Maternity Foundation advances strategic development with new leadership appointment
As of April 15, Mike Asquith has joined Maternity Foundation’s Executive Leadership Team as Director of External Relations, working alongside CEO Anna Frellsen and Director of Safe Delivery Programme, Franka Cadée.
The appointment marks a significant milestone in strengthening Maternity Foundation’s strategic development, with a clear focus on advancing advocacy and thought leadership to support progress in global maternal and newborn health.
Since the launch of the Safe Delivery App ten years ago, Maternity Foundation has reached over 500,000 midwives and other healthcare professionals across more than 70 low‑ and middle‑income countries, helping ensure safer births for millions of mothers and newborns. The organisation has built deep expertise in leveraging digital health solutions and effective training approaches, delivering scalable, high‑quality impact, supported by a strong and growing body of evidence and impact data. Building on this foundation, Maternity Foundation is strengthening its focus on sharing insights and best practices to help inform learning, collaboration and decision‑making across the global maternal and newborn health community.
In his new role, Mike will lead Maternity Foundation’s external relations function, bringing together three core areas: Communications, Business Development, and Insights, Research & Learning. Central to this mandate is ensuring that the organisation’s data and evidence are consistently translated into effective advocacy, partnerships and external engagement, ultimately advancing maternal and newborn health globally.
Mike brings more than a decade of senior‑level experience in organisational leadership, strategic communications and partnership‑building across the fields of environment, health and sustainability. His background includes leadership roles at the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Environment Agency, where he led multidisciplinary teams, shaped strategic positioning, and translated complex data and evidence into organisational and policy priorities and decision‑making.
Commenting on the appointment, Anna said:
“Our work has always been grounded in evidence and proven impact, supporting midwives to improve quality of care where it is needed most. With Mike joining our leadership team, we are reinforcing our ambition to translate insight and data into advocacy and collaboration — ensuring our experience helps inform maternal and newborn health efforts globally as we continue to grow. I am delighted to welcome a strategic leader with such a strong evidence‑based approach.”
Mike added:
“Throughout my career, I have been driven by the desire to deliver tangible improvements in people’s lives. From my work in low- and middle-income countries, I have seen first-hand how critical maternal and newborn health is to human wellbeing and sustainable development. I am therefore both honoured and excited to join Maternity Foundation — a genuinely innovative organisation achieving really meaningful impact. I look forward to supporting Maternity Foundation’s mission to ensure safer births for everyone, everywhere.”
Mike holds a Master’s degree in sustainable development from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a Bachelor’s degree in law from King’s College London. He has served as lead author of numerous publications within the field of sustainable development.
With a strengthened leadership team, Maternity Foundation looks ahead with renewed momentum — continuing to strengthen the use of evidence, advocacy and partnerships to support lasting improvements for mothers and newborns in some of the world’s most challenging settings.
