Andrea Cohen's commitment to the 5 A’s began when she became a teen mom and learned firsthand the importance of enhanced access to reliable and nonjudgmental sexual and reproductive health information and services. Ms. Cohen was on the Board of Directors for a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Waterloo Region and is the Past President of the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health. In 2000 she joined the national board as a provincial representative. Ms. Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer of a large multisite Health and Community Service organization in Toronto that specializes in offering free primary care and health promotion activities to people with barriers to accessing health services and is an active member of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives. She has extensive board and committee experience and is adjunct faculty with the Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation Department at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine facilitating graduate health policy seminars.
Andrea Cohen, Board Chair
Diana Barco, Board Vice Chair
Diana Barco has been dedicated to sexual and reproductive health work at the national and international levels for the last ten years. She has been a member of PROFAMILIA Colombia's Assembly since 2001 and has served on its Board of Directors since March 2003. Ms. Barco participated in the IPPF/WHR volunteer committee in New York in 2004, which developed the framework on strengthening the 5 A's in IPPF/WHR Member Associations. Ms. Barco has served on the IPPF/WHR Board of Directors since 2005 and is currently the Vice Chair of the IPPF/WHR Board of Directors and the Chair of the Committee on Resource Mobilization. She served on the Governing Council from 2005-2008, where she assisted in developing the Code of Good Governance and made recommendations for strengthening the role of volunteers and making the governing bodies of the Federation more effective.
Esther Vicente, President of the Region
Esther Vicente is a Law Professor at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico Law School in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has a Doctorate in Law from the University of London and a Masters in Law from The London School of Economics and Political Science. Ms. Vicente received her initial law degree from the Universidad de Puerto Rico. She has worked on issues related to human rights, especially in themes related to gender-based violence and reproductive rights, and has published various works on feminist perspectives in legal theory, reproductive rights, and violence against women. Since 2003, Ms. Vicente has been a member of the IPPF/WHR Board of Directors and a member of the Governing Council of IPPF. She was the President of the Board of Directors of PROFAMILIA Puerto Rico from 2002 until 2008 and has been the President of the Region since 2007.
Darío Rosario Adames, Vice President of the Region
Darío Rosario Adames is a journalist who teaches at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales in the Dominican Republic. He has published four books: Opening Paths for the People's Communications, Las bocinas: una forma viable de comunicación, Santo Domingo: A Crossroads of the Church (Editorial Verbo Divino), and Drugs and Politics in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Adames worked for Rumbo and Gaceta Judicial and was an investigative reporter for El Siglo and Hoy. He has been an announcer and interviewer for Uno+Uno and Jornada Extra since 1997 and worked as the communications director of PROFAMILIA and the Movimiento Cívico Participación Ciudadana. Mr. Adames has been the chair of PROFAMILIA's Board of Directors since 2009 and is also a member of the Political Analysis Committee of the Movimiento Cívico Participación Ciudadana.
Annand Jagesar, Treasurer
Annand Jagesar has extensive experience in the field of investments of large funds. He headed the finance department of a company with an annual turnover of over $500 million USD for several years. In addition, he has international experience with arranging loans, economic evaluations, and acquisition of new businesses. He holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the FHR Institute in Suriname and has continued his studies through relevant courses offered by a wide range of schools including the Kellogg School of Management. He is currently the President of the Board of Directors of Stichting Lobi, the Member Association in Suriname.
Annette Cumming, Secretary
Annette Cumming is an engaged community, political, and philanthropic activist. She currently serves on the board of PPFA and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s federal Political Action Committee, and chairs the Planned Parenthood Leadership Council. Ms. Cumming is a past chair of the board of Americans for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund and is a member of the Ambassador’s Circle of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She is also on the Guttmacher Institute’s board and is a member of the David Eccles School of Business National Advisory Board.
Marta de Trabanino, Advisory Director
Marta Trabanino is an active defender and promoter of family planning and sexual and reproductive health education in El Salvador. She served on the IPPF/WHR Board of Directors from 1997 to 1999, was chair of the Board between 2001 and 2005, and has been an advisory director since 2005. Ms. Trabanino served as both president and vice president of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Demografica Salvadoreña (ADS) for more than 12 years. During her term as president, she played an important role in improving the relationship with the government of El Salvador, which has recognized the right of the population to have access to and receive high-quality care and be informed about family planning. Ms. Trabanino's relationship with donor agencies has contributed to the continuity of ADS's sexual and reproductive health and family planning services. She is a former president of the Public Relations Committee and has also served as president of the Women’s Volunteer Group.
Jovana Ríos Cisnero
Jovana Ríos Cisnero has been a member of the Juventudes con Opciones (Youth with Options) program of the Asociación Panameña para el Planeamiento de la Familia (Panamanian Family Planning Association) since 2004. She participated there as a volunteer in the organization's Members Assembly and on its Board of Directors. Ms. Ríos Cisnero works to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, with special focus on women, youth, and other vulnerable groups. She took part in advocacy activities to influence decisions of UNAIDS' Executive Cabinet and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. She is presently a member of the NGO Delegation from Developing Countries with the Global Fund and participates in UNFPA's Special Youth Program in New York City. Her experience on the IPPF/WHR Board of Directors has allowed her to realize her commitment to women's right to choose, strengthen youth participation, and increase access to sexual and reproductive health services. Ms. Ríos Cisnero is completing her undergraduate degree in psychology at the Universidad Interamericana de Panamá.
María José Rivas
María José Rivas Vera is a young lawyer from Paraguay. She is training to be a Sexuality Educator and plans to undertake a Masters in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. She has been volunteering for more than 12 years in the area of non-formal education in the Scout Movement, where she has gained experience in youth involvement with decision-making and strategic communication. Ms. Rivas Vera has also engaged with human rights and women’s access to justice with local organizations, such as Amnesty International-Paraguayan Chapter and CLADEM Paraguay (Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights). She has been a member of the Centro Paraguayo de Estudios de Población (CEPEP), the IPPF/WHR Member Association in Paraguay, since 2009.
Diana Campoamor, Advisory Director
Diana Campoamor is the President of Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP). Prior to joining HIP, Ms. Campoamor served as a director at the Shalan Foundation, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), United Way, and YWCA. She holds an MA in Communications from the University of Miami and a BA from the University of Florida. She has served on the boards of the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, Inter-University Project for Latino Research, California Hispanics Association for Corporate Responsibility, Horizons Foundation, BRAVA! For Women in the Arts, and several other nonprofits.
Marysa Navarro-Aranguren, Advisory Director
Marysa Navarro-Aranguren was educated in Montevideo, Uruguay before doing her graduate work at Columbia University, where she received a PhD in Latin American History. She is presently holds the Charles A. and Elfriede A. Collis Professorship in History at Dartmouth College, where she has taught since 1968, and is a Research Scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. Ms. Navarro-Aranguren is the author and co-author of several books, including Los Nacionalistas, Evita, and La construcción de un nuevo saber. She presently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Women's Rights Project at Human Rights Watch and Catholics for Choice and is a former president of the Latin American Studies Association.
Jill Janaína Otto, Advisory Director
Jill Janaína Otto is an investor at JP Morgan in New York. Previously, she served as director of her family office based in Rio de Janeiro and Paris, where she managed the Otto Group's Latin American businesses. In 2010 Ms. Otto was selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She also serves on the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Values, on the Communications Committee of the Yale Divinity School’s Center for Faith and Culture, on the Alumni Council of Phillips Academy Andover, as a Schools Committee Co-Chair for Princeton University, as adviser to Princeton University's Council for Internationalization, and on the board of ORT Brazil. She received a BA from Princeton University in 2002, an MA from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 2004, and an MBA from Duke University in 2011.
Richard Parker, Advisory Director
Richard Parker is Professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Anthropology at Columbia University and the Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Politics, and Health. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Public Health journal and the Founder and Co-Chair of Sexuality Policy Watch, a global collective of researchers, policymakers, and activists working on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Since 1998 Dr. Parker has served as the Director and President of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association, which is based in Rio de Janeiro. He is widely recognized as an expert in the field of sexual and reproductive rights and has pioneered an extensive number of projects with the public health sector and private foundations to study topics as diverse as sexual rights, violence, HIV/AIDS, international culture and politics, behavioral psychology, and vulnerable populations.
Alexander Sanger, Advisory Director
Alexander Sanger is a former President of Planned Parenthood of New York City. He is currently the Chair of IPPF/WHR and has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund. He served on the IPPF/WHR Board as an Advisory Director from 2001-2008 and travels the United States speaking to Planned Parenthood affiliates. Mr. Sanger is the author of Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st Century and operates a website, AlexanderSanger.com, where he comments on women's rights issues. His grandmother, Margaret Sanger, was a founder of IPPF.
Jacqueline Sharpe, Advisory Director
Jacqueline Sharpe was elected as IPPF President/Chairperson of Governing Council for two 3-year terms (November 2005 – November 2011). She is also the Chairperson of the Board for IPPF/WHR and President of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT). Dr. Sharpe is a consulting child and adolescent psychiatrist with the Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago and an associate lecturer in psychiatry with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of the West Indies. She has been associated with FPATT for 22 years and is recognized as a leading figure in the field of family planning and sexual and reproductive health in the region. Dr. Sharpe has had the distinction of being selected for several Prime Ministerial and Cabinet appointments in Trinidad and has served as a consultant and advisor to Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNDCIP.
James Sligar, Honorary Legal Counsel
James Sligar has been a partner at Milbank since 1991. He focuses on the representation of individuals and families in estate planning and charitable giving matters and counsels a number of prominent not-for-profit corporations. Prior to joining Milbank, he was associate counsel to Rockefeller Family & Associates and worked with the law firm Webster & Sheffield. Mr. Sligar is the author of several papers and articles that have appeared in Trusts & Estates magazine, and he helped prepare a report by the Bar Association of the City of New York Committee on International Human Rights entitled "United Nations Human Rights Covenants." Mr. Sligar is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has served on the Committee on Not-for-Profit Corporations, the New York State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
Christine Barrow, Alternate
Christine Barrow is Professor Emerita at University of the West Indies and has over 40 years of experience as an academic researcher, lecturer, and administrator. Her publications include eleven books and monographs, as well as many articles on social development, poverty, gender, and family. She has presented papers, participated in conferences, and conducted consultancies for several regional and international agencies. Ms. Barrow has been a member of the Barbados Family Planning Association since 1995 and was President of the Association from 2001-2003. She has represented the Association at the IPPF/WHR Regional Council Meetings on four occasions. Her public service contribution includes Chair of the Research Committee of the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission.
Alan Deivid Figueroa, Alternate (Youth)
Alan Figueroa Frías is finishing his undergraduate degree in biology and is taking a certificate in sexuality studies. He has served on the CIES Board of Directors since 2009 and is currently president of the National Youth Leader Network. He was national focal point for the Red Latin American and Caribbean HIV/AIDS Voluntary Action Network, of which he was national general coordinator during 2010. In addition, he was appointed local focal point for the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS in 2011. Mr. Figueroa Frías is founder and current vice president of the MANODIVERSA foundation and is currently working on a book on family experiences of people of diverse emotional-sexual and gender orientations. He has been awarded the Recognition to Relevant Work by the Bolivian Army Center for Operations to Maintain Peace and has worked with youth, emotional-sexual diversities, and HIV.