Our Story

WHO WE ARE

Our Story

The Institute for Women's Health was founded to advocate for the optimal health and thriving of women throughout every phase of life. We saw how the health of women is caught in divisive policy debates during foreign policy negotiations. We heard the stories of how certain nations often apply pressure to other countries, using a form of diplomatic blackmail that threatens real health gains for women around the world. We knew this was wrong. We had to act. And thus the Institute for Women's Health was born, the only organization of its kind. Because women deserve better. We will settle for nothing less.

Our Leadership

What We Believe

Healthy women are the foundation for healthy families, and healthy families are essential to the health of our communities and societies. Together, we can ensure a lasting and positive global health legacy for women, our children, our families, and our nations.

1

Empower

We believe that women deserve equal access to quality healthcare and information that can empower them to protect their own health and the wellbeing of their children and families
2

Support

We believe supporting women’s health research can conquer areas of need.
3

Respect

We believe that strategies to expand women’s health and thriving should always respect the inherent dignity and worth of women, their children, their families, and their communities.
4

Protect

We believe that we must do all we can to protect the life of every person – particularly the most vulnerable.
5

Partner

We believe collective, targeted partnerships and action will drive genuine health gains for women of all ages.
6

Solve

We believe that adequately addressing women’s health needs requires working alongside governments to find solutions that respect their cultural and religious traditions.
7

Accelerate

We believe working together with motivated leaders, policymakers, businesses, organizations, healthcare professionals, faith-based groups, and governments will accelerate this progress.
8

Advance

We believe that divisive issues never should derail a single-minded focus on advancing health for women around the world.
9

Legacy

Healthy women are the foundation for healthy families, and healthy families are essential to the health of our communities and societies. Together, we can ensure a lasting and positive global health legacy for women, our children, our families, and our nations.

Our

Mission

and Guiding Principles

What Drives Our Work

The Institute for Women's Health exists to promote the highest attainable health and wellbeing for women throughout every stage of their lives, and works to tackle the most pressing women's health issues through honest discourse, targeted action, and empowered alliances.

Real progress is accomplished when we:

Affirm the unique design and dignity of every woman.

Every woman and girl is unique, with inherent dignity and value at every stage of her life. Nothing can add or subtract from her significance.

1

Make women’s health the center of the conversation.

The dignity of every woman and girl demands a concerted effort to move the women’s health discussion toward neutral ground and away from controversial issues that can prevent real progress. It’s wrong to use women and their health to promote other agendas that don’t result in tangible health advances.

2

Clear the path.

This means identifying opportunities, challenges, and health solutions for more women in every corner of the world, and removing any obstacles standing in the way.

3

Stand stronger together.

We will work with any nation and any organization that wants to improve the health and quality of life for women. We strive to understand the most pressing needs for women in every location. We believe solutions can be crafted to accelerate improved outcomes for women while being sensitive to the cultural underpinnings of the country.

4

Our Leadership

The Institute for Women's Health has exceptional policy knowledge, international government experience, and a passionate desire for a united effort in expanding the health of women in every corner of the globe.

President/CEO

Valerie Huber, M.Ed

Valerie Huber, M.Ed., is the Founder and President of The Institute for Women’s Health. She previously served as the Special Representative for Global Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Global Affairs. In this role, Huber promoted women’s global health priorities by empowering women to thrive and achieve optimal health outcomes from their first 1000 days and continuing through every stage of their lives.

Huber has also been involved in domestic women’s and adolescent health issues at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, Senior Policy Advisor, and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Health. Huber cares deeply about women's optimal health and thriving and advocating for every life.

Chief Operating Officer (COO) & Director, Global Health Policy and Programs

Alma Golden, M.D.

Dr. Alma Golden is a pediatrician who retired in 2021 after serving as the Senate-Confirmed Presidential Appointee to lead the Bureau for Global Health in the United States Agency for International Development in Washington, DC. In that role, she oversaw the USAID Health response to the COVID pandemic, directed the Offices of Maternal and Child Health, HIV/ AIDS, as well as other critical health programs.

Previously (2002-2006) she served under President George W. Bush in Health and Human Services leading the Office of Population Affairs which included adolescent health, teen pregnancy, abstinence education, and family planning. She has been instrumental in developing evidence-based guidance and research related to adolescent health risks, parenting, and training of medical and education professionals.

Her career has included private pediatrics, indigent health services, academic medicine (University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and Texas A&M University), healthcare administration, adolescent health, and national and international public health policy. She began her professional career as a 7th grade Life Science teacher before entering medicine and has remained active in education as well as medicine.

Executive Management Officer

Victoria Akyea, M.P.H

Victoria Akyea serves as the Executive Management Director at the Institute for Women's Health. Currently a student in Liberty University's Ph.D. in Health Sciences (General) program, she also works as a full-time artist, and often volunteers through various commissioned projects in her community. Prior to becoming a fellow, she served as an intern in IWH's Internship Program. Victoria holds a bachelor's degree in Biology, with an independent minor in Linguistics (concentrated in Hellenistic Greek) from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. While at Geneva, she also served in various academic support capacities, including student support and tutoring, assisting in on-campus event planning and programs for both the Biology and Visual Communications departments, and served as an assistant to Geneva College's Pre-Medical Committee. Victoria received her Master's in Public Health, with a concentration in Global Health from Liberty University in May 2022, and currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Doctoral Research Fellow

Mallory Sparks, LCSW, MTS

Mallory Sparks serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Women’s Health. She is currently working as a full-time student getting her Doctorate in Psychology with a focus on Behavioral Neuroscience at California Southern University. Prior to becoming a fellow, she worked at San Antonio Behavioral Health as a psychotherapist and at Baylor Scott and White Memorial Hospital as a social worker on the Emergency Trauma Team, Inpatient Psychiatry Team, and Oncology Team. Mallory holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, a Master’s in Theological Studies, and a Master’s in Social Work, all from Baylor University. During her studies, Mallory traveled internationally to over 15 countries through various study abroad and exchange programs, and the people she met along the way continue to impact her life and work significantly. While at home, Mallory spends time with her wonderful husband, Billy, her two magnificent step-kids, Ben and Abi, and her adorable rescue puppies, Max and Simon.
Domestic Policy Advisor

Esther Spear

Esther Spear is a Domestic Policy Advisor at the Institute for Women’s Health. Prior to joining IWH, she worked in policy for over four years for the senior senator from her home state of Oklahoma. While working on Capitol Hill, she primarily focused on domestic issues, including healthcare, women’s issues and appropriations. Esther holds a B.A. in International Business from John Brown University and currently resides in Northern Virginia with her husband.
Chief Diplomatic Officer, Foreign and Domestic Relations

Anita Mpambara Cox

Anita Mpambara Cox is Director of International Programs. Prior to working for IWH, she worked for the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and for the EU. As an international affairs professional with an economics background, she has represented the US in different capacities working at our embassies in over eight countries for more than two decades. Her career has included diplomacy across different portfolios, cultures and situations in several countries including Argentina, Sierra Leone, Egypt, The Bahamas, and India. Mpambara Cox also worked for the EU as a media analyst for a commissioner and TV analyst on panels addressing African political and economic matters.

Her interests include US domestic matters exercised through her extensive civic duties in her community as a commissioner of her county’s Charter Review Commission and chair of the city’s Multicultural Affairs Committee. The recipient of multiple US State Department awards, she holds a BSc (Econ) from the UK and an MBA in addition to professional training at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center.

Policy Analyst

Ava Swanson

Ava Swanson is a senior at Harvard concentrating in Government with a secondary in Classics. Ava enjoys studying political philosophy and leads several Christian and conservative groups on campus. She served as president of Harvard Right to Life and the Network of Enlightened Women, and is Co-President of Harvard College Faith and Action. She is also a past board member of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Ava interned with the DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., the State Legislative Center at National Right to Life in Alexandria, VA, and Teamworthy Ventures in Greenwich, CT.
Senior Consultant, Global Health Education

Lori Kuykendall, M.P.H

Lori Kuykendall, M.P.H., is President of Beacon Health Education Resources. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Education from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Public Health in Health Promotion from Liberty University. She started in prevention education at the Women’s Pregnancy Center in Houston, Texas in 1995. In 1998, she started a county-wide abstinence education program that was among the first to receive Title V Federal Abstinence Education funding. Later, she was the Executive Director of Lifetalk (Pregnancy) Resource Center in Frisco, Texas. She has worked with Aim for Success, now merged with Youth Equipped to Succeed, positive youth development organizations and also Medical Institute for Sexual Health.
She led community health education efforts in Romania and Guatemala.
From 2018 through 2021, Lori led the team which developed “K-12 Standards for Optimal Sexual Development” (www.newsexedstandards.org), an international resource for guiding policy and curriculum for optimal sexual health. Lori’s professional priority is to advance physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual health.
Regional Coordinator, Guatemala

Geraldine Veiman, M.D.

Dr. Geraldine Veiman is a general practice physician who has developed her professional career within the field of Bioethics, as well as in Family Educational Counseling. She was Assistant Director at Enfoque Familiar for 9 years, which is a private therapeutic-educational entity that specializes in programs focused on the value of the person and family, and a projection of a healthy life, through training, conferences, consultancies, and clinical services. She has also worked as a freelance lecturer and educator on issues of Bioethics and Affective-Sexual Education for young people, educational centers from high school to university level, adults and professionals, medical seminars and the national medical congress.