We are thrilled to announce that health and development expert Shannon Lövgren will be joining The Case for Her as Managing Director. Our lean and nimble team has done some incredible work over the last four years, and we can’t wait to see where her new ideas and energy will lead us.
Shannon brings to the team more than two decades of international humanitarian and development experience spanning four continents. In early 2000 as a program director with USAID, Shannon worked in Kenya to prevent HIV and AIDS by launching some of the country’s first blood-safety centers. Today those clinics have become full reproductive care centers in addition to providing HIV and AIDS screening. In recognition of her service, Shannon received the Distinguished Honor Award for Excellence from USAID, Kenya.
Shannon has most recently worked as Zimbabwe Director at the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) where she was responsible for the training of over 250 senior officials and politicians in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) resulting in more than 150 projects working towards achieving SDG targets in Africa. Part of this work involved collaborating with local politicians and authorities on the importance of Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights (SRHR) in Zimbabwe to achieve its development goals.
At ICLD, Shannon found that female politicians in Zimbabwe often expressed difficulty in reaching the community on sexual and reproductive health topics because of the associated stigma, while for male politicians it was often the first time they were included in conversations about women’s health issues. This meant that for Shannon, diplomacy and creative community activation were key:
“The most engagement I ever got was when we were talking about female genital mutilation and the biology of the female anatomy. We asked the audience to think about the reverse—cutting off the tip of the penis. They laughed, but then we had their attention so we could flip the story and say this is the equivalent of what is happening to these women.”
– Shannon Lövgren
With Shannon at the helm, we look forward to deepening our global networks and discovering new opportunities to invest in menstruation and sexual health and pleasure as key women’s health issues that have been underfunded and overlooked for too long. The Case for Her has built a strong foundation and now is the time to amplify our mission to create a better world for women and girls.
