Our team works together to advance health and reclaim dignity for all pregnant and parenting individuals.

Our Team of Experts

Erica Gerrity, WI
Executive Director

Colleen Bell, PhD, St. Paul, MN​
Board Chair

Tommy Franklin, St. Paul, MN
Board Secretary

Gwen Bradford, Marietta, GA
Board Treasurer

Genevive Bojado​, AR
Board Director

Josh Christofferson, Hawley, MN
Board Director

Richard Rice, J.D., Birmingham, AL
Board Director

Reimagining our leadership strategy

Within Ostara, we are reimagining health and justice to end prison birth in America. Just as we strive for radical changes to improve health and justice, we strive for radical changes within our doula programming, our decision making processes. We are inspired by the TEAL Model of leadership and acknowledge the thinking of adrienne marie brown (Emergent Strategy, 2017) and Frederic Laloux (Reinventing Organizations, 2014) as important influences in our developing processes and practices.

Reimagining our workplace strategy

We seek to create and uphold a diverse, all-embracing, equitable workplace where employees, volunteers, and participants regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, status, geography, age, sexual orientation, education, and ability, feel valued and respected, most importantly those directly impacted by incarceration and their loved ones. Together ​we are moving beyond these categories to understand the intersections of ideas and processes that are most often seen to be separate and unrelated. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all programs. We respect, honor, and value diverse life experiences and heritages and aim for inclusivity of all voices. We acknowledge and dismantle inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and report organizational progress. We aim to model this philosophy for the entire healthcare industry and are advocates for just and equitable access for all.