Ann Starrs

Ann Starrs leads the family planning team's overall strategy and coordinates with other global strategies within the foundation and with external partners to achieve greater access to voluntary family planning.

A widely recognized expert in and advocate for gender equality and reproductive and maternal health, Ann has published numerous papers and commentaries on global and domestic health policy issues during her 30 years in the field. Before stepping into her current role, she served for six months as acting coordinator for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH). From August 2014 to October 2018 she served as the president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, a leading research and policy organization dedicated to sexual and reproductive health; during that time, she co-chaired the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

Prior to joining Guttmacher, Ann was president of Family Care International, a nongovernmental organization working to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health in low-income countries, which she helped found in 1986. She served on the PMNCH Board from 2005-2018, serving as co-chair from 2005–2011; was part of the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ann holds a master’s degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a certificate in demography from Princeton’s Office of Population Research; she received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.