COURTESY PHOTOS
These are the committee chairs for the Santa Barbara Women’s Health Coalition.
— Adolescence through Young Adults Committee: Ashley Hollister.
Ms. Hollister is the COO at DeftEdge, a consulting firm that helps governments, multilateral institutions, nonprofits and businesses improve effectiveness through institutional reform.
As an international development professional, Ms. Hollister has worked to build the capacity of organizations and programs in East Africa, Latin America and East Asia to target and achieve social objectives around education, market inclusion for women, youth and refugees, and preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
As a trained social worker, she has worked in New York and Michigan as a counselor and advocate for child and adolescent mental health and youth violence prevention programs. Ms. Hollister is eager to merge these two perspectives as the chair of the Adolescence through Young Adults Committee.
— Chronic Health Conditions Committee: Kari Robinson.
Ms. Robinson works at UCSB as the associate director of Legal and Medical Humanities, initiatives that seek to train students aspiring toward careers in law and medicine. For her graduate studies, Ms. Robinson conducted research in Berlin on abortion pregnancy counseling at women’s health centers that also offered extensive care. Ms. Robinson’s eldest son had chronic health conditions throughout childhood, which together with her own experience navigating breast cancer, motivated her commitment to leading the Chronic Health Conditions Committee.
— Health Equity and Racial Health Disparities Committee: Megan Spencer and Emma Schuster.
Megan and Emma are both moms and PhD. students in feminist studies at UCSB. Ms. Spencer studies and teaches about black feminism and environmental politics. Ms. Schuster’s research focuses on reproductive justice and disability.
— LGBTQ+ Health Committee Chair: Cherise Lastra.
Ms. Lastra is the clinical research supervisor at Ridley-Tree Cancer Center. She works closely with the research team, oncologists and other clinical staff to conduct safe and compliant clinical research.
Ms. Lastra was born and raised in Santa Barbara and currently lives in the Santa Ynez Valley with her family. She is passionate about collaborating with the community to improve how we serve women’s healthcare needs.
— Maternal Health Committee: Caitlin Jennings.
Ms. Jennings works remotely for Instacart as senior program manager, recently launching Instacart Health. Ms. Jennings is passionate about support for all moms, especially in the area of mental health. She plans on using her background in program management to guide the Maternal Health Committee through productive discussion and research.
To help guide the SBWHC in achieving its objectives, the SBWHC announces Ms. Jennings is also serving as director of operations.
“I am continually impressed with the momentum behind the SBWHC movement and the growing network of professionals and community leaders that are dedicated to researching and identifying innovative solutions to address unmet needs,” Ms. Jennings said in a news release.
— Menopause and Aging Committee: Kathy Kelley, Sharon Byrne and Dr. Marie Claire Lamb.
Ms. Kelly is the director of development and alumni relations at Montessori Center School. Ms. Byrne has a consulting practice in community organizing and political messaging. Additionally, she participates as a delegate for the U.N. Conference on the Status of Women.
And Dr. Marie Claire Lamb is an internal medicine physician at Sansum Clinic. For more information about the SBWHC, visit sbwhc.org or contact sbwhc2022@gmail.com.
