Abortion Ban Serves As a Cautionary Tale For Reproductive Health Care Across the US

    When the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9, 2024, that the state’s Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions was enforceable, it brought into stark reality the potential impacts of leaving reproductive rights up to the states to regulate, and the related consequences for women’s health.

  • Breaking: Supreme Court Ruling Allows Mifepristone to Stay on the Market

    Breaking: Supreme Court Ruling Allows Mifepristone to Stay on the Market

    The Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that FDA-approved mifepristone can stay on the market. That is, mifepristone can still be prescribed by physicians and accessed by telehealth and mail-order. The Court stayed the lower courts’ decision to ban the use of the pill stating that the plaintiffs lack standing. We recognize that many citizens, including…

  • Pending Reproductive Health Decisions on the Supreme Court Docket

    Pending Reproductive Health Decisions on the Supreme Court Docket

    Supreme Court decisions are expected this month about legal doctor and mail-order prescriptions of the FDA-approved abortion pill, mifepristone, as well as whether health practitioners can provide pregnant patients with stabilizing emergency services such as an abortion where appropriate and essential for stabilization or survival.