Women Deserve Better

Women Deserve Better: For us, that means better information, better support, and better choices. Life brings challenges. We bring empowerment, because we’ll never underestimate women.

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Contributors

Editor-in-Chief Serrin M. Foster
Editor and Media Coordinator Damian Geminder
Webmaster Brian Heffley
Website Coordinator Bethanie Ryan
Contributors Kathryn Baker, Havens Clark, Madeline Davin, Meagan Devlin, Tatiana Federoff, Hope Gallagher, Emma Hackett, Elise Huntley, Ian McGinniss, Kellan Monroe, Molly Pannell, Kara Sorenson, Amanda Stirone, Lauren Sumners

Experts and Voices​

Serrin M. Foster is the creator of the Women Deserve Better® campaign. She has focused on developing on-campus resources and support for underserved pregnant and parenting students and is an outspoken opponent of pregnancy discrimination. Serrin has led Feminists for Life since 1994.

Serrin served on the National Taskforce Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, which worked to pass the Violence Against Women Act, and she also testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in support of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as “Laci and Conner’s Law.”
Tim Bailey was motivated to pursue his dream of being a police officer by the many hardships he faced living in multiple shelters with his mother and brother while living in Texas. After studying criminal justice at Clarion University, PA, he was sworn in as a police officer by the City of Pittsburgh in December 2017. Today, Tim participates in community events to help people in need. He hopes to continue his work by focusing on assisting victims of violence, domestic and otherwise, while serving the community.
Cheryl Blake is a mother of four grown children and the grandmother of three girls and a boy. She is a retired high school teacher, an adjunct professor, and a published freelance writer with some experience on a small newspaper covering town council meetings. As a volunteer tutor, she has prepared adults for the high school equivalency test and is currently helping some Burmese refugees meet the challenges of the English language. She holds a master’s in English from the University of Houston and master’s of public administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Eric Hollenbeck is a graduate of Stockton College with a bachelor’s degree in teacher education. He has worked with Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Trenton and has experience teaching high school students. Eric enjoys acting, the performing arts and classical literature, and volunteering as a writer for Feminists for Life.
Julie Kelleher has dedicated nearly 20 years to working in education, with a focus on higher education over the past decade. From classroom teacher, to Peace Corps volunteer, to working for education technology and services companies that help colleges and universities, she has kept education at the core of her professional pursuits. In 2013 and again in 2017, she was fortunate to expand her passion for learning, teaching, and development into motherhood. Julie is an advocate for open adoption and helping others navigate the path to parenthood through adoption.
Crystal Kupper is a military wife, mom to four small ones, grad student, runner, and freelance writer and photographer currently living in New Jersey. She became passionate about better options for pregnant women and mothers after experiencing a crisis pregnancy at age 22, and then about disability rights after adopting a daughter with special needs from Armenia nine years later. She lives for family preservation, orphan justice, the Oregon Ducks, track and field, and date nights with her smokin’ hot husband.
Joyce McCauley-Benner has worked for over 15 years with low-income and vulnerable populations, including sex trafficking and domestic violence victims. As a speaker for Feminists for Life, Joyce shares her story, “Pregnant by Rape? Victory Over Violence.” She also presents “Slaves Among Us: Sex Trafficking in the U.S.” and speaks about poverty issues internationally.
Kathy Parkes is a registered nurse, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and a Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association. She has a master’s degree in nursing education and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Breastfeeding Perspectives, Kathy’s private practice, focuses on local, national, and international speaking, writing, and online classes and consultations, especially specializing in low milk supply and nipple trauma. Her first book, Perspectives in Lactation: Is Private Practice for Me? was published in 2015 by Hale Publishing. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband of over 40 years and multiple rescue cats and dogs.
Laura Ricketts is a wife and mother, a birth and bereavement doula, and a student midwife. Certified in psychological first aid and trauma, Laura uses her personal experience as a bereaved mother and her professional experience as a birth and bereavement doula to serve women and families through her nonprofit, FiLumena Birth and Bereavement, including those who are low-income. She is equipped to support women through the full range of birth experiences: happy, uncomplicated, scary, sad, high-risk, and traumatic. Laura offers hope, practical tools to help mothers and families heal from loss or traumatic birth, and concrete ways for others to support and assist those who seek this healing. Laura resides in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her amazing husband and four living children—and just a few cats.
Ingrid Pfanstiel Skop, M.D. attended Oklahoma State University and the Washington University School of Medicine, and she trained in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. She has been caring for women and delivering babies for 25 years in San Antonio. Dr. Skop is married to Brian, a psychiatrist, and has three children: Ian, Eli, and Sophie.
Danica R. Vassigh holds a bachelor’s in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University and ran her own private investigation practice for nearly a decade. Her most cherished role, however, is mom to her two children, Esabella and Reagan. Esabella was diagnosed with complicated heart and digestive malformations, but she has defied many medical odds and one would never know of her conditions just by looking at her. Danica has given presentations on the patient perspective at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and participated in many congenital heart defects conferences and symposiums. Danica resides in the Houston area and is currently writing a book she hopes will inspire women who receive difficult prenatal diagnoses.
Vicki Whitelaw is a retired consumer credit executive. She enjoyed a 35-year career in the consumer credit industry with Sears, American Express, and AT&T Credit Corp. Since 2007, she has served on the board of trustees of InCharge Debt Solutions, a not-for-profit organization that provides credit education and counseling, debt management programs, housing, bankruptcy, and student loan counseling to consumers throughout the United States. She earned a bachelor’s in economics from Wheeling Jesuit University.
Cynthia Wood serves as the National Operations Coordinator for Feminists for Life of America. Prior to FFL, she worked for the federal government for 35 years as an environmental scientist and trainer for numerous workshops, including Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH), Effective Communication, and team-building and leadership workshops. Cynthia received a BS/BA in biology/English from University of North Carolina at Wilmington, completed graduate courses in environmental science from University of Houston at Clear Lake, and received a law degree from University of Houston Law Center in 1999. She is a Bar Member of the D.C. Court of Appeals, Virginia, and Florida. She is married and has four children.