The Domestic Agenda - About Us - The Domestic Agenda

WHO WE ARE

The Founders of The Domestic Agenda have one very special thing in common. WE ARE MOTHERS. We are mothers working toward a common purpose...to solve MDG#5. One of our primary goals is to ensure that other mothers can safely birth without fear of infection or death. To do this, we have put together a growing team of individuals who will each better our organization by their own unique contributions.

MEET THE TEAM:

Leadership

Dr. Annie Feighery, Director
Ellen Fenter, Chief Operating Officer
Kelli Blair Braxton, Public Relations Director
Twila Loudder, Board Member

Project Leaders

Sheila Huss, Research Fellow
Shnieka Johnson, Independent Consultant

Founding Board Members

Robert Fullilove, EdD
Kristen Leonard, CNM

Founding Funders

Fellowship of the Second Mile
Laurie Paternoster
Kieran Smart
Marion Dumas
Kristen Leonard
Bonnie Nasser

A snapshot Kelli took of Ellen and Annie via Skype during our 1st Annual Conference Call - Toasting the New Year from New York, Colorado and Maui, Hawaii!

Executive Director

Dr. Annie Feighery

Annie Feighery, MPA, EdM, is a global health researcher, independent filmmaker, author, and mother of three in New York City. Ms. Feighery is the co-founder of The Domestic Agenda, an advocacy organization and research lab for maternal survival in international development. Through the organization, she is currently filming a documentary on its effort to crowdsource the United Nations Millennium Development Goal #5, aimed at reducing maternal mortality. (MORE)

Public Relations Director

Kelli Blair Braxton

Kelli is a mother, wife and business-owner, living on the Island of Maui, Hawaii. She knows that life is not always paradise for millions of other mothers around the world and felt a call to join the team at The Domestic Agenda...to lend a hand (or two) and help put a stop to the senseless deaths of mothers in impoverished countries and other under-equipped areas around the world.

Independent Consultant

Shnieka Johnson

BIO

Chief Operating Officer

Ellen Hamilton Fenter

Ellen has had a career path of multiplicity...meaning that while the organization has changed, the purpose has remained the same: serving others.

Her young adult years were spent in the field of property management. At the ripe age of twenty-three and with an infant daughter she married a man with three children. Her life was suddenly richer and busier than imaginable. She was consumed with child-raising but still longed for my own area of accomplishment. It was at this time that Ellen started a non-profit organization whose goal was to enrich the lives of children, teens, and families in the community. The organization... (MORE)

Research Fellow

Sheila Huss

Sheila Huss is a Ph.D. student in the School of Public Affairs at University of Colorado Denver. She received her Master’s degree in Criminology from the University of South Florida. Her research interests are in the areas of social differentiation (race, class, gender, and sexuality), environmental justice, policy, and research methods. Her hobbies include mountaineering, trail running, backpacking, camping, and hiking.

Organization Background

Maternal deaths and injuries are entirely preventable if the right combination of prevention, support and medical treatment can be found. Unfortunately, what should be an easy problem to solve has proven the most stubborn health crisis in the world. 70 years of international interventions have not reduced the maternal mortality ratio for impoverished countries.

Progress made in other Millennium Development Goal targets typically began as a lab- or center-based experiment with controlled trials and peer-reviewed results. Until the Domestic Agenda, no lab existed for developing best practice methodologies for maternal health. Working with academic researchers, The Domestic Agenda aims to create a research practice that develops effective tools and helps NGOs and multilateral organizations implement them worldwide.

Maternal and child survival are among the most important measures of a country’s well-being precisely because healthy mothers and children are the cornerstone of social and financial capital. Improving health outcomes for women improves health outcome for children as well. Consequently, reducing maternal mortality may well be the most important means of eradicating extreme poverty worldwide. The Domestic Agenda is an organization founded and lead by mothers who are dedicated to achieving health and survival for women.

The Domestic Agenda’s mission is entirely based on the current leading social and medical science knowledge regarding maternal survival. Each project begins with a heath indicator and a peer-reviewed, evidence-driven hypothesis for improving maternal outcomes. Thorough evaluation at each stage ensures only successful projects move forward. By remaining true to scientific rigor and maternal inspiration, the organization’s leadership and project staff believe they can provide a replicable model for improving the health and well-being of women where, to date, nothing else has helped.