Our Team

Darren Blankenship is glad join Fistula Foundation as Database Administrator. Darren brings over twenty years of experience working with various Bay Area non-profits and educational institutions. His passion is for systems integration and data integrity, and he is excited to bring this to Fistula Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University. When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading science fiction, and catching up on recent developments in science and technology.

Kelly Anderson is pleased to join the dedicated team at Fistula Foundation as Senior Director of Philanthropy.

Kelly’s commitment to women’s health and social justice began as a sexual assault crisis line volunteer at the University of Michigan. After two decades in leadership roles in rape crisis centers – first in Washington, DC and then in Madison, Wisc. where she worked to expand service for underserved communities – she moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 2015 to serve as CEO of the Nepal Youth Foundation.

In addition to her professional experience, Kelly has engaged in related volunteer and community activities. In DC, she co-founded and served as the president of a small non-profit that supports women unable to afford medical treatment, spent six years as a mentor at BeFriend a Child, and served on the Washington Area Women’s Foundation grants committee. In Madison, her commitments included chairing the Dane County Commission on Sensitive Crimes and the Community Coordinated Response on Sexual Assault, serving as a board member of the Hancock Center for Dance/Movement Therapy, and fostering and rehabilitating rescue dogs.

Originally from the Midwest, Kelly is thrilled to be able hike and backpack in the stunning mountain ranges of northern California. She finds joy and satisfaction in her role connecting generous, compassionate individuals with the world of good they can help accomplish.

Michael, who joined Fistula Foundation as Communications Director in 2021, has extensive experience as a strategic communication professional. He previously served as Director of Communication at King Philanthropies, a grantmaking organization that focuses on alleviating global poverty. From 2013 to 2016, he was the Senior Editor of Stanford Social Innovation Review, a quarterly journal for makers of social change. Before then, he worked at Harvard Business School, where he wrote case studies on corporate strategy and entrepreneurial management. Michael is also co-author, with Boris Groysberg, of Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). Earlier in his career, he served as the Managing Editor and as a Senior Editor of Fast Company magazine. In addition, Michael served as an editorial consultant for business author Tom Peters, among others. He holds a master’s degree in history from Cornell University and a master of public affairs degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Morgan Walter joined as the Video Producer & Editor for Fistula Foundation in 2018. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Cinema from San Francisco State University, with an emphasis in Documentaries. In 2012, her first film, “I Agree With Jennifer”, won third place at the “Social Impact Doc Fest”. This sparked her commitment to documentary filmmaking as a tool for positive change in the world. Since then, Morgan has cultivated experience as video editor working for production houses throughout the Bay Area. She is honored to bring women’s stories to life through video, connecting Fistula Foundation donors to the life-transforming fistula work they are enabling.

Sajira Mae The is excited to be part of Fistula Foundation as Senior Development Associate. Sajira is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (MA, Transformational Urban Leadership) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Community Studies). She first learned about obstetric fistula in a global health class for her masters, when she was assigned Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In joining Fistula Foundation, Sajira continues a career path in the nonprofit sector, supplemented by an impressive personal tradition of volunteer service.

Dr. Steve Arrowsmith has been working with Fistula Foundation for many years, but has recently become an official member of the staff. Currently based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Steve has treated fistula throughout Africa and Asia for nearly 30 years and is an esteemed mentor and trainer for new fistula surgeons. He received his undergraduate degree from Miami University, his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Ohio, and he is a Urologist by surgical training. Steve says his inspiration comes from the women he helps, starting with his first fistula surgery, and it has continued unabated.

Habiba C. Mohamed is the Country Director in Fistula Foundation’s Kenya office and has worked with the Foundation since 2014. In that time, she has been instrumental to designing the outreach and reintegration components of Fistula Foundation’s countrywide network—the first fistula treatment model of its kind.

Before joining Fistula Foundation, Ms. Mohamed had nearly a decade of experience working on fistula programming. She began her career as a veterinarian, assisting livestock farmers in western Kenya. Through her close contact with these rural communities, she became familiar with the socioeconomic challenges they experience and became passionate about working with marginalized women. In 2006, she founded Women and Development Against Distress in Africa (WADADIA), a Kenyan nonprofit that advocates for women’s rights and reproductive health. While serving as lead director of WADADIA, Ms. Mohamed also supported a UNFPA-funded community program for six years, and served as a consultant program specialist for One By One, a US-based nonprofit focused on fistula treatment.

Ms. Mohamed is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Kenyatta University. She holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in the same subject from Mt. Kenya University, and has a higher diploma in Social Work and Community Development. Her research on the psychological effects of obstetric fistula has been published in the International Journal of Sciences, and the verbal screening tool she developed has improved identification of fistula cases. Under her leadership, Fistula Foundation’s treatment network has provided care to over six thousand women and counting.

Nelson Musa is Monitoring & Evaluation Officer of Fistula Foundation’s nationwide treatment network in Kenya. He brings fourteen years of experience in organizing and community health. Prior to joining Fistula Foundation, Nelson worked as an organizer for Jhpiego, and currently partners with WADADIA (Women and Development Against Distress in Africa), a key Fistula Foundation partner in Western Kenya.

Nelson holds a Higher Diploma in Psychological Counseling from the Kenya Institute of Professional Counseling, as well as a Certificate in Management from the Kenya Institute of Management.

Bwalya Magawa Chomba is the Program Director for the Fistula Foundation Zambia office. Bwalya is responsible for supporting referrals for fistula patients to partner hospitals, serves as key liaison between the hospitals and the community, and strengthens partnerships with government ministries and community and faith-based organizations.

Bwalya has been working as a Social Worker and Community Development Officer for 13 years, most recently based with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare in Nakonde District. Bwalya has also worked with Caritas / Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Mpika Diocese, where she worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, coordinating revisions of project strategies with key stakeholders and ensuring a shared understanding of strategic and informational needs. During her tenure as District Development Facilitator with the NGO Africare Zambia, she learned about obstetric fistula and took up an active role in mobilizing suffering women, successfully referring 200 women for life-transforming surgery.

She has always believed that local community participation is an important way to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the fight against obstetric fistula. Bwalya holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Mulungushi University in Kabwe, Zambia.

Kalumba Kaputa is a Program Officer at Fistula Foundation’s Zambia office. He collaborates with the Ministry of Health and local grassroots organizations, screening potential fistula patients and referring them to treatment centers for care in Zambia’s Luapula Province.

Prior to joining Fistula Foundation, Kalumba worked for 8 years as a Clinical Officer for the Zambian Ministry of Health, serving as a frontline health provider at Chilonga Mission General Hospital. He has also served in roles at the Mpepo Rural Health Centre and the Mpika District Health Office. Kalumba holds a diploma in Basic Clinical Medical Sciences in Mental Health and Psychiatry from the University of Zambia School of Medicine in Association with Chainama College of Health Sciences.

Kalumba strongly feels that unity and team work are essential for any organization to achieve its key objectives, especially in the fight against obstetric fistula.

Jordan Chileshe Chomba works for the Fistula Foundation Zambia Office as a motor vehicle driver based in the Eastern Province. He provides transportation and travel logistics to the Zambia team and other relevant officials and helps deliver equipment and materials for the program.

Jordan holds a valid SADC driver’s license Class C and has over 10 years of driving experience, mainly working with security firms and educational institutions. Jordan is touched and motivated by the tremendous work Fistula Foundation does reaching out to suffering women who lack the resources to access treatment.

Precious Banda joined Fistula Foundation in 2020 as an Administrative Officer based in the Mansa office in Luapula Province. She manages calls from the fistula hotline, screens potential patients, and refers women to their nearest treatment center. She also handles administrative work, including tracking expenses and preparing patient logistics before surgery.

Precious holds a Peer Education certificate from Copperbelt Health Education Project (CHEP) after working with CHEP for one year, a certificate in public relations from Zambia Institute of Business Studies and Industrial Practice (ZIPSIP), and an Art Teacher’s Diploma from Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka, Zambia. Before joining Fistula Foundation, she worked as a volunteer at a secondary school for six months.

Precious has deep empathy for the women she supports because she personally suffered from fistula for a year. She is very grateful that she received treatment and was able to start a new life. She has therefore dedicated herself to helping other women experiencing the same situation.

Kelly Brennan is a Managing Director at Citadel Securities. She runs the global ETF business and specializes in helping clients to execute large trades in US and global exchange traded funds and equities. Prior to joining Citadel, Kelly managed several teams within Goldman Sach’s Securities Division in New York for nearly thirteen years. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an associate and was named managing director in 2010. Kelly started her career at Susquehanna International Group as an equity and equity derivatives trader. Kelly is an active member of Women in ETFs and served on Goldman Sachs’ Women’s Network. She was on the advisory council for Goldman Sachs Hispanic/Latino Network. She has served as member of Two Together, a mentoring program for disadvantaged youth in Manhattan and volunteer for Puppies Behind Bars.Kelly earned a BA in Political Economies with a concentration in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000.

Ling Yang Lew serves as senior legal counsel at Apple. She previously worked at the County of Santa Clara, where she served as an advice attorney to the County’s health and hospital system, which provides safety-net health services. Prior to law school, Ling worked in health economics research. Ling is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Duke University.

Gillian Slinger is a Midwife and holds a BSc in Health Management, an MSc in Public Health, and a Teaching Certificate. After completing her Nurse and Midwifery training in the UK, Gillian worked as a Midwife for 10 years in French speaking Switzerland, before joining Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) and Save the Children as a field Midwife and Trainer in numerous countries, including Mali, Chad, DRC, Kenya and Sierra Leone. As part of her MSF duties, Gillian managed maternal health programs in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia, and had an active role developing projects for women with obstetric fistula.

In the last 15 years, she has become an international activist for fistula and her involvement in fistula work has increased considerably, taking her to New York for 4 years to head the global Campaign to End Fistula with UNFPA, where she was instrumental in establishing the UN approved International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, and bringing her to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) in London in 2014 to undertake her present role, leading the FIGO Fistula Surgery Training Initiative.

Gillian also teaches in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and has recently served on the Board of Directors of MSF Switzerland

He has been a consistent major fundraiser for Democratic Senatorial Candidates and worked on fundraising committees for the Kerry and Obama Presidential campaigns. He started out doing pro-bono legal representation of draft resisters during the Vietnam War. From 2003-2014 Rob was a valued member of Fistula Foundation’s board of directors, helping guide the Foundation through profound change. He served for many years on the Executive Committee of the board, when the board was larger than it is today. He is currently volunteering as a mentor to fourth and fifth grade students at a public school in Manhattan.