CleanBirth.org is on mission to make birth safer in Salavan Province, Laos. We provide birthing supplies, training for nurses and funding for nurses to train CleanBirth Village Volunteers.
We empower local nurses and volunteers to make birth safer in their own villages.
HISTORY
CleanBirth.org was founded in 2012 and is led by Kristyn Zalota. Since completing a MA from Yale, Kristyn has focused on projects that empower women in the developing world. From 2008-2011, she worked with Burmese, Cambodian and Ugandan women and saw that prenatal and postnatal care was largely unavailable in their countries.
Motivated to make birth safer, she discovered AYZH Clean Birth Kits, birthing supplies proven to reduce infection and death. Having learned about the dire state of birthing in Laos, she partnered in 2012 with Our Village Associate (OVA) to bring Clean Birth Kits and education to southern Laos.
OVA has more than 10 years experience working with ethnic minorities in southern Laos, in the areas of education, agriculture and health. OVA staffers speak the local languages and share the local culture — critical to finding locally driven solutions to local issues.
BOARD
In addition to allying with experts in Laos, Kristyn has sought out committed Board Members:
Max Zalota, Treasurer, holds an MBA from Oxford University and has extensive experience in the business world. With over a decade of experience leading corporate communications, Jenny Fouracre is tasked with developing CleanBirth.org’s public relations strategy. Shannon Lawton-O’Boyle, doula and Lamaze childbirth educator, promotes CleanBirth.org’s innovative effort to become sustainable by selling baby shower products.
VOLUNTEERS
Further, we have a presence in in Vientiane, Laos’ capital. We are lucky to have Dee Harlow as our liaison for donors and NGOs. She also acts as a consultant for community programming and proposal writing. Further,
We have also attracted a group of volunteers in the US. Ariana Thibodeau heads up media production; Marla Katz is a teen-fundraising dynamo; Marcella Kovac of The Bananaland offers her marketing and design expertise.