Who is behind

Anna Cecilia Frellsen has been the CEO of Maternity Foundation since 2013. During her leadership, Maternity Foundation has established itself as a well-respected player in the global maternal health scene. Among her responsibilities, Anna has led the scale-up of Maternity Foundation’s mobile health solutions, including the Safe Delivery App, which is now used in more than 40 countries.

Anna holds an MBA from IESE and has more than 15 years of business experience within strategy, marketing and general management. She has worked as the CEO for a small start-up, as a partner with KPMG Strategy, and she spent more than seven years with McKinsey & Company. She started her career working in the pharmaceutical industry in the US and the UK. In addition to her position with the Maternity Foundation, she is the Vice-Chair at the NGO Break The Silence and sits on the board of Ovacure and CfL (Danish Management Center) and is furthermore Board Member of William Demant Foundation & William Demant Invest.

Dr. Aditya Bhandari is a dedicated healthcare professional committed to improving maternal and child health in India. He currently manages Maternity Foundation's initiatives in India, focusing on expanding the reach of the Safe Delivery App. Prior to this, Aditya excelled in enhancing healthcare quality at primary health centers in Rajasthan and working on Geriatric care . He holds a master’s degree in public health and is certified in HealthCare Management from Prestigious Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM C), along with this he also holds a Leadership and Management degree from the University of Washington, USA as well as in Social and Behavior Change Communication by UNICEF. He is Certified assessor of NQAS and is keen on educating about the Diabetes.
He enjoys travelling to new places, cycling , watching documentaries and loves story telling.

As a member of the Business Development team, Cathy works on many of Maternity Foundation’s Global and Nordic grants and partnerships.
She has over two decades of non-profit and NGO experience in development, fundraising and partnerships, grant management, event planning, training, and volunteer management, and has worked with a variety of both national and international organizations including New York Cares, Girl Scouts of the USA, Project Sunshine, Inc., and most recently the World Health Organization.

Cathy holds a BSc in Psychology and Social Studies from Aston University in the UK and a Middle Management Program Certification from the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management at Columbia Graduate School of Business in New York.

Franka Cadee PhD, joined the Executive Leadership team at Maternity Foundation in 2023 to further strengthen and support the continued development of Maternity Foundation’s global work, aiming to ensure safer births for women and babies globally. As Director, Franka will lead some of the organization’s global strategic initiatives, impact work, and partnerships.

Franka is a midwife and anthropologist with expertise in sexual and reproductive health and rights with over 30 years of experience in strategy and policy development, advocacy, research, diplomacy, leadership, governance and management. Franka’s six-year tenure as the President of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), came to an end in June 2023. In her (working) life and as ICM President, Franka advocated for sexual and reproductive justice and gender equity by strengthening midwifery leadership, regulation, and education globally.

Hilde Cortier is Programme Director at Maternity Foundation and part of the Executive Leadership team. Hilde is a global expert in sexual and reproductive health and rights and has worked in multiple countries across sub–Saharan Africa and South Asia in both humanitarian and development settings. She has worked with numerous UN agencies, with Doctors Without Borders, and at Save the Children. Hilde has also served as a lecturer at KIT Royale Tropical Institute in the Netherlands and at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium. She is trained as a midwife and holds a master’s degree in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Sonali is working Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager. She is responsible for supporting the organization’s global project and program activities, as well as leading the global learning agenda.

Before joining the Maternity Foundation, Sonali worked as a consultant on multiple health-related projects. Her responsibilities included performing gap analysis, market assessment, financial feasibility, and audits for healthcare service providers in the Southeast Asia region.

Sonali holds a master's in dental public health from University College London and a bachelor's in dentistry from Manipal University, India.

As Business Development Manager, Christian is working in the space between developing Maternity Foundation's high-level strategic priorities and engaging key stakeholders in the field of maternal of reproductive health for meaningful partnerships and ever-important funding.

Having prior worked as a sustainability consultant and as project fellow at World Economic Forum's Women's Health Initiative, Christian is eager to enable sustainable and structural impact that not only promotes healthier families - but healthier economies as well.

Kuldeep has joined Maternity Foundation as Finance and Admin Manager for the MSD project. He is supporting the India team in Finance, Accounting, and Admin related subjects.

He comes with the experience of working with Jaggi Industries and ADRA India, with different projects like USAID and UNHCR. He has good knowledge of Project Accounting and Finance.

Kuldeep holds an M.Com in Finance and Accounting from Sikkim Manipal University, and a Bachelor in Finance and Accounting from Delhi University.

I'm Hiwot Kasahun, Logistics and Financial Officer. I have a Masters Degree in Accounting and Finance. I have more than ten years of experience in various fields of procurement, logistics, accounting and finance. Previously, I have worked as a consultant for ORACLE (IFMIS) and lead the procurement and finance team. I work to contribute to reducing the risk of maternal and newborn mortality during pregnancy and childbirth.

Tanya is currently serving as a Programme Clinical Officer at Maternity Foundation. She has previous experience in nursing education and public health, and holds a bachelor's degree in nursing, as well as being a certified Public Health Professional.

Her professional journey includes impactful roles at BLK Hospital Delhi, CARE India Patna Bihar (IHAT, UPTSU [UP ]). During this period she was working as a district nursing specialist & Nurse Mentor Supervisor providing support in neonatal ICU-, maternity-, and pediatric care. She has also contributed to quality health programmes such as Lakshya and Kayakalp. As a Master Trainer, she specialises in skilled birth attendance, Daksh, Pronto Simulation training initiatives, as wel as having supported care in India for COVID 19 related work.

Athina is part of the Programme team at the Maternity Foundation, where she primarily supports the operations of the organisation’s project portfolio across the different hubs and assists with ongoing grants management.

Athina holds a BA in Balkan Slavic and Oriental studies from the University of Macedonia with a specialisation in social and political sciences, and a MSc in Global Health from the University of Copenhagen. Prior to joining the Maternity Foundation, Athina worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Copenhagen and Herlev Hospital, where she supported the implementation of EU funded antimicrobial stewardship projects.