Elizabeth Dawes, MPH (she/her), is director of maternal and reproductive health and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads the organization’s efforts to advance maternal health equity and reproductive justice, with a focus on eradicating the structural barriers facing communities of color. Elizabeth brings extensive experience as a strategist, advocate, and convener working for Black women and people of color.
Elizabeth is a co-founder of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. She ideated and co-organized the very first convening of what was to become the Alliance that took place in June 2015 and went on to serve as steering committee chair and then as co-director. Among several other accomplishments, Elizabeth helped establish the globally renowned Black Maternal Health Week and the Black Maternal Health Conference and Training Institute, both the first of their kind solely dedicated to Black maternal health, rights, and justice.
She was previously a senior policy analyst at Population Reference Bureau (PRB), where she worked to bridge the research-to-policy gap by building the capacity of researchers, journalists, and advocates to communicate evidence to policymakers and by creating evidence-based advocacy products. Prior to PRB, Elizabeth was a senior associate at the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, where she worked to expand access to contraception through policy advocacy.
A recognized thought leader on reproductive justice and maternal health, Elizbaeth has been published in The Nation, The Root, EBONY.com, and Huffington Post, among others. She has been featured on MSNBC and other news outlets and is quoted in the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Vice, Bustle, and Quartz, among others.
Elizabeth holds a master of public health in health policy from The George Washington University and a bachelor of arts in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a global citizen based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.