BECOME AN AMBASSADOR
BECOME AN AMBASSADOR
Here's Why
Saving Mothers is looking for Ambassadors to shine a spotlight on its lifesaving work around the world and here at home. Saving Mothers brings low cost, high impact programming to places where pregnancy can be a death sentence because of a lack of access to resources and care.
Each year over three hundred thousand women die due to childbirth related complications. Most of these deaths could be prevented with basic supplies that would ensure hygienic births and access to rudimentary care. Tragically, these supplies and health care which are readily available in parts of the US are inaccessible to many women around the world. Saving Mothers is a non- profit with programs in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, and New York that aims to reduce morbidity and mortality in pregnancy and childbirth.
How Can You Help?
By joining Saving Mothers as an Ambassador, you would be invited to be a part of Saving Mothers' global work. Your involvement would also include spreading the word about the good work being done by Saving Mothers and raising awareness about how dangerous pregnancy can be in parts of the world where basic care is unavailable.
The tasks of a Saving Mothers Ambassador are listed below:
- Social Media posts about Saving Mothers’ work and mission.
- A blog post for our website about your relationship with maternal health and why you feel empowered to be a part of the Saving Mothers community.
- Attendance of and recruitment for Saving Mothers events (i.e. fundraisers).
Please email information@savingmothers.org to learn more.
Student Ambassador Program
Like the general Ambassador Program, Student Ambassadors are expected to use their social media and scholastic platforms to amplify the Saving Mothers mission.
The tasks of a Student Saving Mothers Ambassador are listed below:
- Weekly Instagram post and story about Saving Mothers’ work and mission.
- A blog post for our website about your relationship with maternal health and why you feel empowered to be a part of the Saving Mothers community.
- Attendance of and recruitment for Saving Mothers events (i.e. fundraisers, kit packing events, etc).
- Organization of one Saving Mothers event with students at your school per semester.
Please email information@savingmothers.org to learn more.
Meet Our Ambassadors
Mari Agory is a renowned fashion model who has worked for some of the biggest fashion houses internationally. As a former refugee from what is now known as South Sudan, Mari is no stranger to life-altering experiences. She was only nine years old when her family fled their native country of Sudan, seeking political asylum in the United States due to the bloody civil war between the South and the Northern regime in Khartoum. As a model, a mom, and co-founder of Mama Talks, she now utilizes her various platforms and her story to advocate for maternal health and mental health nationally and internationally.
Saving Mothers commitment to providing sustainable solutions for maternal health through high impact low-cost programs in underserved communities around the world is what compelled Mari to become a Saving Mothers ambassador. Having migrated from a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, Mari now a mother of two realizes she too could have been subjected to such horrifying environmental determinants of health and life if her family had not been able to escape the civil war in her homeland. “I consider myself very fortunate to have given birth in a developed nation and feel it is my obligation to utilize my voice, my story and platform to shed light on the state of maternal health in developing countries like mine.”
Contessa Brewer is a correspondent for CNBC Business News and a volunteer for Saving Mothers. In 2011, she was an anchor for MSNBC, expecting her first child and so excited to start her family. Instead, she went into labor prematurely, lost her son, and began hemorrhaging herself. A team of skilled doctors and nurses at a top-notch New York City hospital intervened to save her life.
That experience led Contessa to join Saving Mothers- and to the life-saving work they do around the world. No woman should die giving life- and yet, around the world, so many mothers die from preventable causes: little or no prenatal care, no ultrasounds, unsanitary conditions, lack of education or medical treatment.
Contessa now enjoys life with twin sons and so grateful to have the opportunity to be their mother.
Murielle Olivia Hilaire is a mother, actress and certified postpartum doula from a modest family of 6 in Guadeloupe.
Her pregnancy and homebirth took place under the great care of a non-profit birth center in Culver City, Los Angeles. She was fortunate enough to have access to skilled midwives and doulas. When her daughter turned one, she became aware of the challenges mothers were facing after their pregnancies and sought to become a certified postpartum doula.
She also trained as a doula with a non-profit organization that supports incarcerated mothers in LA county jail.
Their goal is to provide a safe environment and emotional support to birthing mothers, with the hope that they feed and bond with their infants before entrusting care of their newborns to family members or foster families. It is Murielle's mission to one day see incarcerated women in America receive the care any future mom deserves before, during and after labor. Her goal is to ensure every mother, regardless of their background, to give birth in the best of conditions.
In her own words:
"When I came across 'Saving Mothers', I instantly knew I wanted to be a part of it, and help however I could. I am committed to helping create a safe environment for children and mothers to thrive. And it starts with installing practices that protect women during pregnancy and labor. We have to eradicate preventable maternal deaths today.”
Dr. Jessica Shepherd is a board certified OB/GYN, women's health expert and minimally invasive surgeon. She currently practices in Dallas at Baylor University Medical Center.
Dr. Shepherd is an engaging and well-known media personality who is seen regularly as an expert on Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Talk, Dr. Oz, Steve Harvey, CBS News, and FOX News. She is on the Advisory Board for Women's Health, Healthline and Women's Health.org and has written on other various platforms including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Essence, and Healthline. Her passion for women’s health, from minority health disparities to reproductive justice issues, has allowed her to be an advocate for women, and she has been a speaker at various health and wellness events such as Blog Her, Well Summit and Chronicon.
Her vision for women's rights shone brightly as she spoke at the Women's March in NYC 2020 and also the Women's March in 2017 for the Imagine the Possibilities: Post-March Dinner hosted by CEO of LifeWay Kefir, Julie Smolyansky. She continues to be involved in her efforts for progress and was present for the first summit on The United State of Women in 2016 and later became a part of the and spoke at Galvanize Georgia with Stacey Abrams. Her desire to bring women’s health issues to the forefront includes highlighting racial disparities in health care, and she also gives lectures nationally and internationally on health and racial disparity issues.
As a health care expert, Dr. Shepherd strives to educate people on their bodies and how to address their physical, sexual, emotional health in addition to the incorporation of wellness. She currently sits on the advisory board for Ro Medicine, Women's Health Magazine, Abbvie, Myovant, Hologic, Healthy Women.org and Healthline.
As a woman who pushes to bring wellness to the forefront, Dr. Shepherd is also a mother of two young boys. She has been recognized on the cover for Cancer Wellness in February 2019 and as well as the Women Run The World September 2020 issue of Shape Magazine where she discusses the importance of cancer screening and how we can improve women’s health issues. She is an expert in her field, she has now expanded her reach to keynote talks and her national appeal has allowed her to work on women’s health issues with celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Brooke Burke, Erin Andrews, Dr. Jackie Walters from Married to Medicine, Catt Sadler and Laila Ali.
Dr. Shepherd's involvement with various foundations as a board member has allowed her to actively make decisions in the women's health realm. She serves on the board of the Ross University Medical School Alumni Council and also the Texas Women's Foundation.
