Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, Latinx fertility acupuncturist, and Queer Reproductive Health and Justice advocate. Since 2008, they have been supporting folks with wombs to conceive with the help of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Josie's mission is to re-center queer, trans, and non-binary folks, especially those who are Black, Brown, and Indigenous, in the reproductive healthcare realm and beyond. Josie is the host of The Intersectional Fertility Podcast and creator of the Whole Self Fertility Method™. They live on stolen Cheyenne land, known today as Lakewood, Colorado, with their fiancée, two children, and two rescue pups.
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Jesse Fiest has worked in family-building marketing and content creation for over six years and is proud to be co-chair of RESOLVE's 2020 and 2021 Federal Advocacy Day. She was inspired to take a more active role in advocacy when she began working with gestational carriers and egg donors. "Just seeing women put themselves on the front line as surrogates and donors do, it made me want do contribute in a more meaningful way, to pay forward the luck I have had in my own family-building."
Jesse's educational background is in law and cultural anthropology. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and their young daughter. (Jesse REALLY wants to find a West Virginia attendee for AD 2021 so that all 50 states are represented.)
Joe Cody has been active in RESOLVE Advocacy Day since 2018, previously serving on the Volunteer Training Committee, as a Maryland State Captain, and as Advocacy Day Co-Chair in 2020. He is dedicated to increasing access to family building options and has been blown away by the support and energy from RESOLVE volunteers. He believes stories from constituents and experts like Advocacy Day attendees move policy, drive support, and create real change. He has lived in Washington DC since 2008, where he has worked for a Member of Congress, served as a health policy consultant, and provided health care related government relations and regulatory analysis for multiple medical associations for over a decade.
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Brooke Kingston has been a volunteer with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and an advocate for accessible and affordable family building options for 10 years. After struggling with infertility, Brooke and her husband resolved to be a family of two. They reside in Peoria, Arizona with their three dogs and enjoy golf, cooking, and Netflix binges.
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Regina Townsend is the founder of The Broken Brown Egg, an awareness and service organization founded in the summer of 2009 to increase awareness of African American Infertility and Reproductive Health. As a black woman, Regina found a very quiet life in infertility. She believed that should change, so that no one else will have to feel like the lone wolf of their family. Infertility is lonely enough without feeling like a minority inside of a minority.
Regina’s infertility was due to PCOS, Hypothyroidism, blocked fallopian tubes, and Type 2 diabetes. She and her husband dabbled with pill abuse (Clomid), lied to all their family members, “NO, we are NOT nearly ready for children!”, and took a painful trip into parenting purgatory (Foster Care/Kinship Placement). In 2015, they were blessed with the opportunity to try IVF, and had their son in 2016. Librarian by profession and writer by passion, Regina considers writing and reading to be one of the most personal forms of communication, entertainment and education.
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Ryan's career as an Assisted Reproduction Technology attorney was born of a personal, four-year infertility struggle shared with his wife. This challenging experience to start his own family gives Ryan a unique perspective - one of an intended father, a party to a gestational surrogacy agreement, and an experienced attorney - to fully understand the emotional, practical, and legal issues facing patients when pursuing infertility treatments. Ryan earned his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago and Bachelor's Degree in Finance from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Ryan is a professional member of RESOLVE, the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association.
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Stephanie Jones is a former automotive engineer and now works as a serial entrepreneur, executive coach, and business consultant. Stephanie is passionate about advancing surrogacy laws in Michigan and helping educate intended parents about the surrogacy journey regardless of where you live. After having a son and then experiencing two rare cornual ectopic pregnancies and a near death experience, surrogacy was Stephanie and her husband’s only option for expanding their family with a child that shared their DNA.
Interesting facts about Stephanie include that she raced ATV motocross, was nominated to the Miss Michigan pageant, was a top athlete in high school, likes dogs more than people (on most days), is obsessed with 1950’s vintage fashion, mud wrestled in Vegas, loves a good tequila on the rocks, and will always be a small-town Michigan girl no matter where life takes her.
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Diagnosed with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea in her 20s, she realized that she too was an infertility warrior battling the emotional, physical, and significant financial challenges associated with infertility. Frustrated with the lack of resources and support to build families, she started Colorado Fertility Advocacy (which joined with the non-profit Colorado Fertility Advocates) with the hopes of joining passionate like minds who can be the voice to create change for others struggling with infertility. Dog mom and wife to a loving supportive husband, she continues her journey with the hopes to add a miracle baby to their family and to help others do the same.
Christina moved to Colorado from Miami, Florida to train at the Olympic Training Center in the sport of judo. She qualified for the 2004 Olympics for the US, and attended the Olympics in Athens, Greece as an Olympic Alternate after sustaining an injury at the Olympic Trials. It was after this that she decided to pursue her life-long passion of caring for patients. She graduated from the University of Colorado with honors, and achieved her dream after being accepted to medical school and completing her residency in Emergency Medicine, becoming a Board Certified Physician. Throughout her education, the importance of being a passionate advocate for patients and her community stood strong.
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Barbara Collura is President and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Barbara is a nationally recognized expert on infertility and the family building journey, with a special emphasis on the personal experience of those struggling to build their family. Barbara has worked with the World Health Organization on infertility definitions and clinical guidelines, worked with ACOG on their clinical definitions for infertility, and served a four-year term on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH. Barbara is an expert on public policy issues facing the infertility community that impact both patient access and clinical care. Barbara is passionate about RESOLVE’s mission as the organization was a source of support and information during her own battle with infertility.
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Davina Fankhauser is president and cofounder for Fertility Within Reach. She is an advocate for fertility benefits for those struggling with infertility. In 2010, Davina successfully lobbied for improved fertility legislation in the state of Massachusetts. Fertility Within Reach was founded soon after to share what was learned from that experience, to teach others how to advocate for themselves and to educate policymakers on the benefits of providing insurance coverage to treat the disease of infertility.
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Kate Weldon LeBlanc is the Executive Director of Resolve New England. Kate leads the strategic vision of the organization and works collectively with the staff, Board of Directors and professional members to grow the services of Resolve New England throughout the New England region. Kate has a beautiful daughter (turning 12 this month!) through IVF.
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Joyce is the Executive Director of the Alliance For Fertility Preservation, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness and expanding access for cancer patients to fertility preservation information, resources and services.
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Jessica is the Chair of the Walk of Hope in Colorado, a fundraiser for the national organization RESOLVE, which raises awareness and provides support for those experiencing infertility. Jessica has also walked that long road of infertility.
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